Even Death Needs A Vacation

What should have been a typical day of relaxing at Fluttershy's cottage, enjoying the animals' company and drinking tea has quickly nosedived into a hillside and exploded. Sure, the change of clothes was nice, and Rarity was really sweet, but now everything was quickly unraveling. The three ponies stared at Lily in utter horror as she slowly shook her head, getting increasingly worried by their expressions. What was the big deal?

Well it turns out the big deal was that, truth be told, Lily had no idea what being cherished felt like at all. Dying young by forced drowning in the middle ages, then being recruited by Death to be one of his servants and being denied a happy afterlife, or any afterlife at all for that matter, tends to make a girl feel pretty unwanted. But she just figured that was the norm. Everybody she ever guided to the afterlife always seemed miserable, regardless of which afterlife she was sending them to.

"Y-You've never felt love before?!" Twilight asked; Okay, asked was putting it lightly. She practically screamed it, and with Lily being in her forelegs, it was especially loud. The reaper winced a bit from the volume, frowning before shaking her head a second time, which didn't seem to help calm anypony down.

"No, I mean... Not since recently, if what you said is right," Lily said quietly, as if she were being scolded, "Love is that weird warm feeling I keep getting in my chest, right? When someone does something nice?"

Twilight looked at Fluttershy, as if expecting some sort of explanation, but the poor pegasus was at a loss for words. She just stood there, looking like a deer in the headlights of an oncoming car. Frowning, she looked at Starlight.

"Starlight, gather up my friends as quick as you can, this is a friendship emergency!"

Soon, Twilight, Rarity, Fluttershy and 3 other unfamiliar ponies were all seated around the map in their respective thrones, with Lily sitting in a smaller throne that a baby dragon offered for her to use. Apparently it was his...? She thanked him for his kindness, as it was the only throne there that was of a somewhat normal size, at least for Lily. Starlight was there too, standing on the other side of Twilight's throne.

"Thank you all for coming on such short notice," Twilight began, "I know you were likely busy with your own tasks, but this is big!"

"Well, we weren't called by the map, so how big could this be? And who the hay is that?" a rainbow-maned, raspy-voiced cyan pegasus said, pointing a hoof at Lily accusingly.

"Girls, this is Lily. She's from another world called Limbo, and she's in desperate need of our help," the alicorn said. "It's hard to explain in detail, because the few details she could provide were mind-boggling to say the least."

"Well, whatever Lily needs from us, we'll do our best to provide," an orange pony said, tipping the stetson atop her blonde mane. Her voice reminded Lily of a few departed souls of cowboys she ran into.

"So what's the problem, Twi?" the rainbow pegasus asked, "Some baddie loose in Limbo? Does she need us to go to Tartarus and whoop flank?"

Feisty one.

"No, no, nothing like that..." The look of disappointment in the cyan pegasus' eyes was enough to make Lily smile, just a little bit. She was awfully cute when she looked like that.

"Lily is a Death, from what she's told me. Which, apparently, means that she's a guide for Limbo, allowing departed souls to find their appropriate afterlife. And from what I understand, she's not nearly as young as she looks. She's actually well over 5000 years old."

"Whoa! That's like SUUUUPER old!" the pink curly-maned pony said, leaning in, "She's like... as old as Celestia and Luna or something!"

"Okay but that doesn't answer the question, darling... What's Lily need help with?" Rarity piped up, sounding a little impatient.

"I'm getting to that." Twilight continued, "Lily, while being 5000 years old, is also... not alive in the same way as we are. She apparently passed away, but was then resurrected by someone she only refers to as her 'mentor'. I'm not quite certain what any of this means, but the bottom line is that she's looks young because she died young. Which brings us to the problem..."

"Just spill it already!" the feisty one groaned.

"Lily... apparently never experienced genuine care or love in those 5000 years."

The same hush fell over the whole room, just like last time. Why was this such a foreign concept? Death being strange? Yeah, that made sense. These ponies were immortal so they probably have no clue what Twilight's talking about. But not being loved? That's just life for a reaper like Lily. That's how it is for all reapers... It's normal.

Isn't it?

"I beg your pardon?" the orange pony said, feigning ignorance, "I thought you said that Lily here didn't know what love was."

