Bone Daddy

Chapters

Holding Her
Arrives as an Unwanted Package
Deal with the Living
Parenting Lesson Number 1
Reviving a Long Dead Soul
An Overdue Meeting
Taking a Vacation
What it means to be a Parent

Holding Her

Author's Note

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Holding Her

Journal Entry Preface:

I was told I should write all this down. I may not be given another chance since once it’s complete; I believe she will be ready. I agree, this is a tale that must be told. When she reads this, hopefully she will understand. I begin at the Hospital, where we shall also end.

***

The Ponyville Hospital wasn't actually busy. The nurses had me waiting; others had arrived ahead and honestly, some looked worse than my case. I rubbed a hoof over the sweet pink mane of the turquoise filly in my lap. She coughed every once in a while, and tried not to be upset by the dirty looks I received from other ponies. At this moment, there are very few things i wouldn't give to be dead again.

The filly in my lap coughed, softly.. All I wanted was for her to open her eyes. She wouldn’t wake up, she looked so peaceful but nothing could bring her to open her eyes. I couldn’t believe my medical journals and thousands of years of experience and here I was. Waiting in a hospital like every other helicopter parent except; this may be lethal. No one dared to sit near me and anytime I looked for sympathy no one would return my gaze. There was a very important reason for this.

When you’re near skeletal and look as decayed and worn as I do, one begins to understand that sort of attention given to a pony lich such as myself. Most ponies are incredibly uncomfortable associating with the undead, especially one that will come back if you kill it.

Immortality for a price that I now believe was too high to pay.

Yes, I am a creature of darkness, a pony that read from the Necronomicon, the book of the dead. It’s pretty obvious that I had access to black magic that no pony should have. I also happen to be the personal assistant to Luna and, yes, I'm currently in a hospital with an earth pony foal laid across my lap. I’m doing my best to hold, warm, and comfort the filly as I’m seeking help for her health.

What I have to divulge in this final journal entry pertains to my profession and how it has changed me. Luna asks I look into the unsolved deaths of ponies. A very grim profession, I assure you, because I examine a body by raising the cadaver as a thrall, then question what is left of their mind and soul and begin my investigation from there. It’s about the easiest way to solve their deaths, really. One can’t help but die a little inside with such a profession, what with the various things that can happen to ponies.

Life Sapphire coughed again, and my attention drawn back to her, away from the staring eyes and dirty looks. She was certainly bluer than normal, and her cheeks seemed flushed as she tried to get comfortable against my black robes. The thin bone-white hoof of mine simply did not look like it belonged against her head, let alone anywhere near it. It had been only about a month and yet it felt like I'd had this little foal forever.

“Bone Daddy?” Nurse Redheart called, prompting me to look up at her.

“Yes?” I asked.

She didn’t answer me at first. She stared at me for a spell, her eyebrow raised as she looked me over. I didn’t blame her for ogling. Thankfully, before an awkward silence could grow between us, the nurse checked off a few things on the clipboard before speaking.

“The doctor will see you now.”

With that said, I wrapped my little Sapphire in the most gentle telekinetic bubble I could. I treated her like the lightest feather holding softly against the wind.

I walked to the examination room in silence. Nurse Redheart checked blood pressure, temperature, and heartbeat. The last one gave her a start, the expression on her face of surprise was unmistakable. Despite all my medical knowledge, despite centuries of study, here I was useless.

As she left, my mind drifted to other possibilities to get this filly to open her eyes. I wish my phylactery’s life sustaining effects didn't cause so much issue with appearance and degradation of my physical features. I would give anything to be treated like another concerned parent and not a monster. Something that only a month ago, I could have cared less for was now the most precious desire in the world.

Thankfully she left us in the examining room. As softly as a unicorn could, I used my magic to gently stroke the mane of Life Sapphire. This had to be the strangest sight Doctor Horses had ever seen, as he dropped his clipboard before slamming the door behind us. I held up a hoof to try to get him to be quiet but to no avail.

“You’re a lich!” he said. “If you’re ill--if that’s even possible for you—don't you just die and let the phylactery resurrect you?” As he was shouting, I placed both hooves against Sapphire's ears and she whimpered.

I turned my head back and took one step to the right. Doctor Horses saw the foal now, her blank flank and tiny helpless form. The good doctor glared at me, and his voice turned to a harsh, angry whisper, almost as if he didn’t want to wake her. I knew Sapphire would stay asleep through all this, so I didn’t worry much about his volume.

I held up a hoof, stopping him. “She merely arrived by accident... or rather royal order has placed her into my care. Her parents... are deceased. It was a rather unfortunate incident involving a maulwurf while they were visiting the changelings.” I paused to take a moment to look at that little filly, then hung my head in shame. “Much to my own protests, Princess Luna gave me a choice: either adopt her or send her to an orphanage.”

Doctor Horses eyed me incredulously, then turned to her. “And now she’s sick? Can’t say I’m surprised. You can't have a foal hanging around the dead; their immune systems aren’t fully prepared and...” His horn glowed as he began to take a physical exam using his magic. “Hmm. No, she isn't sick from disease?”

“Can you determine what’s wrong with her?” I asked, my shrunken, normally devoid and hollow eyes giving him the most pleading look they could possibly muster. “I’d give anything to see her running around and playing again.”

He stared back at me, grimaced, then sighed. “Alright, I'll perform a more thorough exam, though I’ll need to contact Princess Luna to verify the paperwork. In the meantime, why don't you tell me about...”

“Life Sapphire is her name.”

“Right, Life Sapphire,” he replied with a curt nod. “What do you know about her, how long has she been in your care? I need to know everything.”

So I told him.

Arrives as an Unwanted Package

“Bone! I've got a few more for ya!” the earth pony known as Cold Hoof called down into my morgue. I hate it when he does that, though I am excited by the prospect of more subjects for exam, testing, and experimentation. Six cold slabs were occupied here, four of which I had already determined the cause of death: massive blunt force trauma caused by impact from maulwarf claws. The other two were still covered in a sheet as Cold Hoof attached their cold metal slabs to the wall.

“Oh come on, Bone, don't you at least cover them up when you're done?” I looked at him and grinned… or at least tried to. I’ve been a lich long enough that my lips were almost entirely gone. Naturally, it was because of this that Cold Hoof staggered back.

“I swear, the things you do are just unnatural.” The second he finished saying that, I had the dead Earth pony behind him animate and stand up. The hoof tap on his shoulder made him shrill out and once again Cold Hoof bolted out from the room and out of my hair.

“I do this job because no pony else will. Because no pony seems to want to.” Something under the plain white sheet moved, and I with the flick of my horn, revealed a long since dead pegasus pony underneath. She had to have been that way for probably at least a week, as her coat was almost completely gone, mane too. She had other signs of decay as well, but that wasn't what drew my full attention.

To my shock and surprise, there, under the sheet, and lying snugly against the mare... was a foal. It was a filly, one that looked incredibly malnourished, emaciated, only that wasn't what bothered me the most. She stirred. This foal… this foal whom I initially believed to be just as dead as everything else in this room wasn’t that at all. She was alive.

She possessed a sweet, gentle turquoise coat and an obnoxiously pink mane, both of which shifted and breathed before my eyes. Slowly, her eyes (which appeared too large for her head) fluttered open. The color of her irises were deep reds that spoke of blood and violence; it was like they were hiding some deeper seeded violent beginning that could not be spoken. She stared off at nothing, then blinked a few times before she looked at me with an innocence that penetrated all my centuries of staring at dead ponies. The only ponies I ever spoke to were delivery ponies who, like Cold Hoof, spent as little time in my laboratory as possible.

She didn't speak, just stared at me in wide-eyed wonder. “Something this cute doesn't belong here. Cold Hoof?!” I shouted in the direction of the door. “You've made a mistake!” I stormed away from the foal and my cadavers. The skeleton clangs of angry hooves reverberated up the metal stairway as I emerged out into the blinding sunlight of Canterlot for possibly the first time in nearly three hundred years.

I slammed my eyes shut and groaned. Using my magic, I pulled the hood of my cloak over my head to shield my eyes, then walked towards the castle. Upon seeing a shrouded figure near them, two canterlot royal guards standing outside the tall entryway immediately approached with drawn spears. One, a pegasus, held his weapon in his mouth; the other, a unicorn, gripped his in a magical aura as they crossed over the doorway, denying me entrance.

Passerbys stopped and stared as I squared off against these guards. “I don't have the time nor the patience for this, stand aside. I must speak with Princess Luna immediately.”

The two guards looked at each other, then pointed their spears directly at me. My horn glowed as I reached into my pocket and pulled out a badge older than the legends of Starswirl the Bearded. It was made of pure platinum with the royal seal of the twin sisters. Still in their defensive stances, they eyed it inquisitively. The unicorn cast forth a bolt of energy.

His intentions weren’t hostile, he was checking to see if the badge would react with the proper magic. The badge glowed white at the core, black at the edges. The symbols of night and day, the sun and the crescent moon, reflected outward in a holographic display and they knew know I was an agent of our rulers.

The two guards pulled their spears and stepped aside. The moment I walked through those great doors, however, I was immediately surrounded by Canterlot guards who kept their weapons at the ready. Noble ponies all gasped at my passing them, though I paid them no mind, as I had matters leagues more pressing than their gawks and stares. Each hoofstep I took in this hallowed place left a black mist upon the ground, the marks of necrotic magic.

No pony stood in my way without bolting, quickly finding somewhere else to be, or giving me dirty looks. “You'd think they wouldn't recognize somepony of their own creation,” I teased to the guards. All my light chiding got me was a rough snort in return. Seeing their all white coats, however, made me smirk even more. “I wonder, does Princess Celestia herself still do the color transformation process or does she have unicorn underlings for that and you royal guard types?”

