Author's Note

~~I'm gonna say this, these early chapters of my story is quite the awful ones since I had no experience to back on.~~

~~However, trust me from start of chapter 3 my writing goes exponentinally better so please keep reading.~~

~~At one point in the future, I will rewrite these awful chapters- probably after I completed chapter 4.~~

~~Anyway, have a nice read everpony~~

This prologue has been rewritten as of: 2024-11-16, I hope that the revised version of the prologue is a better one

Prologue : I Was Dead? (Edited, Rewritten)

Prologue : I Was Dead?
By : The Eternal Star

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' Where the hell am I and how did I even get in here?' I thought in my mind as I glanced left and right at my surroundings, pretty sure I had fallen asleep in my bedroom and not this pitch-black room I found myself in.

This pitch-black room is also eerily quiet as I don't hear a single beat of sound, not even the sound of my breath or heartbeat could be heard. Wait a minute, the sound of my breath and heartbeat?

I looked down at my body and was bewildered when I saw that nothing was there, I tried to move my hands to see if my chest was truly missing, but found myself unable to. I looked to my right side where my hand was supposed to be and... there's nothing in there, just darkness.

After a few minutes of staring, my mind proceeded to the information and concluded one thing; somehow, for the past few minutes, I had found myself in this place. I could still be alive even though I neither breathe nor do I have a body, did I even still have my head on?

This discovery makes me feel a few waves of emotion, mostly confusion and wonder alongside slight disbelief. But I neither felt panic nor fear in the slightest, as what would be of use those emotions have in these kinds of extraordinary circumstances? I'm not gonna cry or beg some high deity to tell me where I was and why am I in here like most people thank you very much.

Considering that with the current circumstances I'm in, I can't do anything other than wait in here for who knows how long until something happens, I might as well begin introducing myself. I'm Ifan Rikori and everyone just calls me Ifan, I'm an Asian man in his mid-twenties with occupation being an accountant manager in my local area delivery service.

I was 6.1 feet tall or about 186 centimeters, I had yellow skin, and common black hair alongside a pair of brown eyes, and I always wore transparent black glasses that allowed me to have clear vision since I was diagnosed with eye problems when I was five years old.

Growing up has been quite an eventful experience for me, when I was still in school I had very few of what I would consider to be friends and not just classmates. This happened because I was quite selective when it come to choosing who I surround myself with, I'm not racist as I didn't give a shit about skin color or other physical attributes.

Rather, it's based on their personalities, habits, and the impression they give me whenever I interact with them. The result is as you might expect, I have very few friends but those few are people who I am comfortable being around, can be trusted to keep secret, and can be counted on whenever I need them and vice versa.

Throughout my childhood, my teachers and sometimes my parents would tell me that I should open up to others more and befriend more kids. Even though I wouldn't heed their advice and would instead grumble whenever they told me this, in my opinion, you should only be friends with those you think have a positive influence in your life.

Another thing worthy to be mentioning is that people would often refer to me as the nerd and quiet one, the first is because I always aced every test and was the very top student in my grade. Along with having a high probability of winning an academic competition whenever I was rolled into one.

The last is due to my quiet nature and oftentimes 'mysterious and cold' aura around me, at least that's what my closest friends would tell me whenever I asked them why my classmates and teachers refer to me as the quiet one. Another reason is probably because I shy away from social activities and actively avoid being the center of attention unless the situation calls for it.

Due to being referred to as both the nerd and the quiet one, I was quite often picked as a target by school bullies and thugs, sometimes even a few hooligans on the streets. But they soon learned that messing with a sleeping tiger was not a good idea as I sent them straight to the school infirmary and hospital with broken ribs, nose, jaws, dislocated bones, and several missing teeth.

The best thing about it is that neither the school nor my parents would punish me as they knew that I was in the right, the school knew that giving punishment to one of their top students just because he was defending himself would damage the school's reputation and give a bad PR.

As for my parents, my father was a former Captain serving in the ground army while my mother was a former policewoman, so they instead praised me for fiercely defending myself and would even give me several gifts as a result of my 'unwillingness to just be exploited and walked over by others', although since I graduated from high school my relation with them is... tense to put it lightly.

