Learning of your possibilities
It was a very bright day. One that announced promise. The sun was high in the sky, which was clear of any abnormalities or clouds. It was blue as could be. The city of Canterlot was bustling with a huge crowd, most of which had come for the market festivities. So many things from around the world were here. Many authentic gems, crafts, foods. Many were fake as well, and those caught selling these phonies were carted away to the Canterlot prisons by the royal guards. There was quite a hustle bustle today, and even Luna was awake despite the time. Pinkie Pie and Twilight Sparkle had volunteered to help the dissociated mare adapt by seeing the new cultures around the world, and while Celestia appreciated this, she had started to feel a little tingle right at her sternum whenever her sister left. She couldn't bare to lose her again. Such fears weren't easily disposed of. She even feared Twilight Sparkle's future. Such a unicorn had rarely been encountered...save for one who had existed before her time, but who is now long since dead. Courtesy of Death. Death. That was who Celestia needed right now.
As the princess continued to look out of the window leading to the balcony of her cramped room, she closed the curtains, showing nothing but an infinite amount of glowing red runes all across the room and furniture. She closed her eyes and began an incantation, allowing the runes to glow brighter and brighter with a forbidden magic long lost to all races in the entirety of the world. In the middle of a hexagon created with blue runes sat a pony's skull, long since devoid of any life. As the red runes glowed brighter, the blue ones followed and illuminated the skull with their bright light. The construction of calcium slowly lifted itself into the air, and twisted its position as to face Celestial at eye-level. For a moment, nothing else happened, until the sockets of the skull exploded in a bright blue flash that blinded the princess. Said flash slowly morphed into pure darkness until it transformed into a thick, black smog. Celestia began to cough and opened the doors leading to the outside balcony to let the smoke and ash clear. As it did, she realized that the immense amount of plants around her room had withered and died, and in the epicenter, where the skull had been, stood a tall, bipedal bony figure.
This bony figure wore a ragged brown cloak and hood that had certainly seen the beginning of time. The sleeves of this darkened cloth were bent upwards, following the positions of the arms, and slowly slumped down, revealing hands and arms made entirely of bone. It had its back towards Celestia, and for good reason. In its hands it held a rusty old scythe that needed much reforging and attention, although, somehow, it still seemed quite sharp. The bony extensions stretched and tapped against the mantle of the tool, letting out a brittle ticking noise into the air. Celestia gulped as it turned to face her. This creature's head was unlike anything she had seen so far. It was a skull, hence, but it wasn't a skull she knew. It was neither pony, nor griffin, nor diamond dog.
"Who summoned the Reaper into the physical plane of existence?" his voice boomed.
The princess cleared her throat and regained her proud posture.
"I am Celestia, princess of the su--"
"Oh. It's just you." The Grim Reaper seemed to have "rolled" his eyes. He appeared tired, although Celestia felt insulted. "An immortal. I don't have to be serious anymore. Honestly, this job is great, but I absolutely hate you immortals." he continued as he walked towards the princesses' bed and sat down on it. Surprisingly, the bed did not decay, nor did anything on it.
"What do you mean 'just me'?"
"Celestia. Princess of the sun, whose sister is Luna, princess of the night. You both have been granted immortality by the Creator. You had a foal-sitter who went psychotic and became something still mortal but beyond the laws of nature. The Council took you under their more attentive eyes and you grew into fine princesses, save for your sister who, after starting to see a strange black being everywhere, became paranoid and angry over everything, and thus, turned into Nightmare Moon." he said with a great calm as he scanned his scythe.
"H-how-" Celestia's mouth was gaping open.
"I'm Death. I work with Father Time. It's a bit NORMAL that I know such things!" he said in a short rise of anger.
The Reaper stood back up and walked towards the open doorway towards the balcony, stopping only for a brief moment in order to adjust to the sunlight.
"So why did you call me here?"
"I need to know about my future. My sister's future. And especially Twilight's future."
"Hmph. And what makes you think I'll reveal something told to me by the Creator?" Death turned his head slightly as to only show his grin to Celestia.
"Because I fear that my own death might be coming."
"What, at the hooves of that green murderer? Not likely. He might be able to kill the immortal, but your foal-sitter isn't the only one protecting you." the reaper readjusted himself as he said this, and looked at a golden clock ticking on the wall, forcing Celestia's curiosity to look at it and listen to its faint ticking noises.
"Then I only wish to know about the future of my sister and my student."