He looked quite shocked, like I wasn't supposed to know that. Stopping in front of some impressive doors, I removed my hood, and it was then the guards had a full look at my shrunken eyes, decayed mane, and necromancy-desecrated face. I stepped through doors and entered the royal antechamber, though I was taken aback to see four thrones when there were clearly two before. Two of them were unoccupied while Princess Luna and Celestia stood upon the two closest to the center.

“Well well,” I started, stepping towards the room’s center while observing the myriad of stained glass murals that weren’t here last time I visited. “I should come up here more often. It appears as though major changes have been made to the number of princesses.”

Celestia seemed startled by my presence. Several of her guards around the royal chamber rushed to barricade me from the twin sisters. Her horn glowed as she bolted onto her hooves, ready to let a magical strike fly loose at a moment’s notice.Luckily, Luna physically placed herself between Celestia and myself, stopping her.

“Sister, no,” Luna said calmly with a shake of her head. “I must speak with you in private. Afterwards, I ask that you then allow me to see to this creature here. I assure you, though frightful his appearance may be, he means no harm.” With that little crisis averted, Luna looked back at me. I opened my mouth ready to answer her, only for Luna to immediately roll her eyes before pulling her sister to the side. The two sisters began whispering to each other, while I shook my head.

Wanting to clear the air a bit, I bowed and quickly said my piece. “Surely you must remember me, Celestia, I've been under your castle since before you banished Nightmare Moon.”

The number of angry grimaces directed at me continued as Luna still whispered to her larger sibling. Right when their conversation appeared to finally be wrapping up, Celestia's face went to one of shock before we all heard, “That’s what became of him? And he's been down there how long?”

Luna reached up and placed a hoof over her sister’s mouth to silence her, then turned to me. Luna may have been the smaller of the two sisters but that doesn’t fool me. Luna is the one I should be very afraid to anger. Luckily, rather than sending me flying out a window for my offence, Luna decided to instead address the reason as to why I arrived in the first place.

“Tell, Bone Daddy,” said Luna, “why have you come up here? What possible purpose could you have for disturbing the royal chambers?”

“Luna, I am only supposed to receive deceased ponies for which you want explanations on how they passed away.” I paused to let the air in the room settle a bit. “And you have been most gracious in this. Your efforts have ensured that for over a millennium I have only received everything I need for research. Said deceased cadavers have benefited all of equestrian sciences, their deaths never in vain. I have even been able to perform experiments to better understand necromancy and the dark arts as well.”

I pushed the spears at my throat away and took a few cautious steps forward. Guards re-positioned those weapons to point right at me once again, ready to strike. “So, explain to me why, right now on a slab, there is a foal curled up against her dead mother. Lastly and possibly most importantly, this foal I’m speaking of is certainly... alive.”

Slowly, the night princess walked down the royal ramp built for the access to the throne, then stopped and stood before me. When it came to our statures, Luna was a head and shoulders above my own, so she was a mere hair’s breath away when she glared down at me

“O... of course,” I uttered nervously, “surely it was only a mistake in the paperwork, dear Princess Luna. B-but as you know, disturbing my work drives me to, em... disturb you.” I ended that with a gracious bow, then slowly rose before taking a chance by once again looking into those midnight fire eyes of the princess. I awaited her decision.

I was escorted out and a set of guards had been sent back to my facility to look after the filly there.

I expected, nay, hoped that she’d confirm it to be an error that took place somewhere along the pipeline. That hope was dashed, however, when Luna placed a hoof against my horn. She pressed hard against my skull and she leaned down to eye level with me.

“Yes there was a major mistake. However, having spoken about it to the other princesses, there is something within this we must allow to play out. I am sorry to say, but the lesson here must be learned! Now begone, back to your laboratory. ” Luna started to walk away, though she stopped and half turned looking at me from over her shoulder. “Oh, and in the meantime, seeing as you’ll be the one to care for her, you may take whatever bits you need from my personal treasury to ensure she is fed and cared for. That is, if you even decide to send her to the orphanage afterward.”

My jaw slacked in shock and nearly detached as a murmur arouse in the royal chambers. I took a step towards Luna, guards raising their spears to my chest to block my path. “P-Princess Luna, I must--”

“And you must obey my orders if I am to continue my work,” she shot back. “This is my royal decree.” Luna paused and took a breath before turning back to Celestia. “I am sure my sister also agrees with it. Now begone!” Luna’s horn glowed as the room flashed with the darkness of night, a shield of black between me and the two princesses.

It slowly pressed outward in my direction and I knew not to anger the smaller, darker sister. Begrudgingly, I took a step back and bowed to her. There was no challenging a princess in this mood. Unlike Celestia, who would guilt you with disappointment, I knew Luna might very well smite a pony if she had to. I was not in the mood for regeneration today.

***

Doctor Horses continued his note taking when Nurse Redheart entered. He took the clipboard she had with her, looked it over, then passed it back to her. “Cancel my other patients today, and how long till those royal files arrive?” he asked, interrupting my recounting of events.

Redheart’s brows knit with concern. “But Doctor, you--”

Horses silenced her with a stare and shook his head. “I know, but this patient requires extra special care and attention. Contact Doctor Nightingale and Doctor Hearts. Tell them that I’m calling in that favor they owe.” He took a breath, then looked to me. It was obvious that he could pick up on my feelings of helplessness written on my face.

Doctor Horses moved forward and sat down in the other chair. He looked at the medical cabinets, his various instruments, and then to me. “Please continue, I need a full history as I await results of the tests.” He paused and took a breath. “I’m going to have the nurse make a few phone calls, just for verification purposes.”

I felt as though I’d been slapped in the face, “What do you mean—”

He raised a hoof and cut me off, “I need to know everything to properly diagnosis her. Also since we are in quarantine till contagion is determined, we have nothing better to do.” He took a long breath, “But immediate tests have come back inconclusive. So please, I’m hoping it is something encountered in your lab.”

I wanted to protest, I wanted to scream at him but he was right. His logic was sound for now and we were stuck here till cause could be determined. A medical procedure I myself suggested over a century years ago. I only nodded back and let out a sigh before I continued...

Deal with the Living

I walked, nearly stormed down the stairs to my laboratory in a huff. I was in a bit of a mood, seeing as I was escorted back by two guards, both of which had forced me into purchasing food for the foal. II can forgo the need for sustenance, but I was not looking forward to having to regularly feed another pony. Do you have any idea how disgusting the act of eating is to an outside viewer?

I arrived back at the lab and took the veggies and other foal items I had been given and placed them in my office. I didn’t have a refrigerator there, as there was never a need for one, but what I did have was a cold storage unit that hadn't been used in ages. I placed the food inside and went to find the foal.

Finding her wasn’t difficult, as she was still tucked up against the chilled corpse of what I assumed to be her mother. I could not tell if she was sleeping, unconscious, or just trying to hide. I levitated the paperwork assigned to the body over and carefully examined it from beginning to end. Life Tender and Sapphire Finder, married, one child. Her name didn’t seem to be listed

“You, child, what is your name?”

Her ear twitched in response to my voice, and her face contorted in the discomfort of laboratory lighting before she stirred. She turned to her other side, then yawned quietly as she stretched her legs out like a cat. As she did so, I noticed the distinct lack of a horn or pair of wings on her.

An earth pony? The parents were listed here as one unicorn and one pegasus. I pulled the back the body’s sheet further, and discovered the mother had a wing wrapped around the foal's midsection. “Hm.” Looking to the neighboring, occupied slap, I pulled back its sheet, unveiling a blue-coated unicorn underneath that strikingly matched this foal's own fur color.

“An earth pony born of a pegasus and unicorn. Strange, if that were the case, then there should have been complications of some degree. Considering that she would have to received double recessive traits from her parents for the Earth Pony to come out. It could be autoimmune.” The Doctor stops as he tried to surmise some simple solution.

The foal seemed more awake and alert, though she didn't answer or speak back in response to my questions. Going by her appearance, she had to be four, maybe five years old at most. I used my magic to lift her off the table, which was unsanitary. I couldn’t help but notice the expression on her face. She looked with a sense of uncertainty, like she knew I meant no harm but at the same time that did not help how my outward appearance was, horrifying to most. Did she harbor the same fear every pony had for me?

I stared at the tiny creature as it lay there, wanting so badly to recoil away from this terrifying new entity that had been dropped into my un-life. She was going to be such a major nuisance for the next 31 days and nights. As for the here and now, however, well... the sound of tears hitting the metal below her was something I couldn’t stand any longer.

I pointed a hoof down at her and growled, “Stop crying, I won't have any of that in my lab!” Something inside my long-dead body warmed for the briefest of moments as I said that. Regardless, I shuddered and watched this foal continue with her silent sobs.

...As a matter of fact, she was being a little too silent.

Acting on a hunch, I lit my horn with magic of a medical scan as I conducted an examination of her physical well being. Moments later, I winced when I detected it. Her vocal cords had been burned out, something that could only be achieved if she had actually inhaled flames. A twinge in my eye distracted me as a tear tried to push its way out. But I was having none of those feelings for such a contemptible creature as this filly.

The soft wheezing of air through her tiny throat while she sobbed was, for some reason, unacceptable to me. I reached down to her with a hoof, trying to see if there was some way to console her. Unfortunately, and much to my displeasure, she latched onto it and began sullying my cleanest robe with those dirty pony tears of hers. I will say this, though: if I were to extrapolate anything from this child’s grip and tenacity to not let go, it’d be that earth ponies today are as strong as the ones from back when I had a pulse.

I wiggled the leg in an attempt to free it, though she maintained her firm hold onto it. After a few more tries, each with no success, I finally detached my forelimb and decided to let her have it. Even if my limbs are not attached, I can still feel everything from them as if they were. Now forced onto three legs, I hobbled away to where I had placed the groceries the guards had purchased for her.

Although I managed just fine, I was forced to bear wet tears dripping onto my detached hoof, as well as the feeling of her wheezing breath hitting my decayed coat. From the grocery bag, I levitated out a carrot, two pieces of bread, and a daffodil, then held them up to her.