"That's exactly what I said," Twilight confirmed with a concerned look, "Poor Lily here was completely unaware of love as a concept, similar to how we were unaware of the concept of death before she came here."

"WHAAAAT?!" the pink mare screamed. "YOU MEAN SHE'S NEVER HAD A BIRTHDAY PARTY?! OR BALLOONS?! OR PRESENTS?!"

"I'm afraid not, Pinkie."

Okay so the pink one was called "Pinkie".

The ponies looked at each other, trying to make sense of it. Soon, the orange pony looked at Lily, lifting her head a bit.

"Didn't ya'll have a family before... you uh... died?"

Lily couldn't really answer that, at least not honestly. Because truth be told, she had no idea what her life was like before she died. Those memories were stripped from her the minute she became a reaper... Something about 'breaking ties to your old life so that you don't have regrets on duty'. She just accepted that as a fact. So... she just shrugged.

"You don't know?" Rarity said with a frown.

"No, I don't..." Lily said softly, looking more confused than upset, "All I remember is my mentor, my duties, and Spirit." She glanced to the bouncing ghostly orb beside her, "Past that, there's not much... Except for the pond."

"Pond?" Twilight said, looking at Lily, "You never mentioned a pond before."

There was a good reason for that. Or rather, a very, very bad one. And the more Lily thought about it, the more she wanted to bury the memory deep in the darkest recesses of her fractured mind. There was a reason her name was Lily, and she certainly didn't like that fact.

"It's not important," Lily said dismissively, looking away while crossing her arms uncomfortably.

Knowing better than to push a sensitive subject, the group decided it was better to move on to the more pressing matter.

"So... for all we know, you had no family, no friends... and no nothing," Fluttershy said timidly, tears welling up in her big aqua eyes.

"So...?" Lily said, looking up. The mares gasped, staring at Lily like she had grown another head.

"S-SO?!" the blue pegasus shouted, "W-What do you mean 'so'?!"

"I mean... Reapers are used to being hated... Nobody likes seeing us because we're taking someone away, and they're always trying to avoid us as much as possible. We get yelled at, cursed at, blamed... I can't think of a single soul I helped who was happy to see me," she said with a small shrug.

"Well, you won't have to worry about that here, sugarcube," the orange pony said, "We'll take care of ya from now on, and you'll see what it's like to be cared for."

"Yeah! And I can throw you 5000 birthday parties just to catch up with all the years you missed out on them!" Pinkie shouted, pulling a blue cannon from nowhere and firing it into the air, causing a rain of confetti and streamers to shower down in a small radius.

"You won't have to worry about not having a family or friends ever again, darling," Rarity said, waving her hoof with a big smile.

"And that warm fuzzy feeling will become the norm for you!" Starlight added, coming around and giving Lily an affectionate nuzzle against her cheek, making the reaper giggle happily.

"Thank you everypony. I know this is a tall order, making up for 5 millennia of no care, and I think I can safely say Lily will be very appreciative too!" Twilight concluded with a grin.

The 3 new ponies came around later, introducing themselves as Rainbow Dash, Applejack and Pinkie Pie and happily telling Lily all about the fun plans they had for her. Eventually though, they had to file out and get back to whatever business they had prior to the meeting. Soon, it was just Twilight, Lily and Fluttershy sitting together in the Map Room.

"So, Lily... About this mentor you keep talking about..." Twilight said inquisitively, "What's he like?"

"He's... quiet. Doesn't like talking much unless he needs to... He mostly just sits in his office and makes sure that every other Death is doing their jobs, assigning them to different planes of existence appropriately. I was reassigned here after I almost hurt an innocent soul over a stupid emotional outburst."

"Reassigned...? Where were you before?"

"It was a little plaza called the Wellspring. It had a fountain there, but not much else. I helped mostly souls that looked like me. Bipedal, hands and feet... A couple had extra parts like wings or a tail, but not all the time."

"Well... did your mentor say why he was reassigning you to a place where nothing dies?"

Lily shook her head, frowning. Twilight blinked, rubbing at her chin in thought. "Have you tried asking?"

"Several times... I never get a response."

"Hmm... Alright, well... if you need anything, don't hesitate to ask, okay?" Twilight gave her a hug, rubbing her warm purple cheek up against Lily's, something Lily had come to enjoy more than anything. If these ponies were good at anything, it was hugging and nuzzling. They were experts in the field. And that warm feeling in her chest was back, but she didn't feel like fighting it this time. In fact, it was kind of making her feel a whole new sensation.

