Even Death Needs A Vacation

The cottage was incredible, so full of life and wonder; No place for a creature such as Lily. She may be other-worldly, and she may have a fox's tail and ears, but she didn't belong in such a place and she knew that. What shocked her the most was when they walked in, the animals didn't seem to make a sound at all... Normally, animals would go crazy when a Death walked into the room, barking and screeching, hissing and cawing at nothing in particular. But Lily was greeted with just cheerful chirps, pleasant purrs and happy barks when she entered.

Despite the coziness of the cottage and it's walls, the kindness of the pegasus mare leading her into her home, and the amount of happy animals who didn't seem to regard her as a spirit of any sort, she was immensely uncomfortable. Taking a seat on the couch near the window, Lily wondered what in the name of everything that was both holy and demonic she was doing in a place like this. She has no business being in a place so full of life, so full of happiness. She was only to cause grief and sorrow in creatures like Fluttershy and her animals, whether it was intentional or not. That's just how a Death is. It's like how her mentor described it to her... "Life is a beautiful lie, and we are an ugly truth." The words echoed in her mind like marbles rattling around inside of a metal can, reverberating endlessly.

So why had Fluttershy been so willing to allow a Death into her home...? "Wait... If that purple pony, Twilight, didn't know what a Death was..." Lily thought to herself, "Fluttershy must not know what I am either..." That thought only served to discomfort her more, realizing that this poor mare had taken in a creature like her so unknowingly, so..naively. She couldn't bear the thought of accidentally causing her to go into an emotional breakdown because all of her animals she seemed to love and care for so much died overnight! She had to go. She had to get up, and leave, and never ever come ba-

"Would you like some tea, Lily?"

Oh my gosh that voice. That voice that was so sickly sweet and innocent, so warm and maternal... That voice could melt butter if it were in the same room. How could anybody say no to a voice like that? They'd have to be some sort of monster. Although, the problem with that thought was that Lily was a monster. An evil, ugly, life-stealing monster...

"Um...what kind is it...?" Lily managed to sniffle, still trying to get over her breakdown from before. If her mentor were here right now, she'd get such a talking-to. Her emotions were to be kept in line at all times. That's just how Death's are. If you show even the slightest amount of sympathy or regrets, you become useless to help the souls of the departed. Useless. Useless and stupid.

"Apple cinnamon. I would've made peppermint if I had any, I know that's always a good pick-me-up. But I know that the smell of apple cinnamon always makes me think of Applejack's apple pies, and I can't help but smile." How does one get away with being so cute and kind?! You can't buy this from any amount of stuffed animals, or get this kind of sweetness from any amount of candy and sugar! "Just say no!" Her mind screamed, "You don't deserve this kind of kindness, especially from someone so innocent!"

"...Sure..." Despite all of her reservations, she reluctantly accepted the offer of the warm beverage. Maybe she just needed something to calm down with. Fluttershy came over, carefully balancing a tray on an extended wing before gently setting it down on the coffee table in front of Lily. Taking a seat in a chair just across from her, Fluttershy leaned over, picking up the teapot's handle with her mouth, then tilted it to pour a stream of tea into a pair of china cups.

Lily slowly reached down, scooping up her cup and saucer, bringing it close to her face. As soon as the strong scent of apples and cinnamon hit her nose, that same feeling from before started to well up again. The same feeling she had when she was looking up at the palace of that Twilight pony... That weird, uncomfortably warm feeling that clung to her insides like thick honey. But it wasn't just in her chest anymore, it started to make her face feel the same way. She was so caught up in the strange sensations that she hadn't even realized Fluttershy was staring at her, a serene smile on her pale yellow muzzle.

"The smell is divine, isn't it?" she said, breaking Lily out of her stupor. "Do you have apple pie where you come from?"

Lily once again swallowed the feelings, giving Fluttershy a thankful, albeit awkward smile before taking a slow sip from her cup. The flavors danced on her tongue, warmed her ancient bones and gave her nose a slight tingling sensation... Not enough to make her sneeze, but enough for her to notice. "Must be the cinnamon... I wonder if it's freshly ground...?" she thought, setting the cup back into the saucer in her hands before looking back at Fluttershy, who was waiting patiently for an answer.

"I... um... No. Not where I come from anyway. I know the living ones do, though..." she said, unaware of what she just spilled the beans on.

"Living ones?" Fluttershy repeated, curious. "What's that mean?"

"Oh..." Lily, realizing her error, let out a soft sigh. "I'm a Death, Fluttershy... It's... hard to explain. Basically, I'm a guide for departed souls to enter the afterlife."

Fluttershy listened intently, despite having nary a clue of what Lily was talking about, as she sipped her tea.

"I... suppose you have no idea what any of that means, huh?" Lily said, the disdain dribbling from each syllable.

"I'm afraid I don't, Lily... What's death?"

"Oh no..." Lily's eyes shrunk as she choked on her words for a minute. "No no no no! You can't tell her what death is! She's too innocent! It'll break her heart and then stomp on the pieces!" Her hesitation must've been noticed, however, because Fluttershy scooted a little closer, frowning a bit.