It took a moment or two, but she finally opened her eyes long enough to notice the items I was magically extending to her. Additionally, she also noticed that I was across the room, and that she was holding on to my detached leg. She looked at the leg in her hooves, blinked, then looked back to me.

I expected a scream. I wanted one, even. Her being afraid of me for the next thirty-one days would have been my best outcome, at the time. Rather than doing that, however, she took the leg’s hoof with her own... like I were its parent. My leg followed her grasp in the most ridiculously silly hop along I'd ever seen, as she didn’t let go and had that legendary earth pony strength. As difficult as it was to admit this, even a foal-sized earth pony could easily overpower me when it came to physical strength.

Before long, the foal reached a hoof out and grabbed the carrot, though my magical aura around the vegetable remained. “Ah ah ah. Release my leg and allow it to return to me, and then you can have the food.” Yes, I was negotiating with it. I had no choice, lest I be inconvenienced by the day-long regeneration process once again.

She shook her head, her facial expression pure strain as she tried to pull the carrot towards herself. She kept trying to take it while simultaneously holding onto my hoof at the same time. There was no getting through to this creature; I swore she might actually crack the ankle.

I gave the carrot one last tug, then gave up with a sigh. “Fine,” I said before limping over to her. I slid my exposed bone into my severed hoof’s slot, and with a sickening crack it was reattached. I was whole once more, though I wasn’t joyed to be forced into holding the foal’s hoof while she munched on a carrot.

I looked at the cadavers on the table, then the foal. Deciding to give it another crack, I levitated the documentation over to myself and scanned it for any sign of the foal’s name. Other than that of the parents, nothing came forward for me to call her by.

That won’t do; if we’re forced to spend an extended amount of time together, she will have to be called something other than “Foal.” With the forehoof she didn't have in her demonic little death grip, I pointed at her. “You, until I find a more suitable one, your name shall be,” I looked at both of her parents then at the clipboard that contained their names, I choose 1 name from each to form hers. “...mm.... Life Sapphire. Understood?”

After taking one last bite of the carrot, she nodded to me.

I stared down at her for a spell; if I still had the capacity to do so, I would have been biting at the inside of my cheek. “You can't talk, can you?”

She shook her head. Understandable, given the damage to her throat I detected earlier.

“Do you know what happened to your parents?”

She shook her head again, only this time she pointed a hoof at me.

“Why’d you do that? What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked, tilting my head in confusion.

She then nuzzled my leg, which, to my horror, gave me an inkling as to what she was alluding to. I tried to wiggle my hoof free from her grasp, but again she shouldn’t give.

“Oh no. No no no. I am not your daddy--”

She nuzzled my leg even harder and shook her head at me. She pointed at her parents then at me. I looked confused trying to figure out what she was saying. Then realized they might not have even told her, they were dead.

Something inside me pulsed, hard. I wanted to protest, I wanted to break it to her but couldn’t bring myself to do so. I hung my head and growled then thought on how to phrase this to a child.

“Alright, listen. Your parents are gone away for a long time. I’m your caretaker, for now. Do you understand?” I stared at Life Sapphire trying to piece it together in her head, then she slowly nodded at me. She was reaching up for something as I leaned back. “We’ll make the best of the situation. Does your throat hurt from earlier?” She shook her head.

Of course not, her throat would have been burned, cauterization on that level would be almost instant. It was unlikely she could even feel herself breathing. Perhaps I should, my thoughts were interrupted when my magic aura was broken.

Life Sapphire had reached up and swiped the documents from my magical aura with her free hoof. She placed it on the table next to her, pointed to the word ‘Father’ on it, then pointed at me. Either Life Sapphire was delusional, traumatized to an extreme, or desperately wanted me as a surrogate parent. I was scared of all the possibilities in that moment. How was I to actually deal with this?

“I... No.”

I was interrupted by the sensation of warm liquid pooling around my hoof. Oh great, not only was she clingy, but she wasn't house broken yet either. How could this possibly get any worse?

*****

“Hmm, so she stayed with her mother's body for how long? How many days ago was this, if you had to guess?” Doctor Horses asked, continuing to take notes.

“Twenty-Nine days,” I replied, “and she stayed with the corpse for nearly 2 hours, plus however long it took to bring her there.” I looked at the sleeping Life Sapphire and was worried when she let out a wheezing cough.

“You've obviously done some repairs to her vocal cords since then, but has she been able speak?” Horses asked, rummaging through a drawer before producing a needle. I shook my head, watching him as he swabbed an alcohol-soaked cotton ball along a patch of fur near Life Sapphire’s hoof, then pricked her skin underneath with the needle.

I understood the parental instincts of defense now, but intellectually I fought against the need to protect her. This was necessary to ensure her safety and therefore, the logical course was not to rush to her side. I managed to keep myself from doing so when he held up a hoof, however, as he only drew a few drops of blood. Once that was done, the vial was sealed and her wound was gone with a wave of his horn. I glared at him, I wanted to scream at him then and there for causing even the slightest bit of discomfort to her.

“The way you describe it,” he said, dropping the vial into a biohazard bag, then depositing it into the box outside for the nurse to take, “Twenty-nine days ago you wouldn't have lifted a hoof to help this foal. Now you’re rushing to her defense when all I needed was a little bloodwork.” Before coming back inside, I saw him flip up the red, blue, and green small plastic tiles fixed to the door’s privacy window.

Seeing as I had some medical knowledge, I knew the cards were for informing any passing hospital staff outside as to what was in the room. In that same respect, I also possessed an understanding to the hidden meaning behind the colors. Red represented a potential health hazard in the room, while blue meant a medical practitioner was present, and green… green indicated the presence of something life-threatening.

I looked to Doctor Horses and completely balked. My undead heart gave a pulse that surprised me. For the first time in an era, I could feel it in the phylactery: worry for somepony I cared for.

I swallowed down the stone in my throat, then dared to ask, “Please explain to me... what’s happening to my daughter?”

Doctor Horses took his seat once again and fixed me a somewhat curious look. “I will. But first, how about you tell me how long have you’ve been referring to her as your daughter.”

I bite my nearly decayed away lip and let out a distressed winnie the way an overly worried father would. “Until just now, I… haven’t.”

“Hmm,” the doctor uttered, making himself more comfortable. “Well then, seems like you have some explaining to do. Continue.”

Parenting Lesson Number 1

It took almost six days to get her to understand where the bathroom was and how to use it. It also took a considerable amount of effort to get the autopsies done for her parents. I had to find ways to get work done without her interference. I used a ball, a simple hoofball for her to kick around.

She somehow always found a way to kick the ball into the room with me! Anytime I tried to work on any bodies, I had to kick the ball away long enough to keep her searching for it.

If she found me cutting a pony open work was ground to a halt. Her discovery would result in me finding a crying filly attached to my legs. I say legs now because I swear she grew large enough to grasp two at once, or at least learned that I am mostly bones.

She would protest and give me looks as though I’d betrayed her. Then turn to them and look back at me with a look that begged to be comforted. I tried to get away but found to no avail.

She may be a filly, but, nonetheless, an earth pony latched onto your legs is impossible to remove! I also noticed it was incredibly hard for her energy to go down, as her hold wouldn’t loosen for hours.

I began to work on the seventh day when she came up to me with the soccer ball bouncing against her pink mane.

I looked at her, then the ball before batting it away. My effort seemed to have been in vain, as Life Sapphire ran over to it, retrieved it and came running back up to me with it. This lesson of fetch was repeated no less than four times in the span of minutes. Finally, on the fifth occurrence when she brought the ball up to me, I seized it with my magic and put it atop the medical cabinet, far from her reach. “Life Sapphire, look, I am very busy and have work that has to be done. Please go into my office and keep yourself entertained!” My voice was stern, that of the master of this house… er, morgue.

Life Sapphire's burst into tears and give off that wheezing sound as she sobbed. Despite the distraction, I tried to ignore it and continue working.Try as I might, however, the sound of her sobs eventually got to me.

Something about her cries caused pain in my heart, something I hadn’t experienced in all of my centuries as a lich. I felt guilty for her tears, as though her streaks of sadness shouldn't be gracing such a face. Even if I must admit that a foal’s head is simply too large compared to its body! The scene was almost comical. Guilt coursed through me and I wanted to push it away. Emotions were beyond me, this was frustrating to no end to feel them again. To feel interest and delights of cute mixed with the feeling of need to care for another.

Unable to process bodies under such conditions, my frustration steadily built for several minutes. Finally, I snapped and flung my scalpel across the room. “Will you stop crying!?” My shout surprised even me. I watched her eyes get bigger and the expression on her face tense up. I leaned in, ready to strike this little annoyance!

For six days I had played her games, dealt with her, had to train her to use the toilet! The fact that she was my responsibility had not been lost on me in the slightest. The day I could turn her to social services could not come faster!

But Luna had decreed and Celestia had agreed. I had never failed nor disappointed in a millenium, I wasn’t about to start! I hadn't let her out of my sight, even when I had ponies to examine, causes of death to discover, and potential new medical breakthroughs to achieve. Life Sapphire's constant need for attention, nagging, and otherwise interruptions to my research had grown beyond my patience!

I had enough! I could tolerate a whole lot, save for this filly's aptitude for interference. Her crying only got worse and she walked away from me, leaving a river of salty tears in her wake.

“Great, you do realize I'm gonna have to clean this up as well.” I called after her before making for my cleaning closet.

As I was mopping up those tears, Sapphire approached me. Timidly, she pressed a hoof against my own, and I tried to ignore her. Peeved, I stopped my mopping and I lowered my eyes on her. Hate, another emotion I hadn’t experienced in so very long. Once my gaze reached her eyes, I noticed they were full of tears and that she had my scalpel secured in her mouth. It was covered in her slobber, and she was offering it to me.

