Creation, Destruction, and Eternal Sleep

Chapters

Baby Steps
Prelude to the first test
The First Test
The Second and Final Test
Author's note

Baby Steps

It was an especially hot and humid night in the Everfree Forest. The animals were unusually silent, and the forest has taken on a more menacing quality than usual, as accentuated by the amount of silence and darkness. Insects stopped flying, land animals ceased in their daily routine of hunting and/or gathering, and all attention was seemingly on a strange lake, glistening in the beautiful moonlight Princess Luna has brought about.

Gradually, the shadows, which were innumerable, began creeping towards the lake, filling it and suffocating any and all light present inside of it. Eventually, the forest was lit up quite brightly, which thoroughly unsettled the animals, as predator and prey alike all stood still to watch this odd, unnatural event unfold. The lake was completely devoid of any sort of light, as the essence of darkness had snuffed it out, leaving the fish inside of it completely blind, disoriented, and frightened.

Suddenly, a bright, piercing ray of light struck down into the lake, seemingly out of nowhere. The light began to spread out, with a blob of blackened water slowly rising out of it. This blob slowly began to take form, with the light seemingly integrating with it. With some time, it finally took the form of a filly. Once it did this, the light disappeared and the black water began to solidify, still floating a little bit above the rest of the water. The filly formed eyes, a mouth with teeth, a horn, small, nearly useless wings, a mane and a tail, and a cutie mark, which consisted of a simple skull and crossbones beneath it, a universally recognized symbol of death.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity to the deeply disturbed creatures surrounding the lake, the water-born filly was given life. Its tail and mane were both silver. It opened its eyes, which were also colored silver, and it surveyed the area. The darkness in the water began to return to its origins.

"W-... where am I?" The filly asked the woodland creatures, confused. Out of nowhere, a voice answered her. "You are in the Everfree Forest, my dear.", the voice said, loud and booming all throughout the forest, as if it was talking to all of its inhabitants. "Who s-said that!?", the filly asked, now afraid and frantically searching, turning as she floated above the water. "And why am I floating?"

Just then, another intense beam of light struck down, except this time right next to the lake. It formed a huge ball of light, equally blinding, and out stepped a large equine being, brilliantly shining in the darkness. She had a white coat, completely white and shining eyes, huge, bird-like wings, and a large, sharp-looking horn. Her mane seemed to be made out of pure light, which seemed somewhat like fire, but it flowed and had only a single, solid color, which was a bright shade of yellow. After she had stepped out, the ball of light and the beam that delivered it was gone, leaving the filly to stare at the tall equine being before her in awe. The woodland creatures followed suit, staring at their Creator.

"I am the creator of the universe and all that dwell in it, but you may call me mother.", the Creator said in a matter-of-fact voice, still loud enough for all of the forest to hear her. "And why ask why you are floating? You're glad you're not wet, aren't you?"

"Oh... so you're... my mother?", the filly asked, bewildered that such a bright and divine-looking creature was her mother.

The Creator brought her newly-created daughter over to her via teleportation. "Yes, I am indeed your mother. I am mother to all living things, great and small, but you...", the Creator paused, apparently searching for words to describe the black-coated filly that stood before her. "...are a special case, so to speak. I put part of myself into your creation, as I did with your sisters. Your father did, as well. He should be arriving any minute now to come and inspect his newest daug-"

The Creator was suddenly cut off by a large, pitch black hole in the ground appearing. A shadowy, menacing-looking creature, also an equine, slowly rose out of it. After he did, the hole closed up, and he began to develop more physical features. His eyes were first, which glowed white, much like the Creator's, but his were... different. His did not glow nearly as brightly, and had scratch-like borders around them, as if they were coming from a mask of some sort. His mane and tail were made of some sort of odd, flowing darkness. His horn was bent backwards in a large arc, and had a dark purple glow to it. His wings were like those of a bat, the bases of them colored black, and ended in the same dark purple color his horn did. His coat was, of course, black.

"Ahhh...", the black-coated being said in a quiet voice. The filly grimaced at how much she had disliked both of her parents' voices, as one is loud and booming, and the other's is quiet, but still easily heard and echoing, as if he is talking from inside her mind. "So you are my new daughter, eh? I would have chosen a different color and overall style for your mane and tail, but this will definitely do. Hello! Hello, I am your father, little filly. Most of the subjects that know of my existence and/or have seen me refer to me as the Destroyer, for reasons I'm SURE you will find out soon enough." The Destroyer let out a chuckle, and the filly before him grimaced at the thought of her father being called "The Destroyer".

"Now, then! We're gonna need a name for you, aren't we, little filly?" The Destroyer asked, then turned to the Creator. "What SHOULD we name her? I'm not really the best with names here, I'm afraid. I'm usually not involved with this creation stuff, unless I'm simply twisting the designs you made to freak the subjects out... and, occasionally, you along with them." The Destroyer let out a sly chuckle again at his one and only sister's expense as she remembers the time he came up with the dreadful race of the Draconequui, a race she largely sent to Tartarus, along with all of the failed experiments and her brother's twisted designs, because of how loathsome and harmful they were, all but one, whom was imprisoned by her two older and closest daughters.