"Ah. That, I can do. However, you must never tell anyone about this, or dire consequences will be met."
"I understand."
"Good."
The Reaper walked outside onto the balcony, his bony feet cracking and tinking with every step. Eventually, he finally reached the rail keeping him from falling from his viewpoint, and leaned against it. Celestia began to panic.
"W-what are you doing? Somepony might see you!"
"Not likely. Your little spell there only allows the caster to see me, no one else."
"Oh. That is...reassuring."
"Indeed. Ahhh, being the Reaper." Death mused.
"It must be horrible, no?"
"Hm?"
"You only kill and take loved ones away from the still living, never getting a chance to view the beauty of life. Of the stars. Of anything."
Death burst out into laughter.
"Are you kidding me? I've never had a better job!...Although...I was born with this job. Hmm." he put a hand to his chin and looked sideways."I'll show you why. You see that elderly gray stallion pegasi flying right up there?" Death pointed towards said stallion far away and who seemed to have quite a hard time staying in the air.
"What about...You wouldn't!" Celestia gasped.
Death, with an expression of utter satisfaction and joy, snapped his fingers. Although it was faint, one could here a moan, followed by the pegasi hurdling towards the ground and certainly crashing into a market stall.
"Haha! Talk about stock market prices crashing."
"That. Is. Not. Funny."
"To me it is. What? I'm Death. How in the Nothing do you think I'm supposed to have fun or laugh? Do a life joke? No thank you."
"Ugh. So, what is my sister's future?" Celestia rubbed her forehead in annoyance.
"To tell her future I must reveal a portion of yours."
"Oh. And?"
"You die. Haha. The eyend." he said making his hands sway to the sides.
"W-what? What do you mean?"
"You heard me. I cannot reveal the details, but you eventually die. Not from natural causes, of course."
Celestia began to stress.
"Do note that things can change when you tell someone that they'll die. Heh. So, your sister. She will become a thing of beauty in the future, perfectly managing to meld both day and night into a canvas. Under her rule, the griffons and ponies ally themselves, and the minotaurs, tempted by the resources and economical power this has created, come into the deal as well. This is two thousand years from now. Your sister will actually have a son. The first alicorn male. Heheh. He's a riot, he is. Although, seeing that he's from an alicorn and an earth pony, I think that he can only be qualified as a pegacorn. Not much interesting in there, is it?"
Celestia seemed overjoyed by the idea. Her sister becomes a mother and manages to do all those things? Why, she would have loved to-
"AHHHHHH!" a pony yelled as she fell from the roof of the castle. It was a suicide.
"Oh no!" Celestia yelled, diving towards the direction of the pony, but she was stopped by a hand of the reaper."What are you doing? Let me through!"
"Even if I didn't stop you, it would have been too late. Besides, I like the sound they make when hitting bottom. It's a pleasurable mixture between a 'crunch', and a 'crack'." He even made an arc motion as he said these words, disgusting Celestia even more.
"Now here was I?"*THUMP*"Thump? That's new. Must be the ground. It's too soft."
"How could you just let her die?"
"Mmm. Tea. I don't care what kind. I just love tea." he said while pouring in a bit of tea into a cup. Said teapot was resting on one of Celestia's counters.
Come to think of it, now that Death had time to see the room, it really was cramped. Sure, its colors matched Celestia's mane and tail as well as the sun, but it just had a giant bed, two counters near said bed, a closet FULL of parchments that seemed to have been carefully sealed to make it look like they weren't opened, and a bunch of dead plants. The reaper chuckled at his work.
"ARE YOU LISTENING TO ME?!" the princess roared.
Death simply let blue energies glow in his orbits for a few moments to show that he was looking at her and cocking an eyebrow bone...err...an "eyebrone", while he slurped his tea.
"She'll be fine. She just has a few fractures and is horridly traumatized. I've already put a hex on her that prevents any future attempts at suicide." he took another sip.
Celestia sighed in relief."Thank you."
"Hey. Don't thank me. I'm just following orders from up there. The Creator decides when it's their time or not. Of course, the Destroyer down there has his fair share of fun too."
"Hmph. So what was this about Luna's child? Who is the father?"
"A humongous stallion about your size."
"Wh-what?"
"Supposedly, Nightmare Moon's evergies, not energies, seeing where she was destroyed, were spread apart by the elements of harmony. Apparently, two-thousand years later, they regroup and go into a new-born foal. His personality was never change, but his appearance was drastically different from the others. It brings a new meaning to the term: 'Go fuck yourself.'" Death couldn't help but spit his tea all over Celestia as he laughed at the thought, drenching the frowning princess in a morphed substance.