She looked truly innocent, what with her precious, tear-reddened cheeks. At the mere sight of her, I felt something in my heart give and it beat again--not just once this time, but for several passing seconds. A warmth coursed through me as I reached down and accepted the scalpel into my own mouth from her. I am a lich and a unicorn, so why I did not simply grab it with magic is beyond me. There was some overpowering instinct to use my mouth in the same manner she had done. I ensured to avoid any actual physical contact with her but regardless, she nuzzled my cheek as I withdrew.

I don't know if it had been the seven days at this point--seven days of utter hell I'd been through, I might add--or perhaps it was her sweet and innocent attempt to be nice to me, but something inside me had changed. I couldn't describe what that was, but this annoying brat who couldn't speak a word had, with one action, said more than I could fathom to say to a colleague I had wronged in the most damning of ways and never meant to.

I set the scalpel down and turned to her. She began to tear up, and my vision softened. I… I felt something for her. I didn’t have words for it at this moment, but I felt like I shouldn't be so harsh or angry towards this little filly who didn't understand. Being hesitant at first, I placed a hoof onto her head and gently stroked that obnoxiously pink mane of hers. I realized now the soccer ball matched her mane color. My decaying, centuries-old lich hoof stroked her mane till her tears dried and her sobs subsided.

“Life Sapphire,” I uttered. “I'm sorry. I just, I never planned to take care of a filly. I… I’m sorry I shouted at you. I suppose, after over 1000 years, I have enough vacation time for a little shenanigans.”

Before I could say more, I paused and bit back my decrepit lip. I was at a loss for words, this act was terrifying. The fact that this filly could forgive me so easily made my heart now beat regularly; every eleven seconds my phylactery would pulse and I would feel an accompanying warmth. I kept trying to find the words, though I feared the risk of saying anything that’d disappoint her.

The thought that I had conceived of my next words, and much less that they had passed through my filter and out my mouth, shocked me. “I should learn more about living ponies, fillies specifically.”

At that, her tears departed from those lovely sanguine eyes. Yes, at this point I will admit, I began to realize she has much more to her than what her appearance would have me believe.

Life Sapphire leaned over and happily nuzzled my hoof, then pointed at the ball atop the medical cabinet. I enveloped it in my magic and levitated the object down to her. She happily jumped on it and rolled with the ball that was entirely too large for her. It was like watching a hamster try to pick up its wheel and walk around with it.

“I suppose we should go outside with that; don't want you accidentally breaking my equipment.” Within seconds, I cringed at my own statement.

Outside!? In the sunlight!? Willingly!? I hadn’t been outside for leisure in so long that I doubt I could stand it. In her excitement, Sapphire bounced up against my forelegs and somehow ended up in control of the ball, balanced perfectly on it with her belly.

I was quite amused to see her having to use her entire body to encompassed the ball and hold it still at the same time. Those big red eyes of hers were staring at me in anticipation. With how worked up she was, she was sure to cry again if I didn't take her outside. If she did that, then I would feel that pain of guilt and sadness that I had before.

Great, I was stuck doing this whether I desire to or not.

***

“Hold on a moment, are you telling me you kept a foal indoors for seven days straight? And around dead bodies no less?” Doctor Horses questioned.

Just then, a note was passed under the door as the red bar-plate at the top swirled back inside the room with us. The plate’s color determined that its meaning, whatever the bloodwork had turned up, Sapphire wasn’t going to spread her illness to other living ponies.

There was no physical need for me to clear my throat, but I did so anyhow before answering him. “Well... yes. I had work to do at the time.”

Sapphire coughed, forcing me to pause and consider what may be going on with her. I watched that small filly’s chest rise and fall, her breaths getting more and more shallow than before. Tear glands protested their inability for an undead creature to cry anymore than in small bursts. My heart was beating rapidly inside, its protective safe miles away. Though I could feel it, pounding like it were still inside my chest.

Moments later, I turned back to Doctor Horses, as I was struck with a horrifying revelation.

“Are… are you saying I could be the cause of her affliction?” I asked.

Doctor Horses held up the note and skimmed his hoof over the paper as he read through it. “Mm, that’s a possibility, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. Looking at her bloodwork here, all we can determine is that her blood pressure is too low. Other than that, nothing infectious has been found.”

Setting the results down, Doctor Horses’s horn glowed once more as he conducted another examination on Life Sapphire. The resulting light his magic gave off was so bright that I shielded Life Sapphire's closed eyes with my hoof.

“Please, continue with your story,” he said. “She’s still in critical condition. Her pulse and blood pressure are far too low to maintain consciousness. Finding a more likely cause will take time and expertise.”

“Um, would it not be more prudent for me to--” Before I could finish that sentence, I fell silent when the doctor held up a hoof and shook his head.

“I already know what you’re going to say, and the answer is no. You’re an examiner of the dead, not a surgeon for the living. I’ll examine her, but you must give me a complete history of everything that transpired while she was in your care.” Doctor Horses reaffirmed then turned back to examining with his horn as I started to speak once more.

I did notice now though she was growing much slowly, starting at her bulbous head and working methodically over each vein, artery, organ, and bone to find the cause of Life Sapphire's inability to wake up.

Following doctor’s orders, I did just that and continued on with my tale.

Reviving a Long Dead Soul

The park turned out to be quite the busy scene. Foals played on merry-go-rounds and swing-sets, all while vigilant parents watched from the sidelines. Then, of course, there was us. Mothers shielded their foals as we neared, and stallions snorted at me like I was some sort of apparition to be challenged.

Clearly this only proved how little they understood that my work advances developments for vaccines, armor for our guards, and proper responses to major crisis, like an attack from an Ursa Major for one. Some respect would be nice!

As I opened my mouth to let my thoughts fly loose on them, that little blue ball of playful cuteness smacked the pink ball against my hoof, which then rolled back to her. She wheezed a little, though in a higher, excited pitch as she held a bright smile. Looking down at her, my thoughts were shattered by the sight.

Sapphire kicked the ball again, sending it to bounce off my hoof. In response, I reared my leg back, ready to kick it again, only to have her charge in and headbutt the ball some few yards behind me.

The sprint to the ball must have felt like miles to Sapphire. I had kicked it nearly six times the length of my body. What was just a few hoofsteps for me must have felt like a football field to her. While I watched her run for it, I felt some sort of tug. My heart had begun to beat in rhythm, something I couldn’t remember the last time I felt.

Realizing that I had been staring off at nothing in my pondering, I looked down to see the red eyes of Life Sapphire staring at me, expectantly.

“You... want me to hit the ball back to you?” I asked.

She squeaked, her chest puffed out all proud while her eyes begged for me to do it. Doing as she wished, I approached the ball and took my position accordingly. Dozens of parents had their eyes trained on me. Some foals peeked out from between their mothers’ front legs, which meant the staring was joined by a chorus of eyes too big for their tiny heads.

I looked at the obnoxiously pink, checkered white soccer ball, then at Life Sapphire. With the softest kick, I gently nudged it forward, just enough to get it three quarters of the way to her. For some reason, I thought for a moment that an earth pony of all things could be fragile or easily broken.

Sapphire didn’t seem to mind that kick, as she bounded forward and turned to full-on buck the ball back at me. The effort on her part was titanic for her size, but all it did was bounce off me like a rubber ball hitting a fortified bunker. The ball even squeaked in a similar pitch to her.

I looked around and slowly removed my hood. I didn’t have a real reason. I felt like if Sapphire could see my face in the sun, she would feel safer and open up more as I did to the other ponies around me. I realized I had just revealed my centuries-old undead face, for her. Not because she wanted me to, but because I wanted her to feel better.

I must have looked hideous to all of them. Mothers gasped and clung to their foals to protect them again. Even the fathers looked disturbed by my visage; most turned away, shielding themselves with a hoof. Foals tried to get through, as they tried get closer so they could stare in pure, innocent curiosity. All the children playing on playground equipment stopped what they were doing and looked on in my direction. The groaning squeaks of screws and swing lines punctured the moment as they ground to a stop.

The sun made me uncomfortable. Its light hitting against my centuries-old flesh almost burned like flames. Wincing under the rays, I lowered my sight, allowing my eyes to refocus on the world around me. Life Sapphire looked concerned as she walked over to me, placing a hoof against my leg. I focused on her, then slowly redirected my attention to the ponies around me. That was when something overcame me.

The sun… it… it felt nice. Even the burning sensation against my flesh, was overshadowed by the feeling it caused deep inside my core. I was being revitalized from the inside out by the effect of feeling it upon me once again. It was like a relieving of pent-up stress that had been bottled up for ages and all my work had faded into the background of my mind for once.

How? How had this little foal, who can't even speak, touch me in ways that hundreds of ponies through the centuries couldn't? I felt a need now, the need to be close to this little foal. Within the next few passing moments, I was surprised to find that, for the first time since I became the creature I am, I was hugging another pony. I had a hoof wrapped around her, holding her close.

In response, she looked at me with big meaningful eyes and jumped up to kiss my cheek. The need to bathe was brought to mind by this and I could only stare in surprise that she could jump that high. I felt the need to draw in air into long necrotic lungs and took a breath that tasted sweeter than strawberries perfectly ripe at the moment of harvest time.

Two curious foals approached us and prodded my foreleg that wasn't holding the tiny bundle of cuteness. There, I said it! She’s cute and it had affected me! “Uh, mister… can we play with...” They looked at Life Sapphire, and I understood the nomenclature. They wanted her name.

“Her name is Life Sapphire, and if she’s okay with playing with you, then yes. Just be aware that she can't talk.” The two foals looked two each other, brother and sister if I had to guess. After silently coming to a decision, they looked to me and nodded in unison with big welcoming smiles

“We’ll take care of her, we promise!” They seemed so full of glee that it was infectious. I let out a chuckle, a laugh even. It gave them a frightened sour look, which was understandable given how awful I sounded when I laugh I’ve been told it’s like hooves grinding on a chalkboard with a bass speaker broadcasting it at too high a volume.

“Life Sapphire,” I asked, looking to her, “do you wanna play with them?”