Her head started to become foggy, her eyes began to droop and she opened her mouth, letting out a lonnnnnng yawn.

"Mmph... This feels weird..." she muttered, shaking her head a little, "Why do I feel all slow suddenly...?"

Twilight giggled, smiling warmly.

"Sounds like someone's awfully sleepy!" she teased, "I'll let you two get back home. Are you going to be around for school tomorrow, Fluttershy?"

The pegasus scooped Lily up onto her back, who was barely hanging on. In fact, she wasn't really hanging on at all. Instead, she just kind of buried her face into the top of Fluttershy's head, using her thick pink mane like a pillow as her arms hung limply at her sides.

"I'll try, Twilight. I just don't want to leave poor Lily at the cottage all alone..."

"You can bring her along, if you want!" Twilight smiled, before yawning herself, "We'll talk about it more in the morning, though. Safe travels, you two~"

Fluttershy went back home, smiling as she felt Lily relax against the top of her head. It was a quiet walk home that evening, the wind hardly making a sound as it traveled through the grass. About halfway between the castle and the cottage, Lily lifted her head a bit, groaning a bit.

"Fluttershy...?" she mumbled sleepily, "What's school?"

"It's a big building where fillies and colts go to learn about different subjects. The Friendship School is different though. Creatures of all different kinds come there to learn about friendship in the hopes of easing tension between nations."

"Sounds borinnng..." she muttered, sounding just like a kid again, which made the pegasus giggle.

"You haven't been there yet, Lily! I could take you tomorrow, if you wanted."

"Beats staying at the cottage all day..." she said, flumping her face back into the soft pink mane and nuzzling happily, "So warm..."

The two of them made it back to the cottage after some time, and Fluttershy carefully helped the sleepy reaper off of her back and onto the couch, tucking her in with a big smile.

"Good night, Lily."

"G'night Flutters...-" But she couldn't finish saying her name, as her eyes drooped and finally closed, falling into a deep slumber. The mare just giggled, leaning in and delivering a kiss to her forehead before heading upstairs to her own bed.

As night surrounded the tiny cottage, Lily slowly turned over and sat up, restless for some reason. Standing up, she decided that the best thing to do was to take a walk outside, maybe clear her head from the events of the day. She grabbed her robes, slipping them on but leaving the hood down, then paused as she glanced at her scythe. Deciding ultimately she didn't need it this time, she turned around and left the cottage, quiet as a mouse.

Stepping out into the cool night, she took a deep inhale through her nose before exhaling through her mouth with a smile. The air was so much nicer here. The Wellspring's air was almost always dusty and gross, with a scent that you might find in an attic, or from a chest of old clothes. But out here? It smelled so much more clean and welcoming. And nothing was overpowering.

It was like an nice mix of every little bit of nature, with nothing being too much or too little. Something she was very open to. Her nose twitched curiously, drawing her attention toward the forest behind Fluttershy's cottage. The scent was familiar to her... Flowery, with a hint of spring waters. The forest was completely unexplored territory to Lily, and it seemed like the perfect avenue to take on her little nature walk.

Before long, she was deep in the forest, walking along a narrow path. The sounds of unfamiliar animals echoed through the maze of flora, but not a single one was present. Her ears twitched at each little noise she heard, most of which were distant in relation to her. But then she heard a noise that she didn't think she'd hear in a forest like this... Running water, the splashing noise indicating to her that it was being collected in a large basin of some kind. Picking up the pace, the reaper turned and went off course, following the noise.

The noise only got louder and the scent of those flowers got stronger. But despite everything, she couldn't quite place where she remembered them from. Her face became steely as she pushed through the underbrush, determined to find the source. Her tail swished up and down as she ran, covering the soot-colored fur in dirt and leaves, the thick fluff snagging on loose twigs and stones. Her flats smacked softly against the soil as her robes seemed to get caught on every bush and tree she brushed against, almost as if trying to get her to stop her relentless advance.

But the scent was hypnotizing and the noise of rushing water continued to assault her ears as they laid flat against her head. Nothing was going to halt her from her mission. The forest became darker and trees became more similar, but as long as she kept following the noise, she knew that she'd find what she was looking for. And unfortunately for her, she found it.

