Even Death Needs A Vacation

The long path stretched onward, and despite each step bringing her closer to her goal, it never seemed to get any larger. Not that she seemed to mind. She was used to walking seemingly endless expanses, your destination always seeming farther away with each step you take. After 5000 years of reaping, a 2 hour journey into town is hardly an inconvenience. Every mile or so, she'd check her book again, silently wishing that she'd see a scribble appear in it. A name, a cause of death, an age... Anything, really! But alas, it was blank every time.

Tucking the tome back into her robe, she looked at the bouncing ghostly orb following closely beside her. She frowned at her spirit, quietly condemning it for being so happy at a time like this. As pretty as this atmosphere was, this was hardly what she'd call an enjoyable situation. Being reassigned with no work, no Wellspring, no scales, no nothing! Just her, her scythe and her spirit companion. Well, and this stupid book that apparently doesn't want to inform her of her duties!

Eventually, she did finally find herself on the outskirts of the town, looking in from beyond the town line. That's when she saw what looked like a colorful equine creature, walking with a similar creature of a different color. They were chatting about something she couldn't hear, blissfully unaware of her spying. She blinked curiously, half-frowning at the pair as they walked out of sight.

"Ponies?" she muttered to herself, blinking, "Okay so... my omniscience is still working."

She continued into town, knowing that she'd be invisible to these "ponies", as they are still alive. Deaths only appear to those who are passing on. Wandering toward the castle, her pointed ears caught on to soft mutterings from behind her. She quickly spun around, seeing a pair of younger ponies, "foals", staring directly at her and muttering behind their hooves. She quickly dismissed it, rolling her eyes.

"Boys..." she muttered to herself, walking toward the large crystalline structure's trunk. "Probably talking about some girl or whatever."

Completely oblivious to the fact that she was not nearly as invisible as she thought, she continued to wander around the town, unaware of all the stares she was receiving and quiet mutterings behind hooves. Circling the base of the tree, she approached the steps, looking up at the door, the branches, the shining leaves... It was incredibly beautiful, creating a feeling she couldn't quite describe. A feeling welling up inside of her chest, as if something long buried was trying to claw it's way back out from within.

Clutching at her scythe's handle a little tighter, she swallowed the sensation and approached the door, giving it a few firm knocks with the head of her scythe. Deaths, like most undead, cannot enter houses or buildings by phasing through walls. They needed to enter through doorways, windows and the like. Thankfully, unlike a certain undead species she refused to name, she didn't need an invitation to enter, just an open door.

The door swung inward, and a lavender pony stood behind it, a pair of feathery wings folded neatly at her sides, and a long spiral horn protruding from her head. Blinking her huge purple eyes in surprise as she regarded the strange creature standing at her door, she gave a curious head tilt.

"Hello..?" she said, as if not sure what to expect. As a princess and element bearer, she wasn't completely taken aback by this creature; But that wasn't to say she wasn't cautious.

Being completely ignored as the creature walked right past her as if she wasn't there was not what she had expected, however. Sure enough, Lily walked right in, bypassing the princess and walking into the foyer, then into the throne room beyond it; The little ghostly orb prancing behind her. Twilight frowned, closing the door and quickly followed after the hooded creature, blinking.

"Are you lost?" she asked, only to be ignored again as Lily walked over to the Cutie Map and gently poked at it with her scythe handle.

"What a curious palace... This must be a map of the world they live in..." she said to her ghost, giving it a sideways glance before scanning her eyes across the map, then pointing to Ponyville, "That must be where we are."

Twilight trotted up beside her, smiling awkwardly. "Yep! That's Ponyville."

The fact that she was being spoken to suddenly dawned on Lily, making her jump onto one of the thrones in fright. Looking at Twilight in surprise, she hugged her scythe close to her.

"Y-You can hear me?! You can see me?!" she said, her voice shaking more than she was. Twilight blinked, tilting her head to the side at the strange creature and it's equally strange behavior and questions.

"Of course! I've been trying to talk to you since you invited yourself in..." she said, frowning. "And I'll be honest, I've never met a creature like you before... But, you're welcome to stay as long as you need while you figure things out! My name is Princess Twilight Sparkle. What about you?"

Still in shock that she was "discovered", Lily regarded the pony princess with a frown. "These creatures must be of a magical nature," she thought, "And what does she mean she's never seen anything like me before...?"

"My...name?" Lily questioned, slowly stepping down from the throne, but keeping her distance from the equine. "My name is Lily."

"What a pretty name~" Twilight said with a smile. "Are you a gardener? Or a farmer?"

"Farmer...? Gardener?" she parroted, raising an eyebrow. Not that Twilight could SEE her eyebrows.