"Anyways, he has his own story, but until you reach that point, don't expect me to divulge anything on his future."
"Will...will I be alive when he is born?"
"Sure. I can add a few years."
"Huh?"
"Muahahaha!" Death put a pinkie finger to his teeth.
"I know I shouldn't ask this, but...am I ever going to-"
"YES! For Creator's sake, YES! Is that what you wanted to hear?"
"Yes." Celestia seemed calmed at the thought.
"I don't get what's with you females and having kids. it just makes more work for me." he complained under his breath.
"What are you talking about? I mean, of course, you are a stallion...thing, but you should-"
"I'm gender neutral"
"What? But you have the voice-"
"Of a male. Duh. I made myself like this. Don't ask why. I guess a male in cloak is more frightening than a nun with a scythe...in some places." he grinned discreetly.
"What is a nun?"
"Nothing."
"Well then, anything else?"
"No. Although your sister will be traumatized later on, and will learn just how harsh Father Time and I can be. As a father once said in times of war: 'It is the father who should be buried by the son, not the son who should be buried by the father'."
Celestia's pupils shrunk almost immediately and her ears flopped down. She seemed to have been bit by the depression bug.
"Death and Time are two separate entities with the same purpose. We take away life to start it anew. You must deal with that one day. This is why I despise immortals. Your sadness is increased tremendously over the years...and I can't collect your souls. Lazy bums." he shook his fist at the end.
"You aren't affected at all by what you said? My sister will be all alone in the future without me to comfort her. How do you think that sounds? To be the last alicorn in all existence."
"Oh. I never said anything about the 'last' alicorn."
"What?"
"I suppose you wanted to know the fate of your little stu-THERE'S ANOTHER!" the reaper suddenly jumped up and ran to the balcony and looked towards the castle.
There was the sound of an explosion, followed by smoke and screaming.
"What just happened?"
"Two foolish colts tried to play with some burning powder. They and five others have perished, with spifffy fireworks. Oooo! The pretty red. Hmhmhahaha."
"Two..f-foals?"
"Yes. Don't feel too sad. Sometimes, the Creator does this. Sometimes, it's the Destroyer."
"And who did this?" Celestia was semi-angry, semi-sad.
The Grim Reaper turned to her and "smiled". The princess simply backed away in horror after realizing who really did this. Death went back to Celestia's bed and lied down on it.
"Ahhh. Very comfortable."
"And what about Twilight Sparkle?"
"Your student, in a certain amount of time, I cannot tell you, will become an alicorn."
Celestia felt a smile form on her face. She was overjoyed by this statement. She began to shake nervously like a little school and asked Death:
"And...and what will she an alicorn of? I am the sun, Luna is the moon, Cadence is lo-"
"Cadence is a pegacorn. Just thought I'd bring that up."
"Wh-"
"Magic."
"Magic?"
"Yes." the reaper nodded in response as he somehow twirled his cup without any freshly poured tea spilling. "She'll even invent quite a few new spells herself, namely, a resurrection spell, which fails horribly."
"What? Why would she do such a thing?!"
"The pain of an eternal loss." he spoke coldly, letting the tea settle in its container.
"You mean-"
"How would you feel if you were finally about to die and rejoin your friends, only to finally become young again, but immortal as well?"
"I would be horrified."
"Exactly. Spike stays with her, but he eventually settles into a deep depression as Rarity died in his arms."
"What did she die of?"
"A new disease that will ravage pony-kind. She was actually starting to like Spike, as he started to, somehow, grow bigger. I suppose that dragons have a timer on how they age over here, or they could cheat to their adult age by using greed. Either way, Spike still looked like himself, only taller, and more mature looking. He finally managed to grab that mare's attention and, well, before they could even have their first kiss together, Rarity began to cough up blood. She'll lie about her condition and suddenly begin to die on the spot. Spike will be forever scarred by that event.
Pinkie Pie dies from old age, so her story is somewhat okay, despite the fact that she'll have taken Pound Cake with her. They both died after..."
Celestia was leaning closer in tears, attracting Death's attention."I may be dead, but I still need air!"
"Oh. My apologies."
"Anyways, they die of something I'd rather not speak of. It involves the Nothing."
"What exactly IS this Nothing?"