She pulled away from the hug and looked at the two very shyly. She moved to hide behind my hooves, and I felt this parental need to expose her to them.

“Go on, I'm sure...” Now it was my turn to repeat the cultural interrogation of name extraction.

“I'm Sun Bandit!” called out the little pegasus colt with enthusiasm.

His sister, an earth pony, giggled at him and hit his hoof. “Bandit, that isn't how you get a shy one to play with us. Why don’t you join us Life Sapphire? I'm Alluring Flower, it’s nice to meet you.”

Moments later, I observed Sapphire as she slowly started to take steps towards them. What I did next to help encourage her was a whole new kind of pain, as I was the last thing from subtle or shy. I nudged her flank forward, pushing the little blue furred-responsibility towards them.

“Go on, Life Sapphire, I'll be watching from right here,” I assured her.

She looked at me in an uncertain manner, then did the same to them. After Sapphire gave a wheezing squeak in her confusion, Alluring Flower, a yellow earth pony with a mud brown mane, walked right up and hugged her. Sapphire looked just as baffled as I did days ago when she had arrived. Despite looking uncomfortable at first, Sapphire soon hugged back and let out a happy shrill that would have put a surprised bunny to shame.

After the three ran off to play, I picked out a spot and watched her all day. Anytime she fell down I felt this need to run over and comfort her. Not that she needed it, as she was always determined to get back up and resume playing. As for the parents of the other foals, however, well... they spent the day trying to understand Sapphire and me. One by one they approached, until soon enough I found myself the center of a little gathering.

They didn't dare to ask too many questions, but the foals prodded and pestered their parents for additional information. I had given them everything I possibly could think of by the day’s end: a formal biology education on ponies, an informal education on necromancy, Luna's decree concerning Life Sapphire and me as well as a promise to bring her back to play as soon as I could. The subject of Life Sapphire attending school came up, something that hadn’t crossed my mind.

“And how would I go about it? And would a school be properly prepared to teach a student who can't speak?” I asked the parents.

“Oh yes! I'm sure Miss Cheerilee in Ponyville would be an excellent teacher,” was one of their suggestions.

“Ponyville?” I questioned. “That’s a long way way to travel; five days to a week, isn't it?” I never found out that mare's name, but she smirked at me and nodded.

“Yes, but we are originally from there. I would rather have the commute than disrupt their lives by making them switch schools. You are aware of how cruel children can be to new kids aren’t you? It would give my little Alluring Flower and Sun Bandit will have somepony else to ride with.”

She had just made friends with said foals only a few moments ago. What she said made sense, and after I thought about it for a moment, placing a hoof against my lip.

“What if... teleportation was an option?” That comment of mine seemed to have confused her, as she stared and blinked at me a few times.

“Why, that would be lovely, but what unicorn has the magic to...” Once what I was hinting towards came to her, her words trailed off and she looked to me with hopeful enthusiasm.

I had just restructured my life for this foal in the last ten minutes. Ws this truly worth doing? Wouldn’t my work interfere with all this effort? Would trips to Ponyville be worth it everyday? Would I get the same feeling I have now? These are questions that I had no answers to. But I knew one answer and it was meant for Princess Luna.

I must go speak with Luna, now.

***

“Ah, so you're the one providing the Canterlot to Ponyville school teleportation service?” Doctor Horses asked, opening the door so Nurse Redheart could enter and hand him another set of files as well as a medical journal. I read the title, “Genetic Disorders” by Doctor Bone Daddy. 8th Edition.

The presence of my own book raised some alarm in me. “Doctor Horses, what does she have?”

Without giving a reply, the doctor let out a sigh and opened the book. I couldn't see where exactly he stopped flipping through it, but I could make out from the diagrams that he was either reading the nervous system or cardiovascular section.. Yes, I had read that book that many times. I mean, when you write 8 editions of something from scratch you tend to remember exactly were each section in each edition is.

Appearing to have found what he was looking for, Doctor Horses grimaced, then motioned a hoof to the other chair in the room. Life Sapphire took another long breath accompanied by a wheeze. I could see the pain written on her face and I would give anything now to rectify that. I wanted her to just open her eyes and see me again, to look into the window of her soul and feel my own let out a sigh of relief.

By now, even my long-dead tear glands had reawakened and I was openly crying as I tried to recall what her eyes looked like open. The hope they had, the desire to play, the willingness to be patient. She was a beautiful little foal and I wanted to see her grow up to become a wonderful mare. I knew what a doctor telling you to sit down meant though. It was not something I had even considered or prepared for.

“Let's have a long talk about this,” Doctor Horses uttered softly. “Can you tell me when she started passing out? What exactly happened?”

The sounds of the hospital droned on outside in the hall as I started to recall when she began to sleep a lot longer than what I considered to be normal.

An Overdue Meeting

I want to make sure the record of all the events are detailed out. I need to make sure that when she wakes up, she has the full story. I needed to go speak with Princess Luna. My decision had been made. I had written a notice the day before to inform them of my arrival this time. I wanted this to be smoother than last time and less, confrontational.

I arrived in the royal court, once again with the guards keeping me at hoof length while ready to lower their spears if I made the slightest wrong move. Life Sapphire and several other colts and fillies were all delivered to school. I had decided that I would attend Miss Cheerilee's class to see why so many parents preferred her to the Canterlot schools. Today however, a decision was to be presented to Luna.

There was a stallion scrubbing hard at the floor, he looked up and glared at me. Black soot hoofprints lined the carpet as I walked by and I looked down at him. I realized they were my prints from nearly two weeks ago. I checked where I was stepping to see that my hooves were not putting out the dark magics of the Necronomicon.

I looked at him and nervously smiled, “You should try ammonia, assuming the carpet and rugs will be fine with it.” I suggested and he just burrowed his brow at me. He did not stop staring while we all walked towards the antechamber.

I looked at the escort around me and then at the doors, “I suppose that it will take a very long time before any of you trust me.” I royal guards only growled at me and I looked at them nervously. No mercy for the formerly wicked I suppose.

The doors opened and Celestia nearly spat out her tea, I looked at the royal crier who just looked back at me nervously. I approached still under guard, Luna wasn't present in the royal throne room. I approached and decided if I was gonna be nice, I should at least try to play by their rules. I gave a bow to her.

She nodded back and set her tea aside as Cadence walked in. I looked incredibly perplexed at her presence, shouldn't Cadence be in the Crystal Empire? “Where is Princess Luna? I came here to meet with her.” I managed to get out. I felt someone behind me and turned my head, Luna was standing there, coming in from the same door as I had.

“Guard, you may leave. We need to talk to Bone Daddy, privately.” Celestia invited them in a way that you knew was an order without directly commanding a pony. There was a salute in unison and within a minute we found ourselves alone.

“This seems a bit excessive to meet with me, I only wished to express that I—“ I was motioned off my a hoof wave and a touch of the armored horse shoe Luna wore.

“We had a very long talk among ourselves before I told you the decision. I still feel horrible about this situation and we should have a very long talk since you are here.” Luna stepped forward and motioned me to follow her towards the throne.

“The logistical mistake of the foal arriving while alive to your facility was a terrible, awful thing to have happen. Our initial reaction was to rescue the poor filly and bury you once again. However, Celestia saw an opportunity that I did not.” Luna walked up the ramp to the throne set aside for her and took a seat.

“It was wrong to allow you to work the way you have. To think that keeping the status quo was okay.” Cadence stepped forward and looks at the twin sisters then back to me. “They consulted me and while we've put some debate into the decision and monitored your actions closely; it is one that even I reluctantly agreed to.”

I glared at Celestia and Cadence then Luna, “You mean you did this and knew why I was coming here. You manipulated me into this!” I felt a seething rage filling me and I wanted to lash out in that moment at these two princesses asking like harlets to me!

Celestia calmly raised her head towards me and spoke very even toned with a simple set of orders. “Bone Daddy calm yourself. We are the rulers of Equestria and while we do not often directly interfere in everypony's life; we do know when something is wrong and when we have done something wrong. Allow us to explain ourselves and then make your judgment.” Her voice was a near shout that would scare down a dragon. I nodded to her.

“Letting you continue your work was one thing, but you had allowed it to consume you. You have done such wonderful work for us for so long; allowing you to remain an unfeeling husk was wrong.” Luna spoke and knelt down towards me. “You have my sincere apologies but I feared we were doing you a disservice. Leaving you forgotten within the morgue.”

She paused and shook her head, “I feared most of all, you were missing out on so many enjoyments of life that you were simply a robotic servant to us.”

“They had all but forgotten about you, allowed you to get lost with all of the projects that fell by the wayside with my banishment. For you continue to do work for us, even with us paying you, is not near enough reward for your service. Most of all, no pony should spend as much time as you have in the company of death without a life outside of that. For that, we do apologize, two wrongs do not make a right.” Celestia picked up her tea and took a long sip.

Cadence sighed and looked at the two of them then shook her head, “I informed them this was highly unlikely to work and what a terrible idea it was. However, Celestia pointed out that something drastic was required, I only agreed if they agreed to 24 hour monitoring.” Cadence almost seemed like she might actually have some venom in her voice directed at the twins before returning her gaze to me. “I did however concede the only way to save you from becoming a true monster was to reawaken your emotions. I insisted we have a way to keep the foal under watch and see what would happen if you were entrusted with a living being under your care. I felt that love for some pony other than yourself might bring you back.”

She paused and nodded, “I’ve been watching you closely for the last two weeks, everything you’ve done and on two occasions nearly stepped in to remove her from your care. Nearly, but you proved I was wrong to worry and that you were in fact capable of reawakening that in you that was long dead.”

Luna placed a hoof to her chest and then closed her eyes, her face looked heavy with remorse as she spoke, “I wanted a better fate for you than all of this. It was the best we could do, I am sorry for that. I understand if your decision is that we should stop this immediately.”