The Creator simply decided to move on with the task at hand. "Alright. I shall name her Eternal Sleep, and she will be tasked with escorting the souls of the dead out of the mortal world and into the afterlife.", she said, eyes transfixed on the confused filly before her. "I had been doing so myself until now. It's somewhat of a chore and I'm sick of doing it, so I shall pass it down unto you, Eternal Sleep. Now, then, are you ready to begin learning how you will do this job for the rest of eternity?"

The newly-named Eternal Sleep slowly nodded her head, afraid of what will come to pass by saying no.

"Then let us begin!"
_________________________________________________________________________________________________

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"

Luna was suddenly awoken from her day-long sleep by loud, piercing, shrill cries of agony. Not the cry of one, but the cries of many, which could mean only one thing: something terrible was happening to her subjects.

Bolting out of her bed, she went to the nearby window and looked out of it to observe a scene of absolute horror: Canterlot was in flames and her subjects below either running about the place in terror, or just staring at the raging flames as they consume the elegant buildings that will soon be nothing but useless piles of ash.

Luna quickly opened the window and jumped out, spreading her wings and landing next to one of her subjects, one who was simply standing there and watching, unable to comprehend what was going on.

"What has happened? Who did this!?" Luna asked frantically. No reply. She grabbed the confused pony and began shaking her to get her attention. "Please, answer me! How did this happen?" Luna urged. "T-..they did it." She finally answered after staring at Luna for what felt like an eternity as she pointed to somewhere among the destruction.

Luna turned her head to see a bunch of shadowy beings, who were occupied with brutally attacking her subjects. Luna, appalled and furious to see her subjects being treated in such a manner, immediately released the pony she was interrogating, saying "Get to somewhere safe. I'll take care of them..." to her, and began walking towards a group of the shadow beings as they were relentlessly beating one of her subjects.

"Stop at once!" Luna shouted as she lowered her horn and pointed it at the shadows. She only gave them time to divert their attention from their battered, helpless victim before she blasted them all to oblivion with a blast of lightning from her horn. She raised her head back up and walked over to the victim.

"Are you alright?" Luna asked, concern visible on her face. "Y-yes, I'm fine, just a little beaten up is all." The battered mare said, shakily getting up. She bowed her head to Luna. "Thank you for asking, Princess Luna."

"How did all of this happen? What caused this?" Luna asked, feeling confident she'd get a better answer out of this one.

"Well.. these weird shadow things attacked us, and they were led by a large, black-coated mare with hair much like yours, but she.. or it.. was acting as if it had gone mad, shrieking and drooling. Its eyes were a pure white, glowing frighteningly in the barely-lit morning. It looked kind of like Nightmare Moon, except it was behaving like some sort of feral monster!" The mare covered her face with a shaking foreleg. "It charged in the direction of Princess Celestia's castle."

Luna's eyes had widened as she listened to the mare's account. Right after the mare had mentioned Celestia, she began sprinting in the direction of her castle, outstretched her wings and took flight. As she soared over Canterlot, she got an even better view of the destruction raging in it, and felt terrible that she couldn't assist them first. But no, they will have to wait until she was sure her sister has not been harmed. She seemed to fly even faster as her worry grew.

Finally, after seemingly an eternity, she arrived at the castle, and smashed through one of the stained glass panes. She landed onto the mess of glass she had created, and looked in the direction of her sister's throne. Nothing could have prepared her for what she saw next.

What stood in front of Celestia's throne seemed to be some twisted incarnation of Nightmare Moon, which had its head bowed down. On the ground before Nightmare Moon was a large white equine with a puddle of blood. Luna heard disturbing moaning sounds, apparently of pain, and disgusting, wet chewing and biting sounds. The terrible realization hit Luna as soon as she saw this: Nightmare Moon was eating her sister.

She began charging, furiously yelling "Leave my sister alone!" As soon as she got close to it, however, she suddenly stopped right in her tracks, unable to move, just a few feet from where Nightmare Moon stood.

Nightmare Moon raised its head up and slowly turned around. Blood and saliva mixed into a sickening cocktail as they dripped slowly from Nightmare Moon's mouth, which was filled with sharp, blade-like teeth. Its white eyes stared into Luna's, and Nightmare Moon began to step forward very slowly. Luna heard her sister saying "Luna..." weakly.

Then, Nightmare Moon roared in Luna's face, an unholy, shrill sound which pierced her ears to the drum. Blood and saliva splattered on Luna's face, and the stench of its breath hit her like a brick. As it did this, she heard a low-pitched, deep voice say "Wake up, Luuuunnaaaaa...". Everything went dark, and the voice repeated this a second time, except much louder.

"I SAID WAKE UP, LUNA!"

Luna sprang to consciousness in her bed, laying on her side and finding herself shaking in a cold sweat. She stared at the curtains, wide-eyed, for a moment, through which dim sunlight had poured into the room. A sigh of relief escaped her mouth. "It was only a dream, thank goodness..". A smile creased her face. She rolled onto her back, and was deeply disturbed by what she found staring at her.