"Something that no mortal or immortal can see. Now then. Fluttershy. Poor sweet Fluttershy. She found the 'perfect' stallion for her." Death motioned "quotation fingers"." They had a few humpadumps, and Fluttershy died during the childbirth. The father eventually abandons the child, who, for some reason, gets taken in by the changelings."
"NO!"
"Yes. Let's just say that the new queen, Cocoon, is more on the caring side. She isn't at all like her mother, although she is still has a superiority complexe. The two met when they were foals. One a filly, the other a colt. Let's just say that their relationship becomes a bit tensioned in the future. It'll lead to a few battles between ponies and changelings. Many which, surprisingly, the changelings won. That'll be one abyss of a view for me, considering I'll have to clean up the mess afterwards. Heh."
"What about Rainbow Dash and Applejack?"
"Rainbow Dash? The element of loyalty. She'll have realized her dream and become captain of the Lightningbolts or Firebolts or however they're called nowayears."
"Wonderbolts."
"Whatever. Eventually, Scootaloo does the same and becomes the new member of the team thanks to Rainbow's tutoring. During Scootaloo's first show, however, Rainbow Dash happily passes away with a smile on her face, knowing that she helped someone realize their dream, just as she did, and that her legacy will live forever. You can just imagine the horror when Scootaloo happily trots over to Rainbow Dash who has her eyes closed and looks at peace. So much yelling and tears..."
"Yes. I can imagine that fairly well. And Applejack?"
"Makes a bigass apple estate and becomes one of the richest apple farmers ever!" Death yelled, throwing his arms in the air...literally."Aww, crap. Mind giving me a hand? Heh. I made an awful pun without wanting to. I would slap myself if I could."
"Hold on." Celestia levitated the Reaper's arms back into place with some popping noises. Surprisingly, Death never let go of his scythe. "Was that true?"
"Of course. At least one didn't end in tragedy. I hate happy endings. There's no death." the reaper clutched his scythe a bit harder.
"And what about Twilight?"
"At first, she's overjoyed, thinking that her aging and everything was a dream, and runs out to try and find her friends, but, she soon learns that it wasn't a dream. She is now immortal, and can never see her friends again. Only Spike and Luna will remain, as well as the single Cake, and the little sisters of Applejack and Rarity. Even Scootaloo remains, but, eventually, I'll have to take them away. Not even an alicorn can defy death, and that's what she'll try to do. She'll grow more and more distant with the families she once knew, soon to just be considered a mere princess amongst them. No more outside friends, no more games, no more parties. Only work and toil filled with gaping pits of loneliness that fill her slowly decaying heart.
The reason why the Creator made her an alicorn at the last second is beyond me. Probably some dark humor, which, even by my standards, is pretty low. NYaaarrrrrruuuuuu..."
Celestia twisted her face in confusion before showing annoyance once she figured out why he was doing that.
"Another pegasi falls to his death. Explosions! Michael Baboooom! Michasplosion! Prrrrrt! Hmhmhaha."
"Can you get on with Twilight?"
"Haha. Sorry. Anyways,*slurp* ahhh. Anyways, Twilight's powers begin to grow a bit more as she gains more knowledge. When you die, her heart will collapse. I mean literally. It'll collapse, but her immortality keeps her alive anyways. Luna, remembering what you had done in the past, suggests Twilight to get a student to teach. She does it, just for Luna, but is still heartbroken and feels alone. After a long period of searching, she comes across a red pegasi stallion. Quite the work of art he was. Sure he wasn't a unicorn, but his knowledge of recipes made him one of the greatest potion masters of all time! Without taking your foal-sitter into account. Quite the swirly one, isn't he.
Moving on. She becomes one of the best teachers ever, and gets invited to several celebrations with the families of these students. She soon develops a close relationship with each family, even after the generations. A shattered chain that had its broken links replaced. Like you living say: 'Sometimes, time CAN heal wounds."
"That is very touching and good to know. Thank you for these revelations."
"Hey. You summoned me for that. Can I return to working now?"
"Yes."
Celestia began to use the reverse spell, making the skull in the middle of the room spin once more. Slowly, the Grim Reaper began to fade away, but Celestia had one last question:
"Death. How were you capable of drinking that tea?"
"I wasn't. Good luck cleaning the floor and your bed. HAHAHAHAHAHA!" Death's cackle, accompanied by his "waving goodbye", filled the small room.
Celestia looked around to see that he was right. There was tea everywhere. Celestia felt something boil up inside her. Something very dark. She just had to let it out:
"RRRRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
