The Swish of the Scythe

Twilight Sparkle picked up the knife and looked at her sister, Starlight Glimmer, as she lay on the hospital bed. She clearly wasn't going to make it. The demon of illness and plague that had made so many suffer slow, painful deaths over the last few weeks was toying with her, making her suffering as long as possible.

Twilight believed in demons. She had seen one, briefly, as its scythe claimed the life of her grandmother. It had allowed Twilight to talk to her grandmother one last time before they flew away together. Now, as she sat alone in the hospital room, she was going to play demon and end her sister's fight. She didn't want to do it, but knew that it was for the best. Twilight had lived through the plague, had developed an immunity to it. Starlight wasn't going to.

"Starlight?" asked Twilight, rousing her sister from her lethargy.
"Twilight," replied Starlight sleepily. "Shouldn't you have gone for supper with Mother and Father and Shining Armour?"
"No. I need to be here with you. It's your time."
"I can't see a light or anything."
"No. I can't watch you die slowly."
Starlight saw the knife in her sister's hand and her eyes widened. "Really? You're... Seriously not... Going to... No. I can survive a bit longer."
"I want to end your suffering," Twilight told her sister firmly. She pulled down her sister's hospital gown, found the right spot and dug the knife into her sister's heart.
As her life force ebbed away, Starlight gasped, "You twisted thing. You ended it early. Thank you."
"I'm coming with you," said Twilight, digging the knife into her own heart. She removed the weapon, crawled on the bed and they hugged as they died together.

A demon materialised and swung a long scythe over Starlight and Twilight's heads. It made a swishing sound. Their spirits slowly sat up together, their bodies remaining still. They lost interest in everything that existed, had no thoughts, obeyed every command given and always gave the right answer to questions.
"Starlight Glimmer," the demon spoke in a rough voice. "Your soul is pure. You may choose to walk this earth as a ghost forever, or continue to the afterlife and wait for your loved ones."
"Continue to the afterlife, please," said Starlight automatically. Although she was disinterested in the situation, she could still form logical thoughts.
The demon turned to Twilight. "Twilight Sparkle, you have killed without mercy in an effort to show mercy. You are kind, but your evil deed must not go unpunished. Your punishment is as follows: you shall live, but it shall be without ailments and in a new body that shall never fail you. By day, you shall be a human and walk the earth. You shall see everything as it is for human eyes on a normal day, except some humans shall have the symbol of the skull and crossbones on their chest. At moonrise, you shall become a demon and must kill one or more persons marked with the skull and crossbones before sunrise. You must aim to kill as many as possible. If you fail, your soul shall be lost and you shall never see your deceased loved ones in the afterlife. Your punishment shall end when you are killed. Your aim is to not be killed. You must continue your punishment for as long as possible in order to gain rewards when you die. Suicide or asking someone to kill you is cheating and shall also end in your soul being lost. Once every century, you may spend from sunrise to sunset in the afterlife before resuming your duties. Do make myself clear?"
"Yes," answered Twilight, bored. She was unsure why she was not upset. She had no reason to be upset. She hugged Starlight on autopilot and then it hit her. She was not allowed to go with her sister to whatever was on the other side of life.
"Wait, Starlight!" cried Twilight as her sister went to leave with the demon. She stopped.
"I have to leave," Starlight said.
"I know, but... Don't forget me."
"I won't."
"You say that like you are a machine. Why can't you say it properly?"
"I am unable to do anything other than act like a machine until I enter the afterlife."
"Can't I come with you?"
The demon answered. "You may join your sister Starlight Glimmer in the afterlife for the equivalent of one hour. Then your old body shall be destroyed, your new body shall be ready and you shall start your punishment. Is that clear?"
"Yes." Anything to be with her sister, even for a short amount of time.
"Then we must journey to the afterlife. The clock is already ticking." Starlight and Twilight held hands. She linked arms with the demon, he swished his scythe and they walked into the afterlife together.

It was perfect. There was everything that anyone could want and all the time in the world. No time had to be spent eating, sleeping or doing anything that you did not want to do. There was no pain, no fear, no negativity. Starlight woke from her daze immediately and the two sisters spent as much time as they could together. They found Starlight a cave in a cliff to call home when she wanted a place to call home, and, at the end of the hour, Twilight did not want to leave. The demon tore the sisters apart and took Twilight's shoulders, steering her to the human world again.

Her new body was there. It was almost just like the old one, except this one had no sign of the hole in her chest where the knife had been. Through the window, Twilight could see that sunset was not far off. She did not want to become a demon in front of her family.
"You will have certain powers," said the demon suddenly. Twilight jumped and turned to face him. "You will be able to pause time for the equivalent of ten minutes. You will be able to erase memories, so that it your victims may see you. You will have extra strength and speed and will not feel much pain, none when you are a demon. You can only be killed between sunrise and moonrise, when you are human. You never have to sleep again. Your punishment starts at moonrise tonight. Humans will call you Twilight, but your true name, the name I shall call you is Midnight Sparkle. When I call your name, I shall always expect an immediate answer." He disappeared.

Twilight stepped into her new body, knowing that there would be many centuries to come before she rested.