"How were you able to do that, Twilight? You took away Grogar's magic from them-
Discord interrupts Spike, "Guess I was right after all."
At Twilight's glare, Discord silences himself and retrieves the bell from the hooves of a particularly curious party pony.
"Suffice to say, now we know that the Element of Magic will always be a part of who you are, just as your friends will be," Princess Celestia declares.
"May I?" Princess Luna asks, looking at the bell.
"Oh, of course," Discord takes his chaos magic back prior to returning the two sisters' magic.
Then Pinkie Pie gasps, looking at a changeling that wasn't there before. "Where's... Applejack?"
"I don't know but... I'm not her."
"Obviously, maybe she's hiding? Applejack~ The fight's over now!" Pinkie calls out, skipping across the battlefield in an effort to find her friend.
Someone else finds the missing element bearer first- "Uh... Dash?"
Rainbow Dash looks at Spitfire, grim expression painting the Wonderbolt Captain's usually stoic face. Spitfire gives the Princesses a salute, then cutting to the chase, "We found... a casualty in the battlefield. Several were wounded but... this one looked... gone-
"Guys! Everyone! Help! Help us! Please, come quickly!" Pinkie's cries reached their ears, and fear gripped the elements' hearts. The tone of the party pony's voice indicated pain and critical importance.
What met them is the sight of a faded-out farmpony cradled between a crying Pinkie's forelegs. Rainbow Dash is the first to take a closer look, her gasp and retrieval of a tattered stetson hat confirming the identity of the corpse. Twilight and Rarity kneel down, with the former leaning her head to her friend's chest- it was too still, too quiet, "She's... not breathing."
Twilight starts to panic, Rarity right there with her.
"We've got to get her to the hospital!" Fluttershy firmly suggests.
The funeral is held five days later; Applejack's body lays on an open casket of the Apple family's choice. Everyone took it hard, but Pinkie Pie most visibly so, her mane now straight and dull; because she was the first one of their friends to find the body and the last one to hold the corpse, the party-pony couldn't shake off the atmosphere of death lingering around her- so she baked, endlessly. The trauma of finding a dead body haunts her in her dreams, making an insomniac out of her as she fears that she'll see another friend just as lifeless as Applejack; nobody looked more ready to mourn than Pinkie Pie looked, not even any of the Apples. She was only able to look at the casket once before excusing herself to throw up, the bile is as bitter as her emotions- why couldn't she have found Applejack any earlier? Regardless of her flat mane, she never appeared more in disarray than she did now.
Rarity was the complete opposite, composed and regal- not so before this moment though. Even Twilight noticed that she overworked herself, coordinating everything to make the funeral perfect since Pinkie was out of commission. Rarity was the one who wrote the letters to all the numerous branches of the Apple family when Granny Smith couldn't bear to do it; ever-generous, she was also there to wipe away Apple Bloom's tears, hosting her and Sweetie Belle in an on-going sleepover. While Rarity couldn't lend Big Macintosh a hooficured-hoof with his chores, she did throw everything in aiding Sugar Belle with preparing for the Apples' arrivals. It was better this way, Rarity couldn't help but feel judgement emanating from the stallion. Almost as if Applejack's brother would tell her off at any moment- his silence left plenty to the paranoid imagination; a majority of the time, she felt like he wants to ask her the "Why?", "How?" or "Why not?" but she didn't have the answers.
Fluttershy became more opinionated, "I don't think Applejack would like that," became a phrase she told herself now, and others too. Deciding that Honesty really is the best policy meant being honest with every single creature; no more sugar-coating things.
"I'm glad you're here," Twilight says in greeting, albeit solemnly.
The pegasi frowns as she timidly takes her seat, "Well, I'm not. I wish we weren't here at all, honestly, I think we could've avoided all of this if we had a better plan than just charging into battle mindlessly."
The six young students overheard her, disbelief written all over their faces.
"Oh, I don't think it's anyone's fault though, every creature was a big help in taking down the enemy," the pegasi amends.
Like Pinkie Pie, the Princess' comfort also came in the form of self-seclusion. Re-analyzing the battle with the skills of Starlight, Trixie and Sunburst made her witness that Applejack actually died saving a changeling-copy of Twilight! Before the alicorn could try anything, Starlight ended the time-travelling spell- it was at Starswirl's behest, of course. Starlight had to hold her down as she broke, crying, but Twilight didn't even feel a hint of embarrassment as Sunburst looked at her with understanding and Trixie with empathy. It wasn't fair, and that couldn't be it! After the doctor announced Applejack's death, Twilight shut down, alternating between crying and reading dark and forbidden books. Spike was in mourning too- he only remembers to feed Twilight when he himself felt hunger, it wasn't a healthy routine.