"Lily, whatever it is, you can tell me. I'm a grown mare. I can handle it." she stated confidently, the air of innocence quickly fading from her voice, which took Lily off-guard. It was like a switch had been turned off.

"Death...is...kind of....it's kind of like sleeping, but...forever." Lily said sadly, looking into her cup of tea. "Your...body stops functioning, you just... turn off. And then your mind and spirit depart, leaving your physical form behind... The spirit then comes to find me... or someone like me. And it's my job to guide the spirit to an appropriate afterlife... Depending on how good of a creature you were in life, depends on which afterlife you get... One is a sort of like a sanctuary, where everything is worry-free, your troubles and responsibilities are gone, and you can finally relax. The other is more akin to a prison, where they endlessly punish you for your misdeeds and torment is never-ceasing."

Fluttershy's brow lowered as she listened, sipping her tea every now and again. Lily's eyes began to tear up without her realizing it as she spoke.

"I think the worst part is how scary death actually is... Everybody wants to avoid it, and when it finally happens..." She began to whimper a bit, making Fluttershy slowly put down her tea as she watched the young reaper speak. "I-It's like I'm stealing someone away from their loved ones, their families, their friends! They didn't choose this! So many people come to me, begging to be sent back to their old life and I can't!" The tears began to fall, making Fluttershy spring into action. Without so much as a second thought, the pegasus went over and sat down right behind Lily, wrapping her forelegs around her tightly while she rested her head against the top of Lily's.

Lily squeaked in surprise, feeling the warm body of the mare wrapping itself around her and giving her a hug from behind. Before she could ask what was happening, Fluttershy spoke up.

"It isn't your fault, Lily... You were just doing your job," she said reassuringly, right into Lily's ear. "It sounds a lot like you didn't choose this path either."

Lily's mouth curled up into a wobbling frown before she began to bawl for the second time that day. The sheer kindness she was receiving was so foreign to her, but for some reason she never wanted it to stop. Her ghostly orb managed to float down and catch the cup and saucer right as Lily broke down, carefully setting it on the table in front of them while Lily completely lost all composure she had previously. She was a blubbering mess, but Fluttershy didn't seem to mind that in the slightest as she squeezed Lily close.

"You don't like being a Death, do you?" Fluttershy said, knowing she was hitting the nail on the head. "Why don't you just quit?"

"I caaaannn't!" Lily cried, "That's not *hic* not how it works! I can't just *hic* quit my job! N-Not right after my reassignment! Awhhh if my mentor saw me nowww..."

Fluttershy continued to snuggle her, letting the small girl let out 5000 years of regrets and sadness, something she had been holding in for too long. Softly uttering "there, there" and "it's okay" between sobs, she gently rubbed at Lily's sides with her wings. Lily continued to cry for another 20 or 30 minutes, despite Fluttershy's best efforts. But Fluttershy never gave up, relentlessly comforting the little girl in her forelegs.

After her second breakdown that day, Lily was drained; Something she was not used to feeling. Deaths were sleepless, all-seeing beings with no need for food, for drink, for comfort... So why was she feeling so lost, tired and sad? This had to be some sort of punishment from her mentor for almost sending that poor boy to Limbo... That was the only conclusion that made sense. Death had sent her here as a cruel and twisted punishment for her behavior; Somewhere she would make a complete and utter fool of herself with all the needs of a Living. This couldn't get any worse.

Fluttershy, at this point, had cleaned up the tea set and was tending to her animals, checking on Lily every so often. Lily didn't want to move, she didn't want to cry, she didn't want to do anything. She just wanted to sit there and feel sorry for herself. But that didn't sit well with her host, so as soon as she had a minute, she flew over with a thick pillow and a comforter.

"Lily...? I'm sure you're awfully tired from your breakdown earlier, so I brought you a pillow and blanket, in case you wanted to take a nap." The same disarming sweetness to her voice was back, making Lily wince a little bit; Fluttershy's words hitting her like sugary daggers. If daggers felt anything like warm fuzzies.

"D-Death's don't need sleep," Lily said, looking to the side. Fluttershy just smiled and set the pillow near the head of the couch and the folded blanket beside it.

"Well, if you change your mind, you'll be ready," she said with a soft giggle, before turning and flying back to tend to the rest of the household. Lily had no intentions of changing her mind, and certainly didn't want to be here any longer than she needed to be. In fact, it was high time she got going.

Or, she would've got going if a cat hadn't hopped up and curled up in her lap. Confused at this gesture, she was at a loss for what to do now. She'd only ever dealt with dead things, and this cat was very much alive, purring and everything. She frowned, motioning her hand at it curiously, hoping to shoo it away.

"Go...scat. Get out of here." she muttered, to no avail. Suddenly, the cat craned it's neck up and pressed it's head against the palm of Lily's hand, making her turn white as a ghost. She covered her face with her hands, internally screaming. "Oh no! Oh no oh no oh no oh no!! I just touched it! Oh no Fluttershy is going to KILL me! If.. she could. I can't believe I just killed a-"

Then she felt something gently bump it's head against her chest. Looking down at it, she was shocked to see the cat was still alive and well, completely unaware that it was literally playing with death.

