Fate's Hand

Death and Panoptos stand in the desert wasteland where they were before and asks, "Watcher, where are we right now and where is it that I need to go?"

The watcher emerges from Death's body and looks around at the area surrounding them, then looks back to him and says, "We are in the far southeastern corner of the Badlands, we need to travel northwest to the town of Ponyville. The best way to get there would be to use your wings to fly there, but I think that every pony who saw your reaper form would die of fright from screaming until their throats bled. Why don't we use this time to get you used to your pony form, and try to fly using your 'new' wings?"

He grumbles in annoyance and mumbles, "Fine then, let's get this over with. Alteya." He feels his body's stance change as his view gets lower to the ground, releasing an irritated sigh after he feels the body's interior rearrange itself. He shakes his head to rid it of the faint ringing in his ears and says, "Remind me to skin Discord alive when we are done with this mission." He then attempts to walk, moving a right front leg first, then the back right leg followed by the left front leg, and his back left leg when he trips and falls to the ground. Standing back up, he tries a different pattern to try to walk again. Using his right front leg then his back left leg, followed by his left front leg then his back right leg. Noticing that he hasn't fallen down yet, he continues with that pattern and says, "This isn't too bad, it will take some getting used to though, being so short."

Panoptos watches with amusement as Death struggles with learning to trot and run in that form for a couple of hours, laughing at his expense when he gets running too fast and crashes face-first into a red ant hill saying, "If I were you, I would try to avoid pissing those ants off because their bites hurt."

Death narrows his eyes at the watcher and growls angrily saying, "NO SHIT!" He then turns his head to glare at the insects crawling all over his body and says in a deep, angry voice, "PISS OFF, AND GET THE FUCK OFF OF ME OR I WILL MURDER YOUR WHOLE COLONY YOU LITTLE PESTS!"

The watcher chuckles as the ants hurriedly scamper back to their colony and sarcastically claps saying, "Congratulations, you have successfully terrified a red ant colony, o' master of death. Shall we go scare the wings off of butterflies next?"

He grumbles in annoyance and trots off towards the northeast saying, "What shall we do about the plan now, Watcher?"

Panoptos follows Death and stays silent for a few moments trying to think and replies, "Well, since we can't use the Elements of Harmony ourselves. We are basically back to square one, how do you feel about making friends?"

Death watches where he is going and looks to the sky to see a raven following him and says, "Dust, show us the fastest way to Ponyville!" He hears his caw in reply and turns his attention back to the watcher's question and answers, "I detest the idea, making friends is not required for the success of this task!"

He watches the raven lead the way to the road towards Ponyville and says, "I'm surprised that you still have that birdie following you. What are your thoughts on playing long games?"

The reaper looks sideways to him curiously and says, "You mean those things that take several years to run their course before they are complete? I enjoy a good long game, what do you have on your mind for this long game?"

Panoptos returns to Death's mind and tells him 'I am thinking of setting the stage for an apocalypse to happen on this world, we will have to first gather information about this world's current state of affairs. Second. We will need to meet with Discord and Equis again and convince them that this corruption can't be removed from the ponies because it has begun to affect their minds, and the only way to return them to normal is to wipe them all off this planet and start it over again. Third. We will have to gather your family in a safe place and discuss the plan to free us all from the Council's rule, I just hope that you can convince them to assist us when the time is right and finish this plan together.'

Death focuses his attention on the watcher and asks, 'What should we do when we have to report the status of the corruption on this planet?'

The watcher then hastily replies, 'Well we will just have to convince them that the corruption has tainted their souls and in order to cleanse the taint from the souls, they must be killed off and collected by you and taken to Azrael so they can be purified and recycled when their world is cleansed of all living souls. The truth is that the corruption hasn't actually damaged their souls at all, really. Fourth. We will deliver a false report to the Council and hope they agree to the request that you lead the apocalypse. After that is when the other half of the plan begins, but I will tell you about it after we go through the first half of the plan.'

He focuses on him with suspicion and says, 'You are responsible for this corruption, aren't you!'

Panoptos chuckles and says, 'Of course I am, but you can't kill me because you need me for this plan to work. Only if we work together will this plan work out fine, yes this planet will suffer great sadness as her sapient species are wiped from existence. But it will return as they are cleansed and return for another chance, then you four can hide amongst them when the time is right and ask for their aid. That is the overall scheme I have been concocting since I first came here to get rid of the pathetic Council and earn our freedom!'

Death chuckles underneath his mask and says, "You sure know how to make things annoyingly interesting Panoptos, let's begin with the first step and gather the information we need before we begin." He then continues to follow his companion Dust as he returns to flying ahead of them.

The watcher returns to the ground under his charge, watching Death from the shadows, and says, "Oh the fun we are about to have..."

Several hours pass by as Death leaves the desert wasteland and walks across a field of grass beside a forest when he hears a grumbling come from somewhere and says, "Alteya." feeling his form revert to what it was before and draws his scythes saying, "What the hell was that noise, where did it come from?" He then quickly looks around the area ready for a fight when the watcher chuckles and appears beside him.