"Where's Rainbow Dash?" Rarity asks, approaching them and taking a seat.
The group of would-be pallbearers shake their heads.
Angry- furious, vexed, displeased, outraged, irritated -she came to destroy the stone statues of Cozy Glow, Tirek and Chyrsallis, but Luna caught her sneaking into the grounds. To her surprise though, the Lunar mare gives Rainbow Dash the 'go ahead' signal, only for her to find that the statues are more solid than she thought. Luna simply stands by, expressionless as the young mare proceeds to hit the statue again- forehooves, backhooves and even utilizing her head!
Again and again, it went on. It was night time, for goodness' sake- but Luna could not turn away and gallop to the Dream Realm now, not when a pony is so obviously in immeasurable distress. It would've been amusing or entertaining for an outsider, but to Luna, it was simply painful to watch, and more than a little depressing. Before Rainbow Dash could bloody her hooves anymore than she already has, the lunar mare's magic aura surrounds her entirety, causing an abrupt halt in her movements.
"That's not going to bring back Applejack, Rainbow Dash," she says.
When Rainbow Dash's face morphed into something less enraged, Luna teleports them someplace else- it wouldn't do for the statues to be privy to this conversation. Upon freeing the little pony from her magical bind, the pegasi face-plants unceremoniously to the royal carpet, almost hitting her head by the foot of the throne as she cried, bawled and wailed for her loss. Letting out a week's worth of tears, pain and silent suffering. She wants so badly to be the strong one, but that also meant she had to avoid the funeral.
"She was a really amazing pony, wasn't she?"
Rainbow looks up at the words of the retired princess, muzzle wet from the ugly crying.
"She'll be missed by many, I'm sure," Luna states.
"I don't just miss her," Rainbow says, sentence dripping with incredulity. "I love her, Princess."
She spat the last word like it was an insult, as if the title meant Luna wouldn't be able to relate to her plight. While the title did merit a privileged and sheltered life, it did not protect Luna nor any other Princess, retired or not, from love. It is a rather shocking confession though, and it only serves to remind the lunar mare how the times have changed enough for a mare to proudly proclaim her love for another mare.
"You love her?"
Rainbow Dash slowly puts herself together, sitting more appropriately now. "More than anything," she slowly answers.
Luna hums, "I confess, I have my suspicions about what happened. It's true that Applejack as she is now is simply a corpse, but the spell cast onto her did not incinerate her body, and it made me suspicious. There was only ever two other similar cases-
"What? What do you mean?"
"I mean... I've seen this before. Grogar's bell is meant to take, not kill. The first time this happened was with a Hippogriff, his soul was severed from his body as a result, and it had to be retrieved from the Sea of Souls. While there are ways to get to the Underworld, records do not state what happened to the one who retrieved the hippogriff's soul. The second time this happened, Celestia and I were barely similar to your age now, but the pony who did try to retrieve his lover's soul failed at the very last second. You see, Rainbow Dash, Death is the ruler of the Underworld, and he will make you complete trials before you can take Applejack's soul back to the living world-
"I'll do anything, please, Luna, you've gotta let me-
"We must go to the funeral. I need to confirm my suspicions first, it's unfortunate that neither Celestia nor I had scanned the body any earlier."
When they got there, there were only a few ponies left in attendance, most of Applejack's extended family had gone to retire for the night, but Granny Smith can be spotted quietly sleeping on the frontmost bench with Macintosh reading something on the second bench. Twilight, Fluttershy and Rarity were also still present, staring at the wall behind Applejack's open casket. Rainbow Dash wanted nothing more than to close it so she didn't have to look at the pale imitation of the mare she loves.
"Princess Luna," Rarity nudges the other mares back into reality.
"I'm just here to pay my respects," Luna humbly says. She then whispers to Rainbow Dash, "leave this to me."
After waiting for what seemed like hours, Luna came back to tell her the news. "I was correct, it is the Eurydice Effect. She is dead, only because her soul is missing."
"What do I need to do?" Rainbow Dash asks, ready to receive her mission.