My cup of rage wanted to boil over, I wanted to shout and rage to them the world over. Necromanic magics poured off my body, staining the carpet and even the marble floor around me. I felt myself losing control and wanting to purely unload upon the princesses exactly how I felt! A cold wind blew from within my robes and lifted them up as my vision started to go red.

The princesses braced themselves and I saw their horns flair. They truly thought I was about to unleash some magical attack. No this was just how I reacted when anger gripped me, I was about to attack yes but as a piece of my mind!

Just as I was about to lay into the princesses how I felt, something feel from my robes. A tiny piece of paper with crayon on it. My eyes darted to it and what I saw made me stop. “What is that?” Celestia asked as I lowered my hoof and took a closer look. A child's drawing, rather well done for crayon of me. I was holding the hoof of Life Sapphire and behind us were two graves. I looked happy, my eyes were gentle even.

I was genuinely impressed and had realized now that if she could not speak; she must be drawing and learning to hoof sign. Her artistry was becoming something noteworthy. But that wasn't the important part, I checked my robes and discovered that within my notes pocket were dozens of pictures, each one getting progressively better. I hadn't realized how much she drew till now. I needed to pay better attention to her. I needed, her.

My rage drained, I was still upset but no, I could not possibly punish that little filly for their manipulation. I could feel again, something besides contempt and cold calculated work. I could breath again, my heart had a rhythm, I even cared to not cause undue discomfort to other ponies. A realization I hadn't made till I'd seen the pony scrubbing the strains still in place from my last visit.

I raised my head back to the princesses and huffed, “I am angry with you. I have every right to tell you all off and explain just how you violated my trust.” Their expressions turned cold and hard as I spoke but I held up a hoof. “However, if not for this, I would not appreciate life and the living as I do now. In just a few weeks, your experiment has turned my life and the perceptions about it in a complete one-eighty. This I cannot deny.”

As they softened I walked to the edge of the ramp up to the royal thrones. “I will require some time to think and reevaluate our working relationship but, I can assure you, we will find a way to work this out. You did try to use two wrongs to make a right. The only right things here though, is that Life Sapphire has a new father and that you came to me in honesty today.”

The princesses all gave nervous smiles, they liked that news but the foreboding of my mood indicated that they knew I was not finished with them. “I would like to make arrangements to keep her and raise her as my own. I would also like to assure you, you don't need to watch or monitor me anymore. While my work may suffer, I will not allow her to and I will be visiting Ponyville tomorrow as a speaker for Miss Cheerilee's class.”

Luna and Cadence looked a bit surprised I did not hate them but seemed content with this answer. Celestia on the other hand took a sip of tea and had a smug smile upon her face. I would swear she had planned all this and knew how it would play out. I didn't care now, I only cared that they knew they had much to answer for later and that I was keeping Life Sapphire. “If nothing else, I have matters to attend today and I suspect there is paperwork I should tend to over this.”

Luna approached me down the ramp. Slowly and deliberately, we all watched as she made her way down the ramp to me. She offered a hoof towards me, I looked at it. Slowly I reached up and gave it a shake, “We are trying to not make the same mistakes of the past. If that means making all new ones, then hopefully it will make us better rulers for the future. Thank you, Bone Daddy. We will talk about your work situation in greater detail at the end of the month. For now, I give you permission to take off, full paid vacation time with your new daughter.”

I nodded at her and then grimaced, “I have enough vacation time built up to take a year off and still have not made a dent in it. I appreciate that I have your blessing for the time.” I gathered up the drawings Life Sapphire made and turned to walk out, escorted by Luna herself this time instead of the guards.

Author's Note

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Taking a Vacation

I was waiting at the teleportation point. The park seemed like a suitable point where Morning Harmony could drop off her two foals. There were four of us in total. Canterlot had perfectly good schools but as illustrated by Morning Harmony, keeping her children with their friends was important. She was trying to be a good mother and protect her children, I was trying to let Life Sapphire have these friends and honestly, I was relieved she would have two protectors at school everyday.

Today I would find out first hand. I started to charge the spell, “Alright, everyone get close.” I softly requested of them. The small ponies got close and one of them began to make hoof signs towards Life Sapphire, she laughed. A hoarse squeak that sounded like a chewed chew-toy.

I envisioned the tunnel to the schoolhouse and took my step, there was another bright flash. The fillies and colts were now standing with me, right at the fork in the road to the schoolhouse. I was so incredibly nervous. I had learned already that children could be harsh and blunt. Unlike their parents, who would hold their tongues, they would just blurt out what they thought.

I had to admit, it was a change of pace to care what other ponies thought. However, if I was to be a fit parent for Life Sapphire and hold close to the thing that reawakened my heart; I had to fit a certain role. I had to reintegrate into pony society. This was one more step towards that.

The previous day with Luna testing my limits, my patience was not boding well either. Not to mention I was dealing with children whom were rather loud to say the least. At what point do pony children actually learn volume control is beyond me!

I slowly walked up to the schoolhouse, now with Life Sapphire grabbing onto my hoof and leading me up to the step with a very stern looking Miss Cheerilee standing there. My fashion sense hadn’t changed at all. Cheerilee wrapped it in magic, cleaning it off with her powers first. Then she folded the collar and pulled the hemp up, making the inner cloth that was a lighter shade show out. I looked at her perplexed and she smiled to me.

“Trust me, the kids will respond better to brighter colors. This will really make them show off for you.” She paused and had an idea. “We should let the kids decorate it!” Her voice was very high and cherry on those words.

“If you believe they will find a way to decorate black without making it awful; I would agree.” I replied, the idea of having something a bit more, passionate, to wear sparked an interest to say the least. Even if it was a cloak made by children whom I transported to and from school, it would be better than this drab thing. Funny how when other pay attention to you, you start to care what you look like.

I walked inside and while excited children’s voices continued. They chased and played tagged while others had gotten out several toys ranging from trains to models of discord and the Bearers of Harmony. “Alright class, come on now, Dr. Bone Daddy didn’t take his day off work to watch you all play.” Cheerilee called out. She snickered and looked at me and I stared back.

“I assume you are laughing at the name?” I replied with my own grin.

“It’s pretty funny. I do apologize, I couldn’t help myself.” She said as her laughter calmed down.

“Well it is actually not my name, it’s just what I’ve let everyone call me since before even the pillars existed.” I replied and smiled back at her. I had gotten so used to it, with so little interaction, that it is the only thing the vast majority would ever know to call me.

“Oh, you will have to tell me your real name,” She replied with a nudge against my shoulder which creaked in response.

I smiled back and nodded then began to speak. “Hello, class, how many of you have been to the doctors’?” Some of them nodded, many of them stared at my odd appearance. I smiled as Life Sapphire looked very proud with her eyes wide open at me and her chest pushed out. I gave a small nod to her. “Did you know that much of the medical knowledge they have is from my work with dead ponies?”

There was a chores of whoahs and looks of disbelief. These children were either easily wowed or highly sceptical, with few in between. I really wanted to know what the more inquisitive ones had to say.

“That is correct, I work with the dead to determine why and how we can prevent it in the future. Every doctor, every nurse,” I checked my vocabulary so they would clearly understand what I was saying. “Has had some sort of book that I wrote which they studied, to help you when you are sick.”

The skeptics in the room seemed to only get more skeptical. For children, they certainly were not the easiest to impress and win over. “You may have also noticed my appearance, some of you even shied away from me. It’s okay, I am not exactly a normal pony anymore.”

I paused. How do I tell children how old I really am, and do so without encouraging them to follow a path to dark magic. It has helped me live a very long time. Yet my body had corrupted. The same magic that I had allowed to corrupt my emotions and empathy for others. I had turned nearly into a living machine of doctorial science.

Yet here I am, talking to children about it. I knew if I encouraged it; the decision I had made would be followed by others. I could not allow them to live so long with a life so hollow.

Miss Cheerilee saw my distress and put a hoof against my shoulder, “Hey, go on. You can tell them. The Princesses sent a letter ahead to make sure I would prepare them properly and be ready to answer their questions.” I was surprised and then nodded, they were still keeping an eye on me, even after our argument.

I wanted to be mad at them but my logic side of my brain pointed out the obvious, wouldn’t you do the same thing? I nodded to Cheerilee and then turned my head back to the class that were all staring at me.

“I have been alive since before Nightmare was banished, before the Pillars of Equestria. Back when ponies were desperate for ways to survive and fight off the dangers of our world.” I paused and allowed them all a moment to take that in. “I am a necromancer, someone whose magic is made to work with creatures who are dead. Back in those days, ponies used anything we could to fight off the dangers around us.”

I paused and let it all sink in, “You may have guessed from my appearance that the magical corruption has done much to my body but it has made me stop aging. I have been conducting work for the princesses in the royal mortuary for over 1000 years.” The skeptics faces were changing and the students were clearly wowed by all of this. Life Sapphire had sat up straight and stared at me. She wanted to know exactly what I had to say.

I realized that after saying all that out loud, why I had become as I was before Life Sapphire. I had focused so much upon physical health so much and writing research papers, I had forgotten the things I wrote them for. I had to tell them what I had discovered.

I stared into her eyes and choose my next words carefully. I wasn’t speaking to the classroom anymore. I was speaking just to her. She had to know how much she really meant to me.

“Doctors, Farmers, and Politicians are things you need for society to function. We are required to feed you, take care of the sick, and make laws to protect to you.” I took a breath and my throat felt dry.

Standing in front of Life Sapphire had managed to bring a veteran researcher without peer to a realization that had I missed. “However, there is no point to this without artists, writers, and musicians. Without something as simple as family or love, you lose what it means to be a pony. You lose your equiniti and without those things that evoke our emotions; we would not see just how special each of your special talents truly are.”

I looked at all of them, “Understand that part of my profession is sacrificing much of that for the purpose of making an artist live longer, making a princess healed, or helping a soldier have better armor.” I smiled at those bright red eyes and closed my softly as I said the next words.