Panoptos continues to chuckle in amusement and says, "It seems to me that you have no clue what hunger is, so I shall fill you in. Ponies in this world eat fruits, vegetables, and plants. When they are thirsty, they drink several different beverages such as water, cider, milk, and other drinks made from herbs and ingredients much like how the humans did before the apocalypse happened. That grumble you just heard, came from your stomach. If you ignore it, it will grow louder. I would recommend that you spend some time grazing on the grass around you since there are no restaurants nearby, or if you would want to be more civilized you could have Dust look for a place that has food."

He looks at the watcher with annoyance on his face and says, "You know that the Nephilim have no need for sustenance, this pony body is so inconvenient and strange. Since it requires food, I guess that the ponies here have some form of currency?"

The watcher nods his head and says, "They do indeed, it is called the bit. I would recommend you find a way to acquire some so you can pay for your meals, it would not do for one of the Four to die from starvation." He snickers in amusement at the last part and says, "It would be all too funny if Death died from lack of food!"

Death ignores the watcher's remark and looks at a series of holes saying, "What kind of worm makes these holes?"

Panoptos looks at the holes and smiles saying, "Pathetic, stupid creatures called Diamond Dogs. They have limited intelligence, are also greedy, and like to steal from the ponies, or kidnap ponies themselves and force them to be their mules. If you dropped in and dealt with them, I am sure that you would receive some sort of reward for doing a good deed for the ponies as long as you can provide proof. Just be sure you claim their dog tags that hang around their neck as proof, ponies of this world frown on the killing of any creature. Be sure to claim their tags first if you decide to kill them."

He chuckles and says, "I am a bit bored, so let's find out if they are good in a fight or not." He then drops down into one of the holes and wanders in one direction, running into a dead-end and tries going the other way.

After wandering through a couple of small tunnels, he gets to a big one and sees he should have enough room to stand up in his other form and says, "Alteya." He returns to his other form when he hears something growling near him saying, "Who you, who you!?" He then grins under his mask and cracks his knuckles saying, "I am...bored... So help me out and call for your friends, I want a decent fight."

The sentry howls out a call for help, then says, "Strange creature here, all come fight!" He then smiles as he hears hundreds of howls and yips come from several other tunnels followed by a low, distant rumbling and smiles saying, "They come, you become new prisoner!"

A half hour later

Death pulls off the last dog tag and is about to begin killing them when he hears a whimpering noise coming from somewhere, finding a still conscious dog huddled against the wall, sitting in a corner in a pile of his own shit, and looks down at the dog and threatens him saying, "Listen up you mutt, I will only say this once. You all follow my orders now, or will I have to kill every dog here?"

Mutt looks at the ground, shaking terribly in terror saying, "All dogs follow boss, all dogs follow! What us do?"

He then thinks for a moment and says, "For now, be my eyes and ears around Equestria. Do not make trouble or draw attention to me in any way or you will find out how terrifying I can truly be!" He then turns around with the tags in his grip and looks for the way out.

After arriving back at the hole, he hears ponies talking a distance away and softly says, "Alteya" and feels his body shifting to his four-legged form and hears the tags fall to the floor in a pile and grumbles saying, "Well, isn't that just wonderful. How am I going to carry things in this form?"

Discord chuckles and miniaturizes himself, then appears beside Death and says, "I do apologize for forgetting about that, allow me to correct that mistake." and snaps his fingers, making a black pair of saddlebags appear on his back near his flanks then says, "There, now you will blend in better with the other ponies that wear saddlebags. Do be cautious around Pinkie Pie, she is unpredictable and smarter than she looks. So if you see a pink pony and she happens to say something completely out there that happens to be true about you, play it off like she is joking to keep your cover. Well, that is all I can do for you right now, so ta-ta for now!" then snaps his fingers and disappears in a puff of smoke.

Death looks back at the bags on his flanks and grumbles out, "Now you make me a pack mule, what else must I endure until my task on this world is complete..." His words trail off as he investigates his new saddlebag, then puts the tags inside it and closes it back up before jumping up and out of the hole.

Twilight gasps in fright as she spots a pegasus jump out of a hole having a pale, light green coat covered with white spots and a pair of large, black wings on their back. She skids to a stop as Spike is thrown off her back and lands face-first into a pile of dirt exclaiming, "Ahhh!"

She glares at the pegasus and says, "You scared me, why did you jump out like that so suddenly!?"

He looks at her and narrows his eyes in response saying, "I was beating some nuisances black and blue for a few bits, I couldn't climb out of the hole and I wasn't able to use my wings to fly out. So I decided to jump out of the hole, I did not intend to scare you. Who are you?"

She looks at the pale pegasus and huffs, then looks over to her assistant and says, "Are you okay Spike? I'm sorry for stopping so suddenly like that, do you need help?"

Spike tries to pry his head out of the dirt pile, and succeeds on the fifth attempt as his head comes free with a pop saying, "I'm fine Twilight, what made you stop so suddenly?"