The source of the noise and smells was right through this bramble bush. Lily silently cursed herself for not bringing along her scythe, knowing that it'd be the perfect tool for hacking her way through with ease. Instead, she now had to shove herself through the thorny mass in front of her. Taking a deep breath, she shoved her hands into the brambles and began to force her way through it.

Cursing at every little prick, poke and scratch, she slowly progressed through the thorns; the bushes defenses ripping into cloth and flesh alike. They raked across her skin, tracing red lines as Lily pressed on, taking chunks of fur and cloth with them. But she refused to be beaten by a lowly bush, not after all this. And right when she was about to pause for breath, her hands burst free from the brambles and she stumbled forward from the sudden lack of resistance.

Tripping on a gnarled root, she landed with a dull thud, kicking up a cloud of soil and leaves. Groaning from the stinging of her scratches and the pulsing pains from the fall, she slowly pushed herself back up, dusting off her tattered robe with filthy, bloodied hands. Her hood was completely useless to shroud her face now, as it looked more like a slice of swiss cheese than a garment of clothing.

"Fluttershy is going to kill me for getting all dirty again right after my bath..." she said disdainfully, looking at herself with a sigh.

The sound of running water caught her attention, however, and she looked ahead, laying her eyes on the source of the noise. It was a bathtub with a curved metal pipe standing against it, ending with a large dome-like piece. The flat face of the dome part was littered with holes in a circle pattern, each of them spitting a long, thin stream of water before it seemed to run dry, slowing to a dribble.

Lily sniffed the humid air, the scent of those damned flowers was stronger than ever.

"This is... odd." she muttered, "What's this bathtub doing in the middle of the forest?"

Approaching the bath seemed to be the only course of action that Lily deemed appropriate, so approach it she did. The bathtub was filled up, almost to the brim, with water that had a sort of.. greenish tinge to it. But it wasn't the water that caught Lily's attention as she got close. It wasn't the reason she stopped her advance, just a foot from the tub. It wasn't the cause of the tight, choking feeling she had suddenly caught in her throat.

It was the lilies.

3 lily pads were floating on the surface of the water, each sporting a bright pink flower with narrow petals. Pond lilies. Her face turned ghostly pale as she got a little closer, inspecting them from a distance. That flowery scent that seemed so familiar yet so haunting. The greenish water. The bathtub. That sudden tightness in her chest.

She stared into the algae infested water, her fearful gaze staring back. Then... a pink mane and yellow muzzle slowly rose up from behind her. She went to turn around but before she could, a pair of hooves slammed into her back, shoving her head and shoulders under the water. Her screams were quickly silenced as she went under the surface, which rose up and made the tub overflow. She pushed with all of her might, but her grip continued to slip off the wet edges of the bath.

The hooves against her shoulders held her under the water as water began to fill Lily's mouth and throat, the taste of algae and pond scum coating her tongue. Lily cried, screamed, begged for Fluttershy to let her up but with each word, she served to only seal her doom. The water slowly filled up her lungs as she gasped fruitlessly, the disgusting taste of pond scum and algae coating the interior of her mouth as the pegasus' hooves dug deeper into her shoulders...

"LILY! LILY WAKE UP!"

The poor pegasus shouted, holding the reaper's shoulders in her hooves as she tried to shake her awake. The poor girl was having such a noisy night terror that it woke up practically everything in the cottage, except herself. The girl only kept struggling in her sleep, tears pouring down her cheeks like little waterfalls, as if trying to escape from Fluttershy's grasp. She kicked and squirmed, wriggled and wept, but to no avail. Fluttershy had a firm grip on her.

"Lily, you have to wake up!" she cried, doing her best to get her to open her eyes.

Eventually, however, a certain bunny decided to take matters into his own paws, delivering a buck-toothed bite right into Lily's arm. Squealing in a mixture of pain and fear, Lily's now bloodshot eyes popped open, only to see Fluttershy holding onto her.

"Lily! Oh thank goodness you're-" The mare was quickly interrupted however as Lily reached up and shoved Fluttershy's face away, finally breaking free from her grip and scrambling to get over the arm of the couch to hide, screaming in fear before curling up and whimpering.

This behavior was incredibly unlike how she was only hours before, which only made her host even more concerned.