Then again, throughout my experience, it is always the best thing to do one massive finishing move that would solve and end the problem right to the roots of it, then a few gentle subtle moves that are oftentimes time-consuming and ineffective.

I'm sure one of the ineffective examples would be when my head and vice-principal would gather all of the students in the field, and then give a long speech about why bullying is bad, the consequences it has, and the fact why you should be ashamed of it. Huh, as if those bullies and thugs care about their victim's emotional well-being.

Anyway, enough talking about my past and let's now focus on the present. I don't know how long I had been in this place since time seemed to pass by quickly, but it must have been quite long as I yawned and a feeling of sleepiness started to settle in due to inaction and how quiet this place is.

Just as I was about to fall asleep, a flip sound similar to a switch being flipped was heard followed by a bright white light suddenly appearing above one particular spot several meters in front of me. As I gazed toward where the light was pointing, an iron chair and a desk you would see in an office materialized out of thin air.

Above the table, is a piece of paper written in.. red ink, or was it blood? After those three things materialized, then a dark shadowy figure with bright red eyes started to emerge as it sat on the iron chair and was looking at the piece of paper with- as best I can guess since it had no facial features other than the red eyes -an angry look.

From each side of the shadowy figure, white skeleton hands started to materialize slowly with the one on the right holding a giant black scythe that could easily cut someone else body in half. All in all, the appearance of the humanoid figure looked similar to a certain being- the Grim Reaper, also known as the death itself.

Now it all made sense, the pitch-black surroundings, the eerie quietness where not even a single beat of sound was heard, alongside the fact that I was somewhat still alive even though I neither breathed nor had a body of my own anymore.

It all combined into one fact, I was dead and this place is where the souls of those that had fallen will meet with the death itself, who will guide these souls to their next destination where they will face judgment and fate be decided. However, this still leaves one question and that is... how did I die?

Before I could make any guesses in my mind though, I suddenly found myself in front of the desk where death had made itself comfortable by sitting on the chair. The gaze of death which was previously on the paper, now was moving up to meet my face as its red piercing eyes stared directly at my soul.

Those red eyes made me feel dread whenever I directly looked at it, death then stared down at the paper again as he placed the scythe in his hand beside the table and let out an annoyed sigh, before it asked in a haunting voice, "So, Mr. Ifan Rikori, I assume you know what this place is and why you're in here, yet didn't know the cause as to why you're in here?"

The voice of Death is a mix high-pitched feminine tone and a deep low baritone, making it hard for me to guess if it was a woman's or a man's voice, did death even have gender? I, however, pushed those questions away from my mind as I answered death's question with a thought.

'Yes, I knew that this place is most likely the dead realm where the souls of those who had fallen would meet you and you would guide them to their next destination to face judgment and have their fate be decided. I'm here because I'm dead but mind telling me what is the cause of my death?'

Hearing my response, death let out a loud laugh that echoed through the surroundings, he then glanced up at me again and stated, "As critical and to the point as you did in your life isn't it Mr Ifan? Alright, the cause of your death is one of my underlings fault who mistook your identity for another and set up a series of events that led up to your demise."

Death then stared down at the paper on the table again before sighing in frustration and continued, "It annoys me whenever this happens, but then again I wasn't granted enough power and allowance by those higher than me so I could do all of my continuous tasks at once."

Upon hearing this revelation, my mind was slightly confused and disbelief as I didn't know that there are higher beings controlling death's power and that it would require underlings to do its task, I then thought with acknowledgment, 'I guess now it makes sense as to why death could appear and do its job so many times at once.

Also, death and its underlings could make mistakes. Was it like those mysterious and phenomenal things where people that are previously assumed to be dead, suddenly woke and rose back up to life completely healthy? This is certainly new.'

Death then glanced back up at me again and chuckled loudly before he stated with a humble but matter-of-fact voice, "I couldn't make mistakes whenever I did my job, but my underlings would make mistakes from time to time. Also, do you really think I could be in so many places at different times and universes at once?