“Please know that my job is not one I recommend for anypony but it is a profession that must be done if we hope to understand disease, injury, and prolonging our lives to be happy and healthy.” I opened my eyes because there was a sensation of weight clinging to my leg. I looked down to see her, my daughter, hugging me tight.

I leaned down and nuzzled against her mane, ruffling it. “And in my case, having a family is what helped me to see that.” She stared up at me with big expecting eyes, like she understand just how hard it was to admit any of that to any pony around me.

She embraced me tighter, and I could only smile in return, “Thank you, my Life Sapphire.” With those words I hugged her back. In this moment, I truly knew what it was to be alive, again.

The rest of the day was spent answering their questions. It was refreshing to change my day to be devoted towards educating others. The one question I will always remember from them was: “So how do I get your job?” I didn’t have an answer. I didn’t want to encourage an earth pony to study necromancy and dark arts but I didn’t know how I had achieved my own profession.

If I had more time to reflect on this I would. What happened instead was recess before lunch and that is where Our Story Together, Life Sapphire with me comes to a close.

I learned the rules of hoofball and acted as their referee to host as close to a real game for the foals. The game was going well, with back and forth, the unicorn’s took a bit to understand NO MAGIC but once they got it, the ball was rolling. I thoroughly enjoyed watching her have the time of her life and will admit, I did make a call or two that was in her favor. Sometimes, even objectivity is worth losing.

Author's Note

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What it means to be a Parent

Author's Note

Hey guys, you made it to the end of the story.

I would ask you take a moment and read this note.

Please do come hang out on discord, look at my YouTube pony content or other YouTube stuff or check me out on Live Stream on Twitch Wednesday night at 9pm-2am for Fallout: Equestria - Dead Tree, Season 2.

Hope you enjoy and this ending is what you were hoping for.

Fiaura

Fallout: Equestria - Dead Tree Written Story: https://www.fimfiction.net/story/393681/fallout-equestria-dead-tree
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What it means to be a Parent

“Ah, so you're the one providing the Canterlot-to-Ponyville school teleportation service for Morning Harmony and her little ones?” Doctor Horses asked, opening the door so Nurse Redheart could enter and hand him another set of files as well as a medical journal. I read the title, Genetic Disorders by Doctor Steady Spell. 8th Edition. My very own book I had updated 8 times.

The presence of my own book raised some alarm in me. “Doctor Horses, what does she have?”

Without giving a reply, the doctor let out a sigh and opened the book. I couldn't see where exactly he stopped flipping through it, but I could make out from the diagrams that he was either reading the nervous system or cardiovascular section.
Appearing to have found what he was looking for, Doctor Horses grimaced, then motioned a hoof to the other chair in the room. Life Sapphire took another long breath accompanied by a wheeze. I could see the pain written on her face and I would give anything now to rectify that. I wanted her to just open her eyes and see me again, to look into the window of her soul and feel my own let out a sigh of relief.

By now, even my long-dead tear glands had reawakened and I was crying as I tried to recall the colour of her eyes. The hope they had held, the desire to play, the willingness to be patient. She was a beautiful little foal and I wanted to see her grow up to become a wonderful mare. I knew what a doctor telling you to sit down meant though. It was not something I had even considered or prepared for.

“Let's have a long talk about this,” Doctor Horses uttered softly. “Can you tell me when she started passing out? What exactly happened?”

The sounds of the hospital droned on outside in the hall as I started to recall when she began to sleep a lot longer than what I considered to be normal.

***

I began to regularly venture forth from my morgue every morning. My precious work had fallen behind to the point where I would never be able to produce a medical paper of any value this month. Rather than doing that, I was instead attending meetings with Miss Cheerilee, the teacher who was highly recommended by the parents at the park. Instead of filing reports and working on bodies that sat in stasis chambers, I was escorting school children to and from a teleportation point. Instead of closing unsolved cases of pony deaths, I played ball in the park with Life Sapphire.

Cheerilee was so nice, even with my disposition as a Lich. She took her time to teach me the same beginner sign language she was instructing Life Sapphire so I could interpret what she wanted to express. If I had spent more time living in the present, I might have learned hoof language well before Life Sapphire came along. Despite my shortcomings, every time Life Sapphire's face was brought before my gaze, I’d smile. Yes, I know a near lipless smile that is all teeth isn't much of a smile, but to me and that little foal, it was a beautiful exchange nonetheless.

My heart would actually beat in her presence, a feeling I had grown accustomed to not having anymore. It was a strange sensation, but very much welcome all the same. I soon realized that, when I felt the sun upon my decayed skin, inhaling deep and breathing became... normal. All of these sensations of being alive, it felt like my soul had been revived. I wanted to protect this precious little creature that had brought such joy to my un-life.

Happiness. It was so precious, so fleeting. Without Life Sapphire, I’d be sure to fall into my dark mood again. It was like night and day; I couldn't focus on work to the point where I spent a day at the schoolhouse with Miss Cheerilee, teaching the children about medicine. Of course, Cheerilee had to see my lesson plan first and approve it, with a few slightly significant modifications here and there.

For once, the look of horror on another’s face wasn’t comforting nor did it bring me sadistic glee. Suddenly worried with my profession and being around dead bodies what I might be doing to Life Sapphire. So far, she seemed perfectly content with things, and she was always happy to take hours telling me through hoof language about what she learned in school.

I was happy as well, happy to stay and watch, learn, and entertain her. I realized, she had rewritten my unlife into a state of living once again. I was able to appreciate the good that my work had done to help doctors have a better grasp in their fields, as a hundred healthy foals ran around playing, completely safe from disease. I felt pride at the worthy cause.

The world rushed back to the present, and I found myself staring at Doctor Horseses. He’d been patient so far, and it was only now that he was gesturing for me to hurry up and get to the part he wanted. I nodded and started to speak, only to hesitate as I felt water in my eyes. No, they were tears. I felt the warmth of salty tears rolling across my cheeks for the first time in 1203 years.

“She… she collapsed three days ago. At first, I assumed it was from her being worn completely out.” I wanted to smash my head into the desk for not realizing something was wrong sooner. “She slept nearly ten hours, which I thought was unusual but nothing more than that. The following day, it was another fourteen hours of sleep.”

I looked up at Doctor Horses, having explained all of this. “T-today, she won't wake up and I don't know what’s wrong!” My shouting caused Life Sapphire to whimper and struggle in her sleep. I hoped against hope that she would wake up, but her breathing resumed being shallow, too shallow for any pony to be awake.

Doctor Horses adjusted his glasses and placed a hoof against my shoulder. “Bone Daddy, she’s dying... Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Her heart is far too large for her body. It won't beat properly.” I felt horror, dread from those words. Something inside me had torn apart. My heart pounded so furiously I thought it might explode inside its glass case. “It’s… it’s a genetic anomaly. You wouldn’t have caught it unless you already knew what you were looking for.”

I turned to him and stopped my hoof. “I know what it is! I wrote the medical journal on the condition! She needs a--”

Doctor Horses stomped his hoof to silence me. “Transplant. I know. The problem is that, because she’s a foal, a properly enchanted heart would need to be prepared or a donor would have to be available immediately. We have neither of those things!” Rising from his seat, he then got between me and Life Sapphire. “The best thing you can do is comfort her and hope she gets a transplant donor in the time she has left.”

The realization hit me like a brick wall. Life Sapphire would die. W-wait, I'm a necromancer pony! Death is a quick and easy fix, I could... I couldn’t complete that thought. A giant no hit me like a ton of bricks. That would never be right. At best she would be a lich like me, only she would be forever stuck in a body that would never age any further than she has already.

Worse yet, her experience would likely mirror my own. That no matter what happened, her soul would suffer. She would lose the life in those big red eyes. She would feel like a small dead creature, unable to grow, frustrated with the world around her, and corrupted by her very existence.

I held my head in my hooves, completely distraught. I couldn't save her. I couldn't...

No, that wasn’t entirely true. I could save her, but it will cost so, so much. Doctor Horses had gotten up, and was starting to leave me to grieve. Before he could step out into the hallway, however, I seized his flank with my magic.

“Wait. We can save her.” He looked like I had lost my mind. He might have actually said that out loud, had I not interrupted him with, “It just means that my unlife will end.”

Now it was Doctor Horses’s turn to look like a freight train had rocked his world. He stepped away from me, his face grimacing in confusion before he shook his head. “What, how? Explain yourself.”

My heart skipped a beat, it echoed with a pain I never thought I would experience: the feeling of my own mortality finally upon me. I was going to trade immortality for this little foal? Was I serious? I looked at Life Sapphire. This little creature had, in the span of 29 days, turned me from a unfeeling scientist to a father that couldn't live on without her being healthy and happy.

“Doctor Horses…” I raised a hoof to my chest. “My phylactery, the thing that keeps me alive and rebirths me when I’m killed... it’s a heart.”

Horses’ reaction: raise an eyebrow and look very confused.

I facehoofed when the situation failed to dawn on him. Shaking my head in dismay, I then turned him to square our shoulders against each other. “We can rewrite the spell on my heart. It's already heavily enchanted--the spell just needs to be made to support a living pony instead of a lich.”

It was then Doctor Horses was able to put the pieces together. “But… won't that kill you... permanently?”

I nodded. “Yes, yes it will. But more importantly, it will mean that she’ll live. And while you’re at it, you can take my vocal cords and enchant them for transplant. She can have a voice again!”

Just then, we both heard something that was completely out of place for a hospital. It was the heavy clang of ancient horseshoes from within the hallway. We both turned to the doorway, finding Princess Luna of all ponies standing there with a shocked expression upon her face.

“How long have you been there?” I asked with enough venom in my voice to poison a manticore.

She hesitated took a look around and sighed, “The entire time, while they’ve been running tests; I told Doctor Horses to get everything that had happened so I would better understand how you had changed.” She looked away a bit ashamed, “I should have just asked you myself.”

I got it now, the extra questions; Doctor Horses’s flimsy excuses that made my blood boil or question him. He was getting information so Luna could listen. “You’re right, but that is neither here nor now; I assume you are surprised by my decision?”