"Ahhh, you're finally awake!" The voice she heard at the end of her nightmare belonged to none other than her own father, who stood by her bed staring at her and smiling very creepily.

"Did you enjoy your dream..?" Her father asked sarcastically, a chuckle following the cold inquiry. "Because I surely did! Hehehe." Luna only stared at the unfamiliar being who stood before her, somewhat offended by what she heard from him. "Who... are you?"

"'Awww, Luna, it breaks my heart that you don't remember me, it really does. Granted, it has been EONS since we last saw each other, but c'mon! I, my child, am your father!" He stomped his hoof on the floor as he said father. "Remember?" Luna thoroughly searched her mind and, after about a minute or so, finally remembered the last she saw of the being who stood before her calling himself her father, but only vaguely.

"Ohhhh..." Luna said, breaking the awkward silence. "Yes, I remember now.. why have you come here now, after so long?" Luna raised an eyebrow in suspicious curiosity.

"Well..." Her father started. "I came here to bring you to Celestia's throne room, where your mother and Celestia are waiting. Impatiently, I might add. We have a.. surprise for the both of you." Not being one for surprises, Luna reluctantly arose from her bed and walked over next to her father. "Hmmm.. alright, then. I shall go with you... but did you really have to wake me up in such a manner? Assuming the dream was of your creation, of course, which I'm sure it is." Luna's father's overtly mischievous ways resurfaced in her mind. Her father thoroughly enjoyed scaring people, even his own relatives. Luna remembered how much she detested this trait of his. In fact, she did not remember liking him much at all. She definitely knows where Celestia got her sense of humor, albeit hers is far more benign. Her father's is sense of humor is fairly reminiscent of Discord's: sadistic and at times random, but peppered with much more irony.

"Alright, shall we be off, then?" Her father asked, growing slightly impatient, as he had been standing there for quite a while. "Forgive me if I was not too eager to get out of bed" Luna said sarcastically. "I did just watch my sister being eaten alive by a twisted version of my evil altar-ego, after all. Now lets go ahead and get this over with." With a malicious chuckle at his daughter's expense, he pulled her closer to him and a dark portal opened beneath them, swallowing them both, and closing just as quickly as it opened.

Prelude to the first test

'Twas sunset in Equestria. The day was winding to an end, the blazing sun beginning to go down, as always, and they have Celestia to thank for this and, by extension, Luna. The land was as tranquil and docile as a dreamless sleep... except in the homestead of Celestia herself, as she listened to her mother's alarming declaration, especially after it being so long since they last saw each other. Celestia couldn't help but feel at least some contempt for her mother, as with her father, but she buried it for now.

"Celestia, my daughter." The creator began, a smile plastered on her face. "How nice to see you once again after all this time! You've done quite well for yourself, have you not? You rule an entire country, and control the very movement of the sun! I knew we made the right choice in your creation."

Celestia, feeling agitated by this, answered with a rather harsh reply. "And what if I had not done well enough for your standards?" Celestia asked, anger swelling up in her eyes. "Would you cast me down to Tartarus with the rest of your "failed" creations, like some sort of science experiment that didn't go the way you wanted it to!? And would you do the same to my sister!?" The Creator was silent, unsure of what to say. Celestia stomped her hoof in anger, demanding an answer. "Answer me!"

The Creator, taken aback by these words, tried to calm her daughter. "Celestia, calm yourself! It's all part of the plan, my d-" She was suddenly cut off by Celestia, who was now shouting. "PLAN!? Plan for what? What is your ultimate objective? I'm sure it can't be good, what with you unjustly imprisoning your own creations simply because they disappointed you, not living up to your insanely high standards!"

"SILENCE YOURSELF!" The Creator shouted loudly enough for it to echo throughout all of Equestria, furious that her own daughter was talking down to HER, the creator of life itself, including those of her, her sister, and her oh-so-beloved subjects. Her wings spread out, possibly in some sort of threatening stance. "Continue talking to me like this and I shall ensure that your subjects suffer the worst fate imaginable, with you having to watch!" The Creator shouted once again. "After all, your subjects have had it very easy so far. Do not ruin it for them by making the mistake of angering me." Her voice has now quieted itself a little, but still sounds very ominous and threatening.

Celestia responded by changing her tone and the subject. "Whatever. Now, what is it that brings you here? You claimed you had something to show me, let's see it. Unless you came down here for the express purpose of trying to take control of me in my own castle, my own kingdom, and threaten my subjects." Celestia's head was held low. If her subjects weren't in danger of painful death should she retaliate, this scene most likely would have escalated into a physical altercation.

"Ahh, yes." The Creator began, happy to finally be off the subject regarding how she runs things. "Your father and Luna should be arriving any... minute... now..." She was fully expecting to be cut off by her brother's arrival in mid-sentence, because he, for some reason, just loves doing that.