As for the last one, the answer would be a yes. If I was fast enough to take notice of my underling's mistake and the vessel which the soul resides upon isn't seriously damaged beyond repair or heal, then I could bring the soul of those whose death is mistaken back to their mortal body."

When my mind was done proceeding with the information death told me, a question arose in my mind that would be best addressed as soon as I could, I then asked in my thought, ' So, what would happen to me now? Could I still be brought to my body and continue my life as normal?'

Upon hearing my question, death gripped its skeletal hand together on the table and rested its forehead on top of it. Death stayed silent for a minute as if contemplating what it would say next before it then glanced up at me and replied.

"Unfortunately, I couldn't bring you back to your body since it had turned into a fertilizer for the soil by now, time moved differently in this realm and what might feel to be hours in here, could be years if not decades in the realm of the living."

As if sensing my next question, death clapped its hands together and cut me from asking by stating in a reassuring voice, "Fear not however, you won't be stuck in this realm nor I will bring you to your next destination to face judgment, for if I were to do so then Life would have my hide.

Instead, I would reincarnate you albeit this time you can choose the specifics which is where you would be reincarnated, what timeline you would be reborn into, and what species. On top of that, I would grant you three requests of whatever you want with each request giving you a drawback that would be as severe as what was requested."

After my mind proceeded with this revelation, I began to wonder what world and at which timeline would be best for me. My thought then quickly drifted to a certain world in a show intended for little girls, yet unexpectedly attracted the attention of a lot of adults and kids of various ages and backgrounds- My Little Pony.

It is a children's cartoon that I instantly liked and followed the stream when it was first released, to this day even when the fandom is in stagnation and the G4 show has ended, I still love to log in to Fimfiction and read the huge amount of stories created by it's fandom.

After some consideration, I think the world this show was based upon would be the perfect one for me since while it has its dangers and threats, they only happen occasionally and infrequently. All the while it still has those good things in a fictional world like the ability to wield magic.

In my free time, I would theorize and imagine how I could combine advanced technology with powerful spells and magic, thus creating a magicatechno wonder that would revolutionize aspects of civilization. Yeah, now I know what world I would like to be reincarnated into.

As for which timeline I would like to be reborn into, I have wondered quite often how such a wonderful magical world came to be and its history. So I think when it comes to this one, extremely before the start of the show would be a good one for me.

And last, what species and gender would I be reincarnated into? I've got quite fond of ponies compared to other races, the purely vegetarian diets would suck, but perhaps if I was lucky, I reincarnated as a Thestral and thus be able to eat meat.

Now when it comes to gender... I'll just be honest and say that I didn't get along well when it came to a relationship with my love partner. I mean while my sizeable wealth, occupation, and academic prestige certainly make me have a lot of women wanting to be my wife.

They always had other reasons to marry me like having access to my wealth or gaining fame from my reputation, those who had a real interest in me, I feel sorry for this but I didn't feel the same for them. Combine that with my selective and cold personality, I haven't had any luck when it comes to love.

I have tried to change myself of course, but whenever I try it, it doesn't go well for my mental health for what I'm doing is so unlike the real me and thus causes depression until I reverse it. Hence I'm choosing female this time as perhaps in the next life, I will be lucky in a relationship as pretty sure every male likes intellectual, beautiful, and rich females right?

Now that I had concluded the specifics of how I would be reborn, I glanced at Death's black mist face and stated my decision in my mind, 'I would like to be born into my little pony world as a female pony with the timeline being extremely before the start of the show.'

Hearing my decision, death snapped its finger and a piece of light brown paper appeared on the table alongside a quill and a bottle of red ink. It then picked up the quill and dipped it into the red ink before proceeding to write what I had just stated, when it was done death brought the paper up and asked for confirmation.

"Alright, so the specifics of how you would be reborn are as the followings; First, the world is gonna be from the show My Little Pony. Second, the timeline would be extremely long before the start of the show. Third and last, you would be reincarnated as a female pony.