"Midnight is close, I'll do the spell to open the portal to the Underworld then... only... it requires Applejack's body," Luna tells her.
"Why?"
"You'll have to carry her body and present it to Death, he must grant you entrance to the Underworld. The Sea of Souls is the body's destination, to reunite it with the soul that resided in there. Can you do it?"
"Consider it done."
Flying around with somepony's decomposing corpse was nasty work- it smelled too strongly of chrysanthemums and Rainbow hated every second of it. The lifeless limbs flailing on the way to the castle was also a terrible experience. Guilt fills her, knowing that she basically stole a literal body; Big Mac had to carry Granny Smith onto a proper bed, but Rainbow only saw it as her chance. "Don't worry, Applejack, I'll bring you back. No matter what."
The castle of the two sisters and the crystalline clubhouse now visible from here. Rainbow lands soon enough, finding Luna waiting on the ground and sitting next to a chalk drawing. It's an encircled star, unlit candles sitting on its tips. "Lay her there," the lunar mare directs.
Luna then reveals a knife and with her magic, she controls it and nicks the younger mare. "Tch," Rainbow's eyes widen as blood from her forehoof drips onto the star, while unfamiliar with magic as a whole, she's heard of blood sacrifices before- she didn't expect to witness and experience it firsthoof though. The candles simultaneously flare to life, their flames burning high and intimidating, it's followed by chanting with Luna using her scary voice.
Ominously, the ground begins to shake, Applejack's body is suddenly levitating and Rainbow Dash's feathers stand on edge.
The circle is lit by fire, and a portal opens from the star's center- swirling black, a deep dark abyss.
"Take her," Luna addresses her.
When Rainbow fails to move, Luna tries again. "Rainbow Dash, you must go now. Take her body and go!"
Scared- she was scared. But Rainbow Dash is never scared.
Fueled purely by determination and stubbornness, she inhales, grabs Applejack's body and dives in.
Death is like no pony she's ever seen. Death is no pony nor creature she's ever seen. Death is a five-horned being with a flaming purple head matching his purple flaming eyes, pronounced bony structures with a tight grip on a black scepter. Though he lacked a tail, from what Rainbow can see, he obviously had large wings but like dragons, he did not have feathers- his wings looked like a bunch of knives put together.
"I-
"You want her back," Death's mouth did not move when he spoke, and his voice felt as if it came from everywhere- like he was a jury deciding on Rainbow's sentence. Cold, like a fresh bucket of ice-water, eerie and unfeeling.
"Yeah, and I'm ready to fight for her-
Death's eerily calm voice surrounds her again, "There will be no fighting... pony."
"Then can I have her soul back, please?"
Death's laugh somehow makes everything feel worse and surreal for Rainbow Dash. "If you want her back, you will have to leave your body here, with hers, in order to enter the Sea of Souls. If you find and convince her to return here, I will put both of your souls back into your rightful bodies, but if you fail, you will be stuck in the sea forever."
"I'm late! I'm late! I'm late! I'm late! I'm late! I'm late! I'm late! I'm late! I'm late! I'm late! I'm late! I'm late! I'm late! I'm late! I'm late! I'm late! I'm late! I'm late! I'm late! I'm late! I'm late! I'm late! I'm late! I'm late! I'm late! I'm late! I'm late! I'm late! I'm late! I'm late! I'm late! I'm late! I'm late! I'm late!"
"Get outta th' way! Get outta th' way! Get outta th' way! Get outta th' way! Get outta th' way! Get outta th' way! Get outta th' way! Get outta th' way! Get outta th' way! Get outta th' way! Get outta th' way! Get outta th' way! Get outta th' way! Get outta th' way! Get outta th' way!"
"I don't wanna go... I don't wanna go... I don't wanna go... I don't wanna go... I don't wanna go... I don't wanna go... I don't wanna go... I don't wanna go... I don't wanna go... I don't wanna go... I don't wanna go... I don't wanna go... I don't wanna go... I don't wanna go..."
Rainbow Dash covers her ears, eyes darting from one soul to the next. Sea of Souls feels like an ocean with how lost she is, and how wide this gorge spans. The Ghastly Gorge couldn't even compare to this- but they were both dangerous. Souls from every direction were repeating their last words or their last actions, trapped in endless re-enactment.