Sure enough, a few moments after she said that, a dark portal opened in the floor to the left of Celestia's throne. The Destroyer and Luna exited. "Ahh, there you are!" The Creator exclaimed. "Excellent, now we can get down to business." She rubbed her hooves together and cleared her throat, which was somewhat hoarse from shouting so loudly.

"Sorry we're late." The Destroyer said, surprisingly in a genuinely apologetic tone. "I just HAD to pull one of my good old mind-rape tricks as a sort of...greeting to my second-youngest daughter.." Luna walked over to her sister's side as he said this, but after they heard it, their eyes widened in surprise and curiosity. "Second-youngest?" The both of them said, perplexed by the idea of having another sibling. "Yes." The Destroyer said, resuming his normal tone. "I believe your mother was getting to that..." He cocked his head in his sister's direction, signaling her to finally reveal the surprise.

"I was, indeed. Luna, Celestia.. meet your new sister." The Creator said, illuminating a ridiculously bright light that shone throughout the entire throne room. The light was so bright that it erased almost all shadows from the room, ruining Eternal Sleep's hiding spot. The Creator put out the light and immediately teleported her youngest daughter over to her, putting her in between her and her brother.

"This is Eternal Sleep." The Creator announced. "She was created as the deliverer of the souls of mortals from the mortal world. Essentially, she is the personification of death." Luna and Celestia's mouths dropped, their eyes wide in shock. "Why.. on earth did you make her a filly?" Luna asked, raising a pointing hoof at Eternal Sleep, whom was looking downwards to avoid the examining eyes of her two elder siblings.

"Ah, yes, that was my idea!" The Destroyer said, taking credit for his part in the design. "I did it for the sake of irony. A filly, one of the most harmless creatures known, is the true form of death itself! Hehehehe..." The Destroyer chuckled again, but then his face quickly resumed its natural position. "Unfortunately, she didn't necessarily turn out the way I wanted her to... she just.. doesn't take pride in her work at ALL! In fact, she absolutely detests it!" The Destroyer was shouting now, or at least coming as close to shouting as he can get.

His neck bent down towards Eternal Sleep, and gave her a harsh stare. "You're lucky I didn't just simply send you to Tartarus for the rest of your eternal life, you useless little waste of resources!" Eternal Sleep shrunk down inside, her eyes looking down at the floor to avoid her father's hateful gaze. "In fact, I oughta do that right now! Save everyone some ti-" Celestia immediately cut him off by extending a protective wing in between Eternal Sleep and her father, and repositioned his face to look at her with it. Eternal Sleep looked up at her eldest sister, at first surprise, then silent admiration and thankfulness in her eyes for a moment, then resumed her staring contest with the floor.

"That's enough!" Celestia exclaimed, furious at her father's unnecessarily cruel treatment. "I will not sit by and allow someone to be mistreated in such a manner, especially if the victim happens to be a sibling!" The Destroyer simply stared at his daughter, confused as to why she's standing up for Eternal Sleep. A chuckle escaped his lips. "Ooooohhh, you definitely inherited your mother's internal fire, didn't you? How appropriate for you to be the one who makes the sun rise and fall." The Destroyer backed up a couple of steps.

"I believe you are being a little too harsh on her, actually." The Creator said, not really phased at all by her brother's appalling treatment of her newest daughter. "She IS still only just starting out, after all. Perhaps she'll get a taste for it after doing it a couple of times." The Destroyer sat there and contemplated, confused as to how he could be considered harsh at all.

"Alright, fine. I'll back off of her for now." The Destroyer began. "But she BETTER get a taste for her job eventually, since, y'know, she'll be doing it for the rest of her eternal life!"

Celestia asked the question that's been on her mind since she first laid eyes on her newest sibling. "And where, pray-tell, do you intend on keeping her in between her attending to her duties?" Celestia raised an eyebrow as she brought the inquiry to their attention.

"Well..." The Creator began, her voice audibly unsure. "Perhaps we'll simply put her here with you. Her and her father don't seem like they're going to get along very well, and I am much too busy...." The Creator's voice trailed off, because she knows it's not that she's necessarily too busy as much as it is that she doesn't want Eternal Sleep around in her strictly-run abode.

"I think that would be best." Celestia said, narrowing her eyes whilst glaring at her father. "As do I." Luna said, following suit with her elder sister.

"Ahh, then it is decided, then!" The Creator declared. "Eternal Sleep shall reside with you, Celestia. At least for the time being, anyway. After all, she has a few jobs to do in Equestria anyway." The Creator walked up to one of the stained glass panes and examined it, as well as the others, as she was talking.

"Understood." Celestia and Luna both said. "Are we done here?" Celestia said, raising an eyebrow, getting quite sick of both of her parents' company. Eternal Sleep just stared at the ground all the while, which her two elder sisters noticed. She only raised her head/gaze to briefly exchange glances with one of her elder sisters, then immediately brought her eyes back down, as if she expected them to hit her for looking at them for longer than a second. Her father's instillation of fear has taken its toll after the brief period of training they had conducted before visiting Celestia's castle for this emotionally-charged meeting.