"...cat?" she said in disbelief, her eyes widening as she stared at the vibrating feline slowly curling back up into her lap. That's when it hit her. All the puzzle pieces finally fell into place. The ponies not knowing about the words "death" and "afterlife" and "souls". The empty log book. The lack of work. It all clicked into place.

"You... can't.. die," she said softly, picking up the cat and holding it in front of her face, the purring feline hanging limply by it's shoulders, "You can't die!" she said, louder this time, a huge smile suddenly crawling onto her face, "Holy FUCK YOU CAN'T DIE!!" She was practically shouting at this point, making Fluttershy fly back into the room to see what the commotion was.

She saw Lily hugging the cat tightly, like she was just given it as a pet for Hearth's Warming. Fluttershy giggled and flew over, smiling at the display.

"Someone seems happier. What happened while I was gone?" she asked innocently, ignoring the foul language of the reaper.

Lily looked up at Fluttershy, putting the cat down and practically pouncing her, with Fluttershy only barely managing to catch her and still maintain the hover. "Whoa!"

"YOU CAN'T DIE EITHER!!" she squealed happily, squeezing Fluttershy's middle tightly. The pegasus just smiled awkwardly, hugging and rubbing at Lily's back gently, "You can't die! I can't kill you!" Whatever Lily was ranting about, she was awfully excited about it.

"Well, as long as she's happy..." Fluttershy thought, giggling a bit before landing and setting Lily back down.

"Um... I'm not sure what that means, but if you're happy, I'm happy," she said, giving her a warm smile. This somehow only made Lily only more excited.

"I made you happy!! I MADE SOMEONE HAPPY!! HOLY SHIT THIS IS THE BEST THING EVER!!" she began to run around the coffee table, circling it like someone who just won the Powerball. Fluttershy coughed into her hoof with a light giggle.

"L-Language, Lily..." she said firmly. This was enough to make the girl stop her tirade and look at her host, then blush.

"S-Sorry, Ms. Shy," she said, arms behind her back.

"It's alright. And you can call me Fluttershy. All my friends do," she said with a big smile.

"I'm your friend?" Lily's scarlet eyes lit up like fireworks, and then she began running around again. "I MADE A FRIEND!! I'M NOT HATED ANYMORE!! THIS PLACE IS AWESOME!!"

That last part made Fluttershy blink in surprise. Waving a hoof at her, she frowned.

"W-Wait, what do you mean 'You're not hated anymore'?"

Lily stopped, then looked at her. "Oh. Um.. P-People always regarded Deaths as these... evil beings who go and steal away their friends and family... Everybody tries to avoid us as much as possible, because when we arrive, it usually means someone is going to die.. And if you can see us, that means it's usually you who's about to die... But you can't die! So it's okay!" she said, grinning.

"That seems awfully mean...It's no wonder you were crying so much," Fluttershy said, looking sad. "Well you don't have to worry about those meanies anymore. You can live here for as long as you need~"

"WOO HOOOOO!" Lily cheered, throwing her hands up before leaping back into Fluttershy's forelegs, hugging around her neck happily. "Thank you thank you thank you!!"

Night quickly approached, faster than Lily would've liked. But, her host needed to sleep sometime, right? As she laid across the couch, head on the pillow and blanket pulled up over her like she saw the Living usually do, she glanced over at her spectral friend as a thought entered her mind.

"Spirit...? Do.. you think our mentor did this by accident? Why would he send a Death to a place where nothing ever dies...?"

Her spirit companion was quiet as ever, curled up on a chair nearby.

"No.. You're right. Nothing he ever did is 'by accident'. It's always thought-out and deliberate. But... that doesn't really answer my other question..."

There was another pause as she glanced at the flower-wearing orb, blinking curiously.

"You think so? But Death's don't take vacations.. And it doesn't seem like him to send me here just so I can shun my duties as reaper..."

Another pause. Sitting up, she looked at her orb with a concerned expression.

"You don't think...he sent us here to kill these ponies, do you?! A world where nothing ever dies and there's no other Deaths stationed here...Maybe the reason they don't die is BECAUSE there wasn't ever a Death stationed here?!"

Her orb swirled softly, silent as the night outside the cottage.

"He couldn't have! I know we're supposed to hate all forms of immortality because it makes our jobs that much harder, but that would be a new low, even for him!"

Lily stared at her orb as it lay there, never once uttering so much as a "whoosh".

"N-No.. No you're right... If that were the case, then that cat would've died the second I touched it... So.. why did he send me here...?"

Lily laid back down, staring at the ceiling of the cottage, the half-frown she was so used to wearing returning to her lips as her scarlet eyes did their best to burn a pair of holes in the cottage roof. The sheer silence of the house was nothing unlike the silence of the Wellspring, albeit more cozy.

"Well whatever the reason, we're here now. And it doesn't seem like we're going to be leaving any time soon either... I just hope that there's a good explanation for all this."

Giving her spiritual cohort one final glance, she let out a soft sigh as she rolled on to her side.

"...I wonder if Fluttershy has anymore of that apple cinnamon tea..."