"L-Lily, what's wrong?" she asked, "I-It's just me-"

"GET AWAY FROM ME!! YOU TRIED TO DROWN ME!!" Lily cried as her voice shook in utter terror.

Completely taken aback by that, the mare frowned and went to approach, but quickly stopped after she stepped in... water? She looked at the floor, and noticed that a large puddle of murky water had appeared out of nowhere. Or at least, that's what it seemed until she heard what sounded like.. wet clothes shifting. Taking a few cautious steps forward, she gasped in fear as she laid eyes on her charge.

Lily's pale skin had become blue, her hair and tail was soaked and waterlogged, and her clothes were drenched. What's more, her ears seemed like they were mostly chewed off, and holes were appearing all over Lily's body, as if she was rotting.

"L-Lily, please! I-I don't know what you're talking about! You were having a nightmare! W-What's happening?!" she whimpered, "Y-You're starting to look really really sick!"

If Lily still had ears, they would've just perked up. She was still shaking, not wanting to look at Fluttershy directly.

"N-Nightmare...?" she said cautiously, "Y-Y-You mean... I-I wasn't... in the forest?"

"N-No, you've been here all night! Lily, you're all wet and you're turning blue! We need to get you to a doctor!" Fluttershy reached over to pick Lily up, but she quickly cowered away from her reach. "L-Lily, why are you so scared of me?"

"Y-You... You held me under the water! I felt your hooves on my shoulders!"

"L-Lily I was trying to wake you up! You were screaming and crying in your sleep! I wasn't drowning you! Please, Lily! You're not well! We need to get you to the doctor, NOW!"

Lily shook her head, whimpering and coughing up a mixture of blood and pond scum. "N-No! You'll just take me to the pond and hold me under!"

"W-Why in Equestria would I do something like that?! I love you, Lily! Don't you remember? We had a whole talk about it yesterday!"

There was a long pause as Lily tried her best to remember the day prior. She looked down, seeing the clothes she was wearing were soaked through, but they weren't scratched up and ripped. The cuts on her hands and wrists were gone, although her skin was awfully bluish-grey now, and she could see the bones of her hand through a hole in her palm. It slowly all began to click, and Lily's form began to slowly regenerate. The rotten holes in her skin closed up, her skin got it's color back, and her ears slowly reformed themselves.

Fluttershy watched in a mixture of horror and wonder as Lily seemed to magically turn back into her old self. Even the water and blood went away, as if it were never there. Once she was absolutely certain that she was safe, she slowly peered over the edge of the couch at the shaking mare.

"...Fluttershy...?" she whimpered nervously.

The pegasus knew she had to be strong for Lily, so she swallowed hard, giving her a stressed smile and a nod. "I-It's me, Lily."

"You love me?"

"Of course, Lily... Why wouldn't I?" she said, the smile becoming a little more natural, "You were just having a nightmare... I'd never do something like that to you."

Lily suddenly climbed over the couch, nearly tripping in the process, and slammed into Fluttershy's chest and buried her face into the downy fur. Fluttershy let out a soft squeak of surprise, then sat down and wrapped her forelegs around Lily, giving her a close hug as the reaper cried against her chest.

"It's okay Lily... It's okay."

"I'm sorreeheeheee..." she whimpered, choking on her words.

"It's okay, Lily... I'm here, I don't ever plan on leaving you."

The mare hugged Lily a little tighter for good measure, as the hysterical reaper continued to profusely apologize to the pegasus through sniffles and whimpers. This went on for several minutes before she finally managed to calm herself down, and they broke the hug.

"Would you like to sleep next to me tonight, Lily?" Fluttershy cooed softly, the maternal tone coming back into her voice.

Lily nodded and wiped at her eyes with her fist, her ears flat against her head. "Uh huh..."

Fluttershy laid on her belly, letting Lily climb onto her back before she carried her upstairs, being careful to take it slow. Arriving in Fluttershy's bedroom, Lily climbed off carefully, getting into the queen-sized bed as Fluttershy climbed in on the other side, pulling her charge close into a warm embrace.

They were there for only a few moments before Lily asked something that's been on her mind for a little while.

"...Fluttershy?"

"Yes, Lily?"

"Can...I call you Mom?"

The mare giggled softly to herself, planting a kiss on the top of Lily's ashy hair.

"Of course."