"Well, then, I believe it is time for us to make our exit", the Destroyer said, growing steadily aware of the mounting emotional pressure already about to burst in the room. "Ta-ta, everyone!" The Destroyer quickly made his exit via the same black portal he arrived in. Good riddance, his daughters all collectively thought.

"I should also be leaving as well. Goodbye, Eternal Sleep." The Creator said, looking down at her fear-struck daughter. Eternal Sleep did not even look up, even as The Creator left in a ball of white light. Celestia walked up to her youngest sibling, concern visible on her face.

"Are you alright, little one?" She asked, extending her hoof below Eternal Sleep's eyes to get her attention. Eternal Sleep winced backwards, as if she expected Celestia to hit her. Noticing this, Celestia tried to calm her down. "It's alright." Celestia said in a tender voice, bringing her closer to her at her side with her wing. "Nobody is going to hurt you, certainly not while I'm around!" Eternal Sleep finally brought her eyes up from looking down at the floor.

"That's it!" Celestia said in a slightly louder, more cheerful voice. "You don't need to have your gaze constantly plastered to the floor, dear. I won't bite you or anything of the sort should you look up at me!" Celestia chuckled in a good-natured attempt to show Eternal Sleep that she was allowed to smile, or at least show her emotions. Luna watched as this unfolded, thinking "That's my big sister, alright. Always willing to stand up for the weak and helpless, even when the oppressors are her own, all-powerful parents." A smile began to grow on Luna's face.

Celestia released Eternal Sleep, pleased to see that she's finally looking up into her eyes again. "Now, then!" Celestia began. "Do you know if you have to attend to your job immediately? Or did they not give you some way of knowing when and where someone is about to die?" Celestia was very uncomfortable saying the last part. It sounds so wrong to ask of someone whom she was just comforting about 10 seconds ago, even if it happened to be the personification of death itself.

"Umm..." Eternal Sleep began, somewhat unsure of whether or not it's alright to speak, even though Celestia directly asked her a question. "They gave me a means of detecting when someone is close to death. It's really scary, though! I don't like it at all!" Eternal Sleep's eyes widen to emphasize. "I hear a scream come from the inside of my head, and it sounds as if it's coming from a specific direction. The louder the screams are, the closer the person is to death. It's ridiculously unnerving!" Eternal Sleep began shaking at the very thought.

Celestia's eyes widened, as well, as did Luna's. "I... see.." Celestia said, visibly uncomfortable by this revelation, as was Eternal Sleep. Celestia pondered how cruel it was of her parents to put such a task on the shoulders of one with such a timid personality. "So you don't hear any screams, then, I'm assuming?" Celestia asked, lowering her head to see eye-to-eye with the filly before her.

"Nope" Eternal Sleep said thankfully. "Why do you ask?"

"Well, I was hoping we could play a game of some sort." Celestia said, thinking a game will help put her new little sister at ease and feel welcome in her castle. "A... game?" Eternal Sleep asked, entirely unsure of what a game even WAS, let alone an example of one, as she was never told such things exist until now. "What's a game?"

Celestia explained. "A game is where there are set rules in place, and two or more parties of at least one person participate in some sort of activity for the purpose of having fun." Celestia said, in a matter-of-fact tone of voice. "Ring any bells?"

"Ohhhhhh" Eternal Sleep said. "Like.. hide and seek, I think it's called?" Eternal Sleep raised an eyebrow, waiting for confirmation. "Yes, precisely!" Celestia said, resuming her cheerful tone. "Do you know how to play hide and seek?" Celestia inquired. "Umm.. does it involve one person hiding, and the other one seeking them out, and upon the event of being found, the one found begins to run away until the other catches them?" Eternal Sleep asked, almost certain that was it.

"Yes, exactly! Very good!" Celestia exclaimed. "Would you like to play hide and seek? I can assure you, no malicious intentions are involved. It's all in good fun! Just a little something to pass the time before you get to work." Celestia closed her eyes with a smile as she explained.

"Sounds like fun!" Eternal Sleep exclaimed.

They proceeded to play until the sun went down.

The First Test

Celestia walked down the dimly-lit halls of her castle with her horn emanating a soft glow in her search for Eternal Sleep. This was supposed to be the last round of their little game, as Celestia will have to be getting to bed soon to help keep her schedule intact. Many of her guards gave her inquisitive or curious looks, and many others simply smile, knowing full well what it is she is doing.

Suddenly, as she looks down a corridor, she feels something hurriedly brush past her. Celestia quickly wheeled around, flashing her arcane light in the direction the shadowy little being apparently walked. Sure enough, Eternal Sleep and Celestia both briefly exchanged glances, then Eternal Sleep took off running in the opposite direction. Celestia immediately took flight after her, forelegs outstretched, ready to grab the scurrying little filly before her.