"Yeah! It's just that your name is Lily, and you're carrying that big scythe.." Twilight said, pointing a hoof at it. "I figured you must work in agriculture."

"...I...um..." she blinked, thoroughly confused at this point. "No... I'm neither. And I don't work in agriculture either. I'm a Death...ya know, a Grim Reaper?"

Now it was Twilight's turn to be confused. "I beg your pardon?"

"I'm a Death." Lily said, getting a little annoyed at this point. "Ya know, harvester of souls, guide to the afterlife... The hood, the scythe... That doesn't give it away?"

"I'm afraid not.. I've never heard of a "Death" before." Twilight said, raising an eyebrow. "And what's this about afterlife and souls..?"

Lily's frown worsened, as she tried to process that fact. A creature who's never heard of Death? Or souls? Or afterlife? What kind of crazy, topsy-turvy world is this?!

"Ya know, like.. a life force? A spirit? What happens when one of you dies?" she questioned, hoping to get some answers that made more sense than "I don't know." Unfortunately, that's exactly what she got in return.

"Dyes...? If you're looking for dyes, I could take you to my friend Rarity. She's a seamstress! Surely she would have some dyes we can use-"

Lily facepalmed, getting panicky. "No! Not 'dyes' with a Y. 'Dies' with an I! You know! Like.. kicking the bucket? Biting the dust? Taking a dirt nap?! Any of those ring a bell?"

Twilight began to look concerned, approaching the girl. "I don't understand... You need a kick a bucket of dust and dirt...? Why? That seems awfully messy... Are you feeling okay?"

"NO!" she shouted, backing up and nearly tripping over her own tail in the process. Holding her scythe with both hands, she looked around in a blind panic. "No I'm not okay! This isn't right! Where the hell did you send me?!"

"I didn't send you anywhere! R-Really! We're still in Ponyville!" Twilight put her hoof to her chest. "I haven't cast any spell at all!"

"NOT YOU!!" Lily screamed with a stomp, making Twilight back up a bit to give the poor girl her distance. "M-My higher up! H-He said I was being reassigned and that it'd be better for me! This isn't anything like what he said!"

"Re-assigned? Better? Like who said?" Twilight's voice was beginning to get a little shaky as she desperately tried to help the strange creature. "Are you from a different world? Maybe the Princesses know how to get you back!"

"No! I can't... I need... I need to go!" Lily shouted, running right past Twilight and out the door, Twilight galloping after her.

"Wait, where are you going?" Twilight shouted after her, stopping in the doorway of her palace as she watched the strange girl run into the distance, turning a corner and disappearing from sight.

Lily kept running, tears beginning to stream down her cheeks for the first time in several millennia. Ignoring the concerned calls of ponies on her way by, she sprinted out of town, down a dirt road heading towards a densely packed forest. She ran and ran and ran, but her ran slowed to a jog, then from a jog to a walk before she finally collapsed into a ball on a low hill. Breaking down was completely out of the question for a Death, and the shame that she felt only made her cry harder.

Screaming into the open air, she cried out,

"WHERE THE HELL AM I?!"

But there was no answer to her call. Not even a whisper in the wind. Just the sounds of birds in the trees and wind blowing through grass. And.. crunching. It started as quiet, repeated crunching noises, and slowly started to get louder. Soon, the noises seemed to be right on top of her as a shadow loomed across her crumpled form. Uncurling just a little bit, she peeked a red eye out from her hood, whimpering a little.

Before her was a butter yellow pegasus, her baby pink mane covering one eye. Reaching over a hoof, she gently nudged Lily's side.

"E-Excuse me..." she cooed, "A-Are you... okay? I heard crying... Was that you?"

Lily didn't respond, only curling up again and letting out a few choked whimpers. Fluttershy frowned, sitting close to her.

"It's okay, strange... black thing," she said, gently petting her head with a hoof. "There's no need to cry."

"W-Who are you?" Lily managed to mutter, barely more than a whisper.

"My name is Fluttershy..." she said, putting her other hoof to her chest. "What's your name?"

"L-Lily..."

"You have a very pretty name, Lily." she giggled, "Would you like to come to my house? It might be more comfortable to be in a cottage than here on the ground.. I live just over the next rise. I could take you there, if you wanted."

Lily sniffled, considering it for a few moments before slowly getting up and wiping her eyes with her sleeves. "Uh huh..." she whimpered, as Fluttershy stood up, being no bigger than Lily was. She put a wing around her side as she led Lily to her house.

"Are you lost, Lily? Is that why you were crying?"

"I...I...yes." She sounded unsure, but considering all the facts, 'lost' was probably the most accurate way to put it.

"Don't worry... Maybe I can help you find your way home!" Fluttershy said sweetly, almost maternally. "And then you won't be lost anymore."

If only that were true.