Twilight looks at Spike and says, "He startled me when I saw him jump up out of the ground off to my right." She then turns back to the strange pegasus and says, "My name is Twilight Sparkle, and I am a princess. I apologize for not answering you right away, I had to see if my number one assistant was alright. What might your name be?"

He then thinks of what to tell her and asks the watcher, 'What do you think my alternate name should be?'

Panoptos considers it for a moment and says, 'Well it may not be ingenious, but your name in German is Sterben. I would alter that to say Seven Selbs, the selbs is from the word selbst that roughly means self.'

Death then looks at her and says, "My name is Seven Selbs and I am a guardian as well as a warrior, I was sent here by my superiors to search for answers. I must now be on my way to continue with my task, good day." He then turns and continues heading towards Ponyville to turn the dog tags in, eager to get away from the pony with a look of curiosity all over her face.

Twilight watches him for a moment before nervously saying, "Hey wait...umm, could you possibly come with me on my journey into the forest?"

He stops and turns around and narrows his eyes saying, "Why should I, there are other things that I must tend to you know?"

She flinches at the reply and looks at the ground, then shuffles her hooves nervously and lowers her head saying, "Because the forest scares me right now with how dark and dangerous it has gotten lately, there are these long black thorny vines that try to grab anything close to them. Did you not notice them while on your way here?"

(Seven) Death looks towards the forest in the distance, then back to her and says, "I was too busy with my task and dealing with dogs to take in the sights, in what way does me helping you aid in my duty?"

Twilight fidgets under his hard look and says, "Well...ummm, I don't know how but perhaps you may find some sort of information worth your time in the forest? Perhaps you would like to make some new friends if you decide to accompany me on my journey to find the Tree of Harmony?"

He thinks about it for a moment and thinks, 'The most efficient way to gather information is through the assistance of the locals' He runs a hoof along the chin of his mask for a few more moments before saying, "Very well then, I shall accompany you into the forest that you fear, so lead the way princess."

She smiles and sighs thankfully saying, "Thank you for deciding to come with my assistant and me, shall we get going now?" She then turns to Spike and says, "Hop on my back Spike, so we can be on our way to catch up with the others."

Spike nods and looks up at the tall stallion and turns to look at her and says, "Okay Twilight." He then hops up onto her back and looks to Seven as he takes in his appearance as he notices the mask, and opens his mouth to ask about it.

(Seven) Death sighs and follows Twilight down the path saying, "Before you ask about my mask, I never take it off for personal reasons. Very few are those that have seen my real face, I intend to keep it that way. It is extremely rare for me to ever take it off."

He gulps and nods his head saying, "O-Okay then, your cutie mark is really interesting. Do you think I can ask about that?"

He glances back at his rear and sees the image and half chuckles saying, "I don't see any problem with you asking about that, this cutie mark of mine is special to me..."

Panoptos smirks and says, 'Cutie Marks resemble a ponies special talent, their personality, or their purpose in life. Yours is extremely unique among every pony's marks because it is accurate with your talent and role in the game of life, but what will you tell them without lying?'

(Seven) Death continues on saying with a chuckle, "...because it reminds me of why I was sent here and why I must keep to my assigned task. I can't tell you any more than that I'm afraid, anything else you are curious about little one?"

Spike looks at him and takes in his appearance saying, "Well...yeah, your coat is unique, I wish to know why you and your wings are so large?"

He looks at him briefly before watching the vines all around them as they slowly wrap themselves around the trees and cut off their path back saying, "That is a very good question little one, I guess the best answer I have is that this is just how I was meant to be."

Twilight quietly wonders how she could become friends with the mysterious Seven when she looks around, trying to figure out where they are exactly.

The baby dragon sits on Twilight's back and sighs saying, "Are we there yet Twilight?"

She nervously looks around saying, "I don't know where we are Spike, I think we're lost."

(Seven) Death shakes his head and half chuckles saying, "You're a local, and you are lost in this forest, what will you do now O' wise princess?"

Twilight's ears fall back as she feels sad about their situation and says, "I should not have let my friends convince me to leave them because it was too dangerous."

Spike hops off her back and looks at her in worry and says, "Well we can't just give up Twilight, we came too far and can't go back." He then looks at a tree and gets an idea saying, "Perhaps I can get a better view from up there and spot the others, I will be right back." He then begins to climb the tree to look around.

The horseman looks around behind them as he sees dozens of strange flowers make their way towards them and grins under his mask and says, "While you try to figure things out, I am going to fight these things, be sure to let me know when you figure something out." He then runs off towards them, looking back once in a while to be sure she can't see him change forms.

She looks back to see Seven disappear into the forest with several vines chasing after him saying, "HEY WAIT, DON'T LEAVE ME HERE..." She then gets engulfed in a cloud of gas as one of the flowers attacks her, causing her to go into a coughing fit as more start to spray her with their noxious gases.

The young dragon sees Twilight getting attacked by the plants and gasps, then races out of the tree to go get the others to save Twilight and Seven.