"Gotcha!" Celestia shouted as she grabbed the filly by her abdomen. Celestia spun around a couple of times to offset the forward momentum, then put Eternal Sleep down. "Aww, you got me again!" Eternal Sleep said, chuckling. "I'm not very good at this game, which is pretty sad, since I can blend in with sha-"

Eternal Sleep suddenly stopped speaking as she jumped in place, letting out a small yelp. "What's the matter?" Celestia asked, sure it was most likely her morbid "death sense" telling her that someone is close to death.

"I heard a scream. A loud, shrill, scary scream!" Eternal Sleep said, looking into Celestia's eyes. "You know what that means..." Eternal Sleep added, dreading the task at hand. "Oh, I see." Celestia said. "Well, then, I bid you luck in your work, Eternal Sleep. Would you like me to show you to the gates?" Celestia asked.

"No thanks" Eternal Sleep said with a wave of her hoof. "I probably won't need to use the gates anyway. But.." Eternal Sleep began, somewhat unsure of how to phrase what she's about to say. "Yes..?" Celestia asked, lowering her head. "Umm.. I'm real sorry for what happened earlier with our parents." Eternal Sleep looked down at the floor in guilt. "I guess they're just used to constantly being in control without any sort of opposition or consequence, so they don't necessarily have the same code of morality as you or Luna or.. anyone else, for that matter." Eternal Sleep explained.

"Oh, it wasn't your fault." Celestia began. "I don't care if you did the worst you possibly could have in the training exercise, he still had no right to treat you that way." Celestia said, getting a tense look on her face. "Ohhh, you knew about the training, then..?" Eternal Sleep asked, wondering how she did.

"Well, I wouldn't necessarily say I knew, I just made an educated guess. After all, why else would he feel that way about someone he had just created? But I can assure you, it wasn't a problem with me at all" Celestia said, smiling. "Now off you go, wouldn't want to keep the dying waiting, hm?" Celestia cringed internally at the sound of her saying that. "Wow" Celestia thought to herself. "I'm gonna develop a really dark sense of humor with Eternal Sleep around..."

"Alright." Eternal Sleep said with a faint smile, trying to momentarily ignore the screaming still going on inside of her head. It's a wonder she was able to pay attention at all throughout that exchange. Celestia nodded her head, said "Once again, good luck." and turned around and began walking. Eternal Sleep wanted to say one last thing before her departure, despite the hellish screaming inside of her head.

"Umm, Celly?" Eternal Sleep said, walking up behind Celestia, surprised at herself for this new nickname she came up with off the top of her head. Celestia turned. "Yes, dear?"

"Umm... thanks for everything.. big sis." Eternal Sleep grew a large smile on her face. "I love you." Eternal Sleep then closed the remaining distance between her and Celestia and wrapped her forelegs around one of Celestia's. Celestia, looking in shock at first, smiled and then said "I love you, too." as she closed her eyes and briefly returned the embrace.

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"It is with a heavy heart, Miss Applejack, that I inform you that there is nothing we can do to save Granny Smith." The doctor said, as he walked out of his latest and worst patient's room into the lobby, in which the rest of the Apple Family waited with baited breath. As they received the news, all three of them gasped in surprised horror, then Applejack and Apple Bloom both broke down sobbing. Big Macintosh was very close to breaking down himself, but he tried to remain strong for his younger sisters.

"I'm afraid the only thing we can do for her now is to ease her way out of the mortal realm" the doctor said, looking down while periodically looking up into their red, wet, puffy eyes in order to maintain his composure. The doctor has never had to inform a family that they're about to lose a member, especially not one so closely-knit as the Apple family. In fact, the doctor has only had one other instance of this before, and he didn't do so well at that one, either.

"Isn't there anything you can do?" Applejack asked, through her failing attempts at suppressing her sobs as Apple Bloom buried her face into her side, sobbing uncontrollably. "Out of all the magic and fancy concoctions people have come up with, there's not a thing you can do to save her!?" Applejack's voice got hoarse and she began coughing, barely after finishing her sentence. "I'm afraid not. You are welcome to go in there and say your goodbyes." The doctor then walked back to his office, perhaps to cry a little himself.

The Apple family remnants slowly got up from their seats and walked into the hospital room, gazing upon their slowly dying grandmother. Granny Smith opened her eyes to see her family slowly file into the room. Once they finally got in, Applejack ran up to Granny Smith and gently placed her head on her beloved Granny's chest, listening to her heart, which was barely beating.

"Granny.. oh, Granny..." Applejack managed to say through her sobs, which worsened once she saw Granny Smith. "You've taken c-care of us almost all of our lives after mom and dad died... and now we have to lose you, too..!" Applejack squeezed her eyes shut, unable to bear the pain of losing another family member.

"Applejack... Applejack, it's alright." Granny said comfortingly. "Everyone dies eventually.. and now, I guess it's simply my time to jump over the bucket.."

"But WHY!?" Applejack shouted. "Why does it have to be now? I don't want you to die, I don't.. want you... to die..." Applejack buried her face into Granny's blanket and continued sobbing. Granny placed a hoof on Applejack's head, and Big Mac put his on her back, fighting back his tears, which was a losing battle. Apple Bloom could only stare up at her Granny as her life slowly seeped away.