“You have been my loyal servant for over 1000 years, Bone Daddy.” She paused, only to break the silence with a snicker on her lips. “I am sorry, but I’ve always found your name humorous.”

Both myself and Doctor Horses looked very unamused.

“Before you commit to what you plan to do,” resumed Luna, “I ask, are you certain that countless lifetimes of medical experience, all your contributions to Equestria, and all the potential you still have, should go to one little filly?” Luna looked at Life Sapphire, and in her eyes I saw it, the thing I had been feeling that I couldn't express or say. The purest form of love given from one pony to another. A kind of innate love that only comes from being a parent.

“Is she yours?” I leaned in very skeptical.

“In a way, she is our’s,” Luna replied in that cryptic manner I often found annoying. At this moment in time, it was especially grating on my nerves. “I saw within her the potential to bring you back to life. I had not intended for such actions to result in you sacrificing that life.” Luna brought her gaze back to me.“As a favor for this, I will enchant your vocal cords so she won't sound like you. It will be the the voice deserving of a proper filly, one who will grow to be a very sweet, kind mare. I am sorry it came to this, I wish I had known of the physical ailment.”

I stepped up to her, the bubbling rage within me overflowing. I wanted to scream into Luna every iota of how she had been wrong to force this upon me. Rather than raise my voice like I wanted to, however, I instead stared at her. She was quite correct. I would have never considered this experience, this course of action, if not for the near 30 days I had spent with this little foal in my care.

“Luna.” Saying her name as calmly as I did took a great deal of effort, but it had to be said. “You will do more than that, you at least owe me that.”

Luna blinked, like I might have just said I was starting a revolution against the rule of the Princesses. “I’m sorry, I don't think I follow...”

“My heart and voice won’t be the only thing she receives from me,” I said, hoping to be as clear a possible. “She is to inherit all my accumulated wealth. Period. I have nearly 1100 years of pay sitting in the royal treasury, mostly unused. Furthermore, you will take her as your personal pupil. You will ensure she is properly cared for, and you--” She took in a long breath but I held up a hoof, I wasn’t finished. “I know Alicorns are capable of unicorn magic and pegasus flight but I also know from years of study, you have the power of an Earth Pony as well.”

The princess put a hoof up against my lips. Doctor Horses looked horrified. Luna hung her head, an expression of guilt and resignation now made visible on her face.

“I take it this is your final request, for all your years of service to Equestria?” she asked, lowering her face.
The moment only passed I nodded, there was no going back now. Not without looking like I was a coward or as though I was not prepared for death. In truth, after so long, the last thing I could bear was to have my soul die again. Knowing my sacrifice would ensure Sapphire got the best life would at least grant me peace this time. She’d get to live a life side by side with a princess who’d care for her.

“Luna,” I said, “see to it that you care for her personally, as if she were your own foal. Remember that I will be holding you to that.”

After a pause, Luna smirked and sighed, “These are acceptable terms; she will stay in the castle with myself and Celestia. I agree that it is the least I can do after so much you have done for Equestrian medicine. For fulfilling my commandment beyond what any pony would ever have expected of you, I will give her the best teachers I can find, including myself.”

She spoke with a sincerity to those words, words that made my heart sink a bit. I realized then that I had broken some unwritten rule: never make a demand of a princess--much less the fact that the demand be met to the letter. As much as I had the right to demand so much after what the princesses had done, I still felt guilty.

“When she wakes up, tell her...” I almost choked at these words. “Tell her that… that Daddy loves her and only wishes she could have shared one last hug with him.” I walked over and hugged Life Sapphire tightly. Crying my eyes out, my horn glowed and I felt the spell that would bring my heart here with us build magic. After that, the spell that would remove my vocal cords would be next. I held her as my horn glowed one final time, unable to speak a single word except a raspy “I love you, my sweetest foal. Daddy Loves You.”

I don’t know when we transitioned there, as I wasn’t paying attention to my surroundings at that point, but I was holding her close in the surgery room as others began work on her. Without letting go of Life Sapphire, I used the last of my magic to ensure that the procedure be done as clean as possible.

“Just stay here with Daddy, let me have one more hug.” Those were my final word as the vocal cords were pulled. I already felt my weakness growing my heart was beating with a pulse to keep a pony alive, not the magic to maintain unlife. I held onto her hoof as long as I could now.
Luna pulled me away with a her hoof, “I would ask that you write down everything that happened. It will take a couple of hours to prepare the spell. I know you should be able to, for her sake.”

I nodded and with a heavy heart let her go for just a little bit. I began to write down the events of the last month.

You, My Life Sapphire, are why this record exists. Please understand that I am sorry and wish it didn’t have to be this way. We only had a day at most by this point, and I made the decision for you, only you. Make sure Luna takes care of you, as she promised. I expect you to be the most magically adept Earth Pony in history and I’ll be looking on from the other side just for you.

There was a knock at the door and I looked to it, Doctor Horses and Luna were standing there. I had no idea how long they had been waiting and Luna was glaring at Doctor Horses as though he’d committed a crime.

“I am done.” I said and passed the partially filled journal to Luna. “When she wakes up, help her read it.” Luna nodded and I was lead to the surgery room.

I saw it, in the operating theatre. I had expected my heart to be black and tarnished but it was bright and vibrant, pulsing at a rhythm that I had expected to only be achieved by the living. Poor Nurse Redheart looked a bit freaked out at the sight of a heart attached to nothing beating. I just smiled at her and nodded my face trying to express thank you despite the centuries of atrophy on my skin and flesh.

Without my vocal cords it was all I could do now. I wished I had been allowed to experience just what it was like to reawaken all the features of my form that emotion could offer. But Life Sapphire took priority and she needed this now.

I noticed Luna had the journal open, with a pen. She was recording my final moments for Life Sapphire. Already taking responsibility for her, I had little to worry about once I was gone.

I gripped her hoof with my own and laid my head against her’s. I closed my eyes as weakness began to overtake me. It was hard to stand, hard to move but I didn’t want to go anywhere I was right where I belonged. I held onto her and through sheer will, kept myself there.

Parts of my body were failing, the extremities I wasn’t focused on being lost to wear and tear. My horn, my rear hooves, my tail. They turned to ash while I held onto her.

Before long, the spell that sustained my heartbeat ceased, trading my unlife for Sapphire’s still-living one. As my sensations began to greatly diminish, I felt Sapphire’s breath roll over my neck, followed by the very first sounds I ever heard from her. Luna had finished working the vocal cords, so they were in place in those final moments. My heart was placed inside her, my spell finished; my horn flared out, then a final few sparks.

My flanks and rear legs began to turn to ash, slowly burning away in a cleansing flame as my soul sought release. My soul awakened, brighter than ever before, flared to life and cleansed the centuries of decay away. Just then, in that fleeting moment, I heard my daughter’s first words, the only words that would ever reach my ears from her. They were weak, but I heard them nonetheless.

“I love you too, Daddy.”

That was the last sensation I had, hearing those words as my final tears took the last of my body with me. Those droplets of pure love touching perfect cheeks.

***

A small little foal steps up to a podium next to Luna. The Equestrian banner and banner of the Crystal Empire fly over a stone coffin. Celestia stands with a space for her sister between her and Cadence. Twilight is on the opposite end. Every pony in Equestria that could make it squeezed into Canterlot. Mothers whose foals had played with Life Sapphire just days before were now gathered at the base of the elevated stage.

“I could say a lot about Bone Daddy,” Luna said, looking over the podium to address the crowd. ”He was a very special pony, with a purpose that has benefited every pony here. But most importantly is Life Sapphire, who stands beside me today.” Luna turned and petted the sweet pink mane of the filly. “But his greatest accomplishment was one he only had 30 days to make, days where this little filly had managed to reawaken his soul.” Luna paused, two tears rolling off her cheeks. “I could say more, but Life Sapphire has insisted she present something just for him.”

Using her hooves instead of her magic, Luna lifted the small filly up onto her shoulders, then onto a platform made for her to stand on. Life Sapphire hugged Luna and received a hug in return, then then neared the microphone as every pony fell silent.

“My daddy, he was a very special stallion. I know he wasn't the daddy I was born with, but he made me feel like I was a special somepony.” She spoke with the voice of an angel, a perfectly crafted little bit of innocence combined with the power of an alicorn's magical precision.

“Instead of trying to say this with words, I want to sing just how he made me feel.” She looked at Luna, who nodded at Life Sapphire, then turned back to the microphone and inhaled deeply. What flowed was a voice that could make a hardened, soulless lich come back to life on the spot:

Dear Daddy, to the world, words must be spoken
You gave me your heart when mine was broken
Your voice is mine 'cause words were stolen.
I sing with my new heart as a token,
A second chance is what I'm given
What hurts is the heart you’re sharin'

I hope you can see me now
For me to walk with you somehow
I want to play ball with you and show
The love in your heart of mine
It makes the light in my eyes shine
I wish I could hug you one last time

Dear Daddy, I hope I make you proud
without you I'd not sing this song aloud
You took me in, and I changed your life
And now you cleared mine of all its strife
When I share with ponies I am your foal
You gave me new life, I saved your soul

I hope you can see me now
For me to walk with you somehow
I want to play ball with you and show
The love in your heart of mine
It makes the light in my eyes shine
I wish I could hug you one last time

Dear Daddy, all will see your hold
They all know now your heart of gold
I'll raise my voice,
you made the choice
You shaped me as a symbol of your love
Watch me now from high clouds above

Through my life your love is shown
I'll become a pony worthy to be known

I hope you can see me now
For me to walk with you somehow
I want to play ball with you and show
The love in your heart of mine
It makes the light in my eyes shine
I wish I could hug you one last time

Please let me know if you can hear my prayer
I wish I could turn and you'd be there
One day, this heart of mine
Will give one last beat to my kine
and then you'll hug me for all time....