The first and third specifics are quite common, but the second certainly is unique and new. So do you agree that these three specifics would be used to dictate how you would be reborn? If so, then what would your three requests be?"

I tried to give death a nod as an answer but then recalled that I no longer had my head or body. So instead, I decided to consider what would be my three requests first before answering death's confirmation. Now what would my first request be?

As I contemplated it in my head for a few minutes, a revelation came into my mind and that being just because I was getting reborn and could choose the specifics, didn't mean I would keep any of my previous life's memories. And with that fact, I knew just what my first request was.

Here comes the second request, considering that I would be reborn into a world where everything is possible with magic being a real thing. I would need to be able to process and learn information and skills quickly, alongside having the innate power needed to cast all spells that would be used to further my study.

You may see that if I were to request these two then it would count as two requests, thus meaning I can't ask for another one since it had reached its limit. However, I managed to find a loophole here, and by making two things happen with just one request, this doesn't break any rule since death didn't specify that I can only have one thing granted per request.

Now comes the third and last request, this may come as embarrassing but I wanted my new appearance to be very attractive. I mean in my past life my physical appearance wasn't enticing and I don't want my new body to be the same, especially if I'm gonna be a female, might as well add in having a beautiful voice.

Since now I knew what my three requests would be, I glanced up to look at death's patiently waiting face and answered in my thought with determination, ' I agree that those three shall be the specifics of how I would be reincarnated, as for what would be my requests.

First, I would like to keep my past life memories and experiences. Second, I wanted my mind to be very intelligent, adaptive, and fast to proceed with new information, alongside having the innate power and potential to cast powerful spells and magics. For my last request, I would like to have a very attractive appearance alongside having a beautiful voice.'

Hearing my answer, death went back to writing my confirmation and request on the paper for a few minutes. When it was done, it placed the paper on the table and stared at my face before stating, "Alright, if that's what your requests would be then I shall grant them, now let me told of what your drawback would be."

Death then raised his right skeletal hand and raised one finger, "For your first request of keeping your past life memories and experiences, the drawback shall be that you wouldn't be able to remember who you are before alongside people you have met in your past life. You would keep the skills, and knowledge, alongside the interaction you have with them, but you wouldn't know who they are."

Death then raised its second fingers, "For your second request of having a very intelligent, adaptive, and quick-processing mind and having the innate power and potential to cast powerful spells and magics. The drawback shall be that your vision shall be permanently impaired, alongside your emotion shall be detached from those you interacted with, not emotionally dead mind you."

And at last, death raised its third fingers and continued, "For your last request of having a very attractive appearance and beautiful voice, then the drawback shall be that you would be so attractive, that every sapient being you interacted with would quickly develop feelings toward you.

The more and longer your interaction with them, the stronger the feeling is to the point that they would start doing anything to have you, and your love," Death lowered his three fingers, "Now with all of the drawbacks mentioned, do you agree with them and ready to be reincarnated, or do you want to reconsider and change something?"

Hearing the Death question in the end, I contemplated the drawbacks on my mind carefully and thoroughly, the memory part would be of no problem since what I needed was the skills, experiences, and knowledge. The vision problem would be suck, but I had been living with glasses for two decades and I'm sure there are things in Equestria that could be used as an alternative for it.

As for the emotional part, I was already emotionally distant and cold toward other people ninety-five percent of the time, so this one would be of no issue as what's the harm in being more distant? The third drawback gonna be as annoying as useful as it was, I had to be more careful in my interaction with others to not lead to any complicated situations but would be a great help if I needed something from someone else.

All in all, the drawbacks aren't as severe as I thought and is quite light compared to the benefits I get. So with a concluded more than acceptable yes in my mind, I replied to Death's question in my thought ' I find the drawbacks to being acceptable compared to the requests and I'm ready to be reincarnated Death.'

Hearing my answer, Death clapped its skeletal hand together and said in an affirmative voice, "Great, now your reincarnation would begin in five... four... three... two... one... have a nice new life!" My last vision before it suddenly went black was Death waving its hand at me.