Suddenly, a black-coated filly appeared in the doorway. Slowly, she began walking towards the grieving family, pity in her eyes. "Ohh, why do I have to be the one to do this? I can't rip an old mare away from her family like this..." Eternal Sleep thought. "I guess I should just get this over with."

She walked in a few more steps. "E-excuse me...?" She said, feeling ridiculously awkward and terrible at the same time, intruding on them like this. The Apple family all stared at the black-coated filly. "Wh- who are you? What'cha doin' here?" Applejack asked.

"Umm.. I don't know how to say this, but..." Eternal Sleep began. "I'm.. here for your grandmother. I am... here to... take her to the afterlife." The Apple family's mouths all dropped at the same time. All 3 of the able-bodied Apple family members stood on their hind legs, got in front of Granny Smith's deathbed, and spread out their forelegs as if they were arms. "No! We will not allow you to take Granny Smith away from us!" They all shouted simultaneously.

"What did I just get myself into..?" Eternal Sleep thought ruefully. Apple Bloom rushed forward and attempted to attack Eternal Sleep. Punches, kicks, even a few headbutts. All of them going through Eternal Sleep's body, not phasing her in the slightest. Apple Bloom only recognized this after a dozen or so failed attacks.

"Can you please stop that?" Eternal Sleep asked, wondering why on earth the filly before her was attacking her. Apple Bloom just sat there and stared through puffy, bloodshot eyes. "I'm so sad, I'm hallucinating! Applejack, can you see this thing?" Applejack just sat there, puzzled and staring, as was Big Mac.

"Allow me to explain." Eternal Sleep offered. "I am the new 'angel of death', so to speak. Your grandmother, I'm afraid, is very close to death. I am here to ensure she gets to the appropriate afterlife safely. I assure you, I am not doing this because I enjoy it. I'm only doing it because I have to, it's what I was made to do, just like you all were apparently made to sell apples. Now, please allow me to do my job." Eternal Sleep said. "I will, of course, allow you to say your final goodbyes to her and everything, but I'm afraid she must come with me after that."

The Apple family all exchange glances in confused silence. "Umm... alright, I guess." Applejack said. "Give us a moment, wouldja?"

"Of course." Eternal Sleep nodded her head and waited for the Apple family to bid farewell to their oldest member. "Goodbye, Granny!" The rest of the Apple family said in unison, crowding around Granny. "We'll miss you..." The last of their tears fell onto Granny's deathbed, soaking into the covers. "Goodbye, everyone.. I'll miss you too.." They all shared one final embrace.

Eternal Sleep mounted the bed, stored Granny's soul in her body for "safekeeping" as she passes through the realms, and then turned toward the rest of the Apple family, who was staring at her in shock, wondering what she just did to their Granny's soul. Granny's physical body has now gone limp, with its eyes closed, now an empty, disease-ridden vessel. "I bid you all farewell. My sincerest thanks to you for being so understanding." Eternal Sleep, just as quickly as she came, disappeared when she came into contact with the shadow of the death bed as she hopped off.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Well done, Eternal Sleep!" The Creator said, congratulating Eternal Sleep on a job well done. "I must say, you handled that very well, contrary to what your father would think. You have passed your first test, of which there are two, not counting the initial training session."

"W-what's my next test, then?" Eternal Sleep asked, curious and nervous at the same time.

"A test I'm sure your father will love, for it will end violently. Whether you pass or not."

The Second and Final Test

Eternal Sleep looked around in awe of her mother's castle. The castle resembled the castle in the epicenter of the Crystal Empire, shining like a great beacon of light, especially in the Creator's brightly-lit realm. The Creator seemed fond of crystals, as they were everywhere. The castle itself seemed to be made of some sort of crystal, perhaps even a whole conglomeration of them, as the walls, floors and ceilings all had many different colors. Some of them even made up all of the colors of a rainbow, of which there are plenty in this realm.

"Eternal Sleep, a word to the wise: I wouldn't recommend showing yourself as you reap the souls of the living." The Creator said, staring down at her daughter. "It tends to rile the rest of them up, should there be witnesses, as you doubtlessly learned once the youngest of the Apple family attempted to attack you." Eternal Sleep looked down to the floor again, ashamed she did not think of that possibility earlier.

"Now, then, on to your second and final task." The Creator summoned a streak of rainbow out of nowhere, which began to swirl in a circular pattern until it turned into a view of a small village. "This is where you must go for your assignment, a small village near a city called 'Fillydelphia'. You are not going there to reap the soul of one pony this time, you are going to reap the souls of almost everyone in the village." The scene in the rainbow turned dark as it showed a zebra being viciously persecuted by the local village people. It showed that they have been acting increasingly cruel to her and her family, only for the crime of being a zebra.

"These ponies have been acting increasingly hostile to this zebra and her family, and it's all about to come to a head today. Today, only about ten minutes ago, the village ponies discovered that many of their farm animals were mysteriously dead. Of course, since they have nothing or no one to blame it on, they blamed it on the zebra. Now they formed a mob and are currently outside of the zebra's home, angrily calling for blood in their blind hatred. I would like for you to go down there and exterminate them. All of them, and try to be sure you wipe away any and all evidence that they had ever existed there at all, violently, if possible. Off you go now." The Creator said dismissively.