She gulps, deciding that she didn't really think solving the mystery of 'What happens after death' was that exciting- traumatizing, more like. Even worse though, all of the souls were shaped like cloud-like blobs. There were no features to go off on but their dulled eyes, and Rainbow suspects that a majority of the souls surrounding her at the moment can't possibly be ponies. Hopelessness starts to consume her as her confidence wanes-
No, no way. No how. She's the damned Element of Loyalty. She is not giving up, not now, not ever. Giving up meant being stuck here forever. There's no corpse for the rest of her friends to use if they decide to try this. Besides, this is her test- her trial, her burden, hers alone. She will succeed, or quite literally die trying.
She hears it.
"Watch out! Watch out! Watch out! Watch out! Watch out! Watch out! Watch out! Watch out! Watch out! Watch out! Watch out! Watch out! Watch out! Watch out! Watch out! Watch out! Watch out! Watch out! Watch out! Watch out! Watch out! Watch out! Watch out! Watch out!"
After already mistaking four souls, she finally hears it- Applejack's voice.
Rainbow slowly moves to her left, only for it to grow quieter. Heading towards the right side didn't work either. She huffs, closing her eyes, an idea pops into her head. Keeping her eyes closed, the mare follows the voice, bumping into souls, tripping on rocks, and meeting other various projectiles on the way. It felt like a while before Applejack's voice even raised in volume, magenta eyes remaining hidden.
Finding what she believes to be Applejack's soul, the second trial comes next: convincing the soul to leave.
"Applejack," she calls out.
"Watch out!"
Rainbow allows her to reenact her moment of death- which turns out to be the right choice. After the soul-blob tackles her, something different happens. The green eyes came alive, if only for a quick second.
"You've got to be more careful, Rainbow. You could've died!"
"I'm not dead, Aj, but you gotta come with me."
"Why? Where are we goin? We gotta stop them! Watch out!"
Confused, Rainbow watches Applejack's soul go off, tackling some soul or other.
"Applejack," she tries again.
"Watch out!"
"Applejack." "Watch out!" "Applejack." "Watch out!" "Applejack." "Watch out!" "Applejack." "Watch out!" "Applejack." "Watch out!"
Failure after failure, it seems like there's only a small window for Rainbow to reason with the soul before the life in its green eyes fade, resetting itself. Frustration builds, why did Applejack have to be so stubborn? Deciding to use the soul's own words against it, Rainbow Dash tackles the blob.
"Applejack! Watch out! We got a plan. Let's go!" Fearing the worst, Rainbow braces herself.
"Why didn't cha say so, pardner?"
"Congratulations, you've succeeded," Death says, as lifeless as ever.
The pony rolls her eyes- it did take a while though, hopefully she wasn't gone too long.
"I'm afraid this third but last trial will be your hardest yet," Death brings his scepter to the ground in a swift move.
Rainbow Dash and Applejack gasped for air in chorus, they were in their bodies again.
"I'm ready for it," Rainbow tells him, challenging.
"Rainbow? W-what's going on? Where- What? Ah... Ah was," Applejack couldn't form the words, eyes flitting from one thing to the next, foreboding red sky above her head and all.
"That's correct, pony... You died, and you are both in the Underworld."
"I'm taking her back, Death. No matter what," Magenta eyes glare up at Death in demand.
"You may leave, if you succeed," Death gestures with his hand, the Underworld rips, revealing a tunnel. "That tunnel leads back to the world of the living. The one who walks in front is not allowed to look behind, and the one who walks behind may not speak. One cannot overtake the other's position- it is not a race. Fail and your souls will be mine forever, are we in agreement?"
"Deal!"
"Ah guess... Ah'll walk second?"
"What? No! Why?"
"Rainbow... Ah... Ah trust you not to look back, but me... The thought of leavin' you here... it don't sit right with me. An' besides, Ah'm better at staying quiet b'tween us two, right?"
She was scared, but that was fine.
"I'm scared of leaving you here, too," Rainbow confesses.
"Yer gonna do fine, sugarcube."
The flames acting like the bars of the tunnel begin to die down. Death gestures for them to go, Rainbow nods in determination. "Alright, Aj. See you on the other side?"
Before Applejack can follow though, the flames rise up again, halting the orange pony from following. Death holds up his skeletal hand, asking for patience. The flames die down soon enough, and the farmpony trots quickly in an effort to catch up.
Rainbow Dash lets out a sigh of relief after hearing faint hoofsteps trailing behind her. Judging from the volume, it must mean that there's a good distance between them, doesn't mean that she's allowed to look back though. "I'm just gonna trust that you're behind me, okay?"
"You're behind me and I'm gonna get us out of here."
Silence. The hoofsteps were becoming more and more faint with every step she took- but unbeknown to the colorful athlete, the tunnel is a trick: the closer Applejack got, the farther she sounds to Rainbow. Applejack is actually only a foreleg behind her, she couldn't tell the pegasi though, neither is she allowed to surpass her.
"Applejack, hurry up~ We need to leave as fast as we can."
The orange mare bites her lips shut, watching Rainbow Dash move like her pet, Tank, is torture incarnate. The farmpony didn't know that it's another trick of the tunnel; the closer to the living world they are, the more Rainbow felt like she was trudging through mud. Applejack wanted to ask, so badly, why Rainbow was moving like that, but she couldn't.
If anyone is going to make it through this, it would be them.
"All things considered, I... I'm glad I decided to sneak into Canterlot Castle tonight, or Luna never would've helped me get here. Had to cut myself like a blood sacrifice to open the gates of the Underworld. How freaky is that? That's like the stuff out of my nightmares, right there... Not as scary as you dying though, so don't do that to me again, 'kay? You can scold me as much as you want, so long as you're with me. I..."
Applejack hears the voice break as well as an awkward stifled sob.
"I just... I couldn't bear to lose you, okay? Not when... not when I was gonna tell you something super important..."
"The truth is, Aj, is that... you're it, y'know? You're... you're the super awesome thing in my life, ever. I- I don't know why, I don't know when, I don't even know how!" Rainbow Dash can feel her own frustration build from her words and thoughts.
"You're important to me, I love you- b-beyond friendship! I would hurt for you, I just bled for you, I went to that disgusting sea of souls for you! If that's not a testament of my buckin' affection, I don't know what is! I was so angry- still am, when the doctor presented your death certificate, all official-like. I wanted to punch him!"
Applejack slows down, Rainbow's tirade nurturing a fondness she's unfamiliar with, one in her heart that she didn't even know was there. She's glad she wasn't allowed to say anything because she didn't know how to respond to the whirlwind of emotions unfurling before her very eyes. To her surprise though, Rainbow soon appeared to be crying as she trudged through the last leg of the tunnel. Just because Applejack can see the end, it didn't mean that Rainbow could.
"Luna? We're... back?" Rainbow emerges from the black abyss of the swirling portal first. Luna wasn't alone though: Sandbar, Smolder, Gallus, Ocellus, Yona and Silverstream were there next to her.
After a couple of seconds, Applejack emerges and their audience gapes in disbelief. Rainbow Dash happily watches the deep dark portal disappear, erasing the drawn star with it and leaving only the circle and candles behind.
"Ghost ponies," Silverstream murmurs.
"Your cutiemarks changed," Sandbar comments offhandedly.
"We totally saw you steal Applejack," Smolder says.
Luna nods. "It seems as though this venture to the realm of Death has changed both of you permanently."
Applejack and Rainbow Dash look at each other, aside from their altered cutiemarks, there were also translucent limbs protruding from their bodies. Both of them are now sporting ghostly-silver horns, and a pair of wings for the earth pony. The faint image of a crowned skull also covers their cutiemarks now, glimmering innocently under the moonlight.
"I did good though, right?" Rainbow Dash asks.
"Y'did more 'n good, sugarcube," Applejack sidles up next to her, bumping shoulders. "Thanks for savin' me."
"Let us bring the news to the family of Apples!" Luna declares, subtly winking at Rainbow Dash.
Silverstream and Ocellus were immediately on their wings, flying and leading the way to the acres.
"Teach," Gallus nods at Rainbow Dash, sending her a thumbs up before also taking flight. Smolder, Yona and Sandbar follow their friends at a much more leisurely pace, but just as enthusiastic to bring such joyous news.
"Death had left his mark on you both, you have won his blessing and approval for your efforts," Luna tells them, pride shining on her eyes before she takes off.
The wonderbolt speaks first, "Listen... back there-
Applejack raises a hoof, booping the pegasi's muzzle quick-like. "Ah love ya too, Dash."
"Awesome~" a nervous giggle emits from her lips. "So... think those wings are functional?"
"I'ont know."
"Wanna fly?"
Author's Note
They're not really alicorns, but they're also not-not alicorns.
And they live happily ever after...
