Daughter of Death

Twilight wasn’t sure if she heard it right.

“I… I’m… What…?”

“You are the daughter of Death itself. When I called you the Princess of the Dead earlier, it wasn’t just because your ghostly companion called you that once. You really are the Princess of the Dead.”

Twilight fell on her butt, her jaw hanging open.

“W… Bu… But… How…? My father is Night Light, a unicorn of Canterlot, Equestria, not… Death.”

“As you were forming in the womb of your mother, Death offered some of its power to you, changing you and turning you into a different pony than you would have become otherwise. While you remained physically the same, mentally and magically, you became more attuned to Death. This is where your fascination with death came from. This is why you became a lich that day. Death made you what you are. You are as much its daughter as you are the daughter of Twilight Velvet and Night Light.”

“The day I became… So it wasn’t an accident?”

“No. When you got your Cutie Mark, your magic fully merged with Death’s power within you and made you what you are now so your body wouldn’t reject it and truly kill you. Death’s power can’t be contained within a living body.”

“But… Why me?”

“You were apparently already destined to be a very powerful unicorn. Maybe even more. Death saw you as the perfect receptacle for its power.”

“Why… did he do this to me?”

“To get this answer, you will have to ask Death itself, once you recover the Staff of Death from your old mentor. It REALLY wants to talk to you.” The purple flames within Thanatos’ eye sockets did a roll at that. “It wouldn’t shut up about you. You befriending a ghost. When you animated your first undead. When you gave your first piece of soul. ESPECIALLY when you defeated the Storm King. Sometimes, I pondered getting out of my sleep-like state and resuming conquering Equestria just to get away from it.”

“Wait, you mean that Death is a doting father?” Goldie asked.

“The worst,” Thanatos answered in a very flat tone. “If it could, it would spoil you rotten. And then, it would present you to your uncles the other forces of nature and talk their ears off about how adorable and smart and powerful you are.”

Twilight couldn’t stop herself from letting out a giggle at that. Beside her, Goldie rolled in the air in laughter.

The filly quickly calmed down however as everything finally caught up.

She was the daughter of Death. The primordial force itself. It was the reason why she died. Why she had to leave behind everything she knew for a lonely life in the jungle with just the ghost of a heroic colt and an old grumpy minotaur. Well now, it was the ghost of a colt, a broken mare, and a hedgehog creature…

Unless they turned on her too…

Twilight shook her head, stopping thinking about that.

Death was responsible for everything that happened to her for the last two years. The bad, but also the good. Meeting Goldie. Learning so much. Stopping the Storm King. And she guessed that meeting Death Speaker also counted, even if it ended badly. She still ended up spending a lot of good time with him while it lasted.

She really didn’t know what to think. What was her destiny before Death altered it? What would have been her life? And what was her destiny now? Why did Death decide to have a child? It was probably a very important reason for a force of nature to do that when it wasn’t supposed to meddle with the world outside of its domain. What, was the balance between Life and Death going bonker? Whatever it was, it was a huge expectation on her small shoulders. Would it have been better if Death hadn’t touched her?

And really, the freaking daughter of Death! DEATH! What was there to say to that?

“Follow me,” Thanatos suddenly said, getting her out of her thoughts. She saw the older lich walk toward the back of the room, where she could see a door.

Not sure what more he could say, she followed him, Goldie alongside her.

Soon, they passed the door, and Twilight looked in awe.

Around her was a library, and a very large one at that, dwarfing the two libraries she had at her lair.

She recognized some of the books, especially Grogar’s, but the majority of these books were unknown to her.

“Death told me that you love books, so here is my whole collection. You can have it. I have no use for it anymore,” Thanatos said before he pointed at a chest. “In this chest are several artifacts that you could use to create your phylactery. Take them too.”

“Why not use a simple stone as my phylactery? It would be easier to hide.”

“This is a misconception. The receptacle of your soul must have magic in it. The more, the better, because magic boosts your soul’s own power, and most powerful artifacts are generally harder to destroy. Crystals work very well.”

“Then why not put your soul in your staff?”

“With Death’s power within it, I wasn’t sure of what would happen.”

Twilight nodded, then looked at the library.

“I’m not sure how I will be able to transport all that.”

“Use the pegasi and griffins in the other room, without forgetting your manticore. You can even use Leviathan. You should be able to reanimate him. You can make several trips.”

“Alright.”

“I’m not proposing to you that I become your new mentor. I don’t think that you are ready for another one after how it went with Death Speaker, and you have even less reasons to trust me with my past. Besides, Death Speaker was right about this point: you can perfectly teach yourself.”

Twilight agreed with a nod, then asked, “What will you do, then?”

“Now that I gave you everything, my job in this world is over. I can finally let Death do its job. I’m ready to greet it… well… like the friend that it became, I guess.”

Goldie grinned. “See? Necromancers can have friends, even if that friend is Death itself.”

“I guess that we are too used to everyone hating us to accept that,” Thanatos replied to that with a sigh before he returned to the throne room, Twilight following him again.

Thanatos went to his throne and sat on it before he removed his necklace from around his neck.

Twilight jumped on his lap and snuggled against his ribs.