"But.." Eternal Sleep began. "Why on earth would they do this just because she happens to be a zebra?" Eternal Sleep asked, a mix of anger and confusion swelling in her mind. "I guess it happens to be a convenient scapegoat." The Creator said, placing a contemplative hoof under her nozzle. "Whatever the case, I want these ponies to suffer dearly for this. Now go!" The Creator said.

Eternal Sleep nodded her head obediently. "Hold on a moment, allow me to select a form that's more... fitting for this occasion." Eternal Sleep said, believing this to be the perfect time to put her shape-shifting powers to good use. The Creator's eyebrows raised slightly, curious as to what Eternal Sleep has in mind.

Eternal Sleep's eyes began to glow, much like her father's do, and she sprouted comparatively enormous bat-like wings, which had tears and tatters in the membrane. Eternal Sleep grew much taller, her mouth now filled with two rows of translucent fangs and able to stretch open much wider. Her mane and tail both turned into writhing masses of tentacles, complete with their own sets of beady little eyes. Her horn grew much longer and sharper.

"Well..." Eternal Sleep began. "What'ya think?" The Creator stared in shock of her daughter's transformation. "I think your father would love to see what will transpire in the village. I will be sure to get his attention on it." The Creator said with a smile. For once in Eternal Sleep's short life, she saw something that seemed to resemble some kind of love in her mother's eyes. "Now away with you."

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

The village was growing increasingly restless. The air seemed to have some sort of static charge from how tense and angry most of the village dwellers were, their brains all on fire with the urge to kill that loathsome zebra and her family. They all brought sacks of rocks as ranged weapons and tied them to their sides, some intent on using their own hooves as short-range weapons, others gripping torches or various sharp farming equipment in their teeth.

"My fellow village dwellers, too long have we suffered unto this wretched zebra and her cursed family!" the mayor shouted at the mob that stands before him. "We must take this time to bring swift and merciless DEATH to them before even worse curses befall our village!" The crowd all shouted, ranted, and raved in response to her declaration of murder. "And now.. we attack!"

The mayor lead his followers to the small hut the zebra lived in. Many of his followers tossed stones and rocks in through the windows, hoping it happens to crack the skulls of the denizens therein, or at least spray shards of glass into them. The patriarch of the zebra family walked out, understandably angry, and began to scream "What do you want with us!? We've done nothing to-" Before he could finish his sentence, the mob charged his house, knocking him down and trampling him to death beneath their hooves.

They immediately spotted the children and began to viciously and mercilessly attack them with their weapons. Cracking their skulls and brutally mutilating them, the children were dead mere seconds after the mob charged in.

"Where is the whore!?" the mayor shouted angrily as the rest searched through the house, looking for the matriarch of the household. "Come! We must find her and deliver the same swift death we dealt to her unholy kin!" The mob, now even more unorganized than before, had turned into a single organism, all bound by the same goal: brutally murdering the zebra mother and putting an end to the "curse" she had apparently placed on the village.

The zebra mother was on the opposite side of town, wondering why she could not find anyone within their homes. Then, minutes later, she heard a hoarse cry of anger, followed by many others. The townsfolk. Sensing they were after her blood, she immediately began to run in the opposite direction, the mob giving chase. They raced all throughout town, several townsfolk attempting to hurl stones at her in an attempt to daze her so that they may deliver the killing blow.

Eventually, they chased her to a dead end, an alleyway, to be specific. One of the larger members of the mob charged forward to her as she reluctantly turned to face her oppressors. As she did that, the male charging at her tackled her to the ground, then quickly got up and began to viciously assault her. Punching her, kicking her, biting her, as the crowd watched and cheered him on, some throwing rocks at his victim.

He delivered a kick to her stomach and, finally, raised his hooves up into the air, and sent them down right onto her skull, splattering brain matter all beneath his mighty, bloody hooves. The crowd began to calm down, all panting, as they survey what they had just done.

"And good riddance!" The crowd sneered, and they all turned and began walking away. As they were walking away, a strange thing began happening: The blood turned from dark red to pitch black, and then began slowly crawling towards the crowd as they file out of the alley. This caught the attention of one of the ponies, who called it to the attention of his fellow murderers.

All of them look at each other, bewildered, whispering under their hushed breaths. The blood backed them up until it was completely out of the alley, and then began to take form. Slowly, it rose up and took the form of a large black mare, with bat wings, translucent teeth and big, bright white eyes. It was, of course, Eternal Sleep, ready to exact a bloody retribution at the expense of the villagers.

Eternal Sleep stared at the villagers, who stared back. Eternal Sleep stared in utter contempt, and the townsfolk all stared in fear, anxiety, and confusion. They hadn't noticed that they sky, but only the patch of sky above the village, began turning a dark, sickly green.

Eternal Sleep sat