“You are scared of dying alone, then I will remain with you to the end,” she said.

For the first time since forever, Thanatos wanted to smile. Instead, he petted the filly.

“I hope that you will make many friends,” he then said before he pointed his horn at the black crystal in the necklace and charged magic.

“Goodbye,” Twilight said. “And thank you.”

“Goodbye, my great grandniece, and… use my body well.”

Finally, before Twilight could register what he said, he fired a beam powerful enough that it made the black crystal explode.

Immediately, Thanatos’ body slumped against the throne, his cloak of darkness disappearing, and the necklace dropped on the floor.

Like a mirage, Twilight saw Thanatos’ ghost appear before the throne. He now looked like a normal pony, allowing her to see that he had a coat blue like the night, a purple mane and tail with a black and pink stripe side by side in a style very similar to Twilight’s, but shorter, and pink eyes. Also, she finally was able to see his Cutie Mark: a skeleton with a heart wrapped in its forelegs.

Thanatos began to walk away, only for Twilight to extend a hoof toward him and to say, “Wait… Great granduncle?”

Thanatos stopped, then looked at Twilight with a loving smile.

“Remember my real name: Dusk Shine. Good luck, Twilight.”

Dusk Shine then closed his eyes and resumed walking away, eventually fading away in a flash of light.

Twilight lowered her leg, staring at where her uncle disappeared.

Goldie also had his jaw open. “The Grim Reaper… was your uncle? Woah… Seems like being powerful liches runs in the family. Maybe that’s another reason why Death chose you.”

“Maybe…” Twilight absentmindedly said before she finally looked away, then at Dusk’s body, which she was still on.

She animated it, then gave it a piece of her soul.

Dusk Shine looked down at his niece, then hugged her.

It wasn’t as good as if it had been the real deal, but Twilight forced herself to think that it was still him.

At least, she will be able to differentiate him from the other undead unicorns thanks to the hole in his skull that she made.

Days later, Twilight was back in her lair with several hundreds of pegasi and griffins plus Leviathan transporting books and magical artifacts, without forgetting her manticore that she reanimated so it could transport Dusk.

While the artifacts were placed in the treasure room, the books were placed in the storeroom while waiting to dig a library big enough.

Then, she plunged herself into her studies, trying to not think of everything that happened.

As she read book after book without stopping, Goldie looked at her in worry, especially after she refused to join him in an Ogres and Oubliettes game.

“Hey, uh… So, Death Speaker has been lying to us all this time, right?”

Twilight’s legs shook for a moment at that before they stilled.

“T-then I’m sure that he didn’t mean it when he said that Aunt Celestia was trying to trick you when she searched the jungle two years ago! I mean, why would she try to trick you, when she could have just done like the Storm King and used a scan spell to find the lair? I’m sure that she knows such a spell!”

Twilight was silent for a moment before she looked at Goldie and said, “I don’t know…”

“Come on, let’s give it a try. I’m sure that she will be able to help you, and contrary to Death Speaker, she isn’t the kind to betray.”

Twilight thought for a moment, then hesitantly nodded. “Okay… But… I don’t feel like going to Canterlot so… let’s make her come here, alright?”

“I guess that’s fair. Then tell Mickey to talk to her.”

“He never managed to enter the castle, and the guards and servants wouldn’t react well to a dead rodent.”

“Then send him to talk to your parents. I’m sure that they will know that he is yours, and they will lead him to Aunt Celestia.”

Talking to her parents? After two years… How will they react?

Despite the question, she nodded. “Yes. I will send him to my house. Thank you, Goldie.”

“You are welcome, Princess. Eh, you really are a princess.”

Twilight giggled. “Yeah, I am.”

Meanwhile, on Mt. Everhoof…

Death Speaker climbed the mountain, every obstacle being swiftly dealt with thanks to the Staff of Thanatos and with the help of some undead he got these last few days.

As he climbed, he couldn’t stop himself from thinking about Twilight. As much as he hated to admit, he grew fond of the little filly, and he really hesitated leaving her. However, he knew that she would have been against what he planned, so in the end, he decided that it was better for their paths to separate, even if it hurt (and rushing it didn’t help).

And hopefully, his betrayal will convince her to remain alone in her lair, away from everything that will happen.

Last time he watched through Sunshine’s eyes, the filly was deep in a book, seemingly closing herself into her studies. Good.

Eventually, Death Speaker reached the summit of the mountain, arriving before a cave. However, he didn’t advance further, knowing what blocked the cave. Raising a hand, he placed it on what revealed to be a magical barrier, very powerful. He immediately removed his hand, the barrier causing some pain in it.

But it won’t be enough to stop him.

Raising the staff, he accumulated magic into it, then unleashed it in the form of a black beam.

The barrier was immediately destroyed, leaving the path open for him to enter the cave.

A few moments later, he came out holding a bell.

“Now, it’s time for Minoria to pay, and eventually, the world. It’s time for the necromancers to rise.”

Yeah, Twilight really wouldn’t have approved… But the necromancers needed, deserved to come out of the shadows.

And then, he will be able to offer to her a world where she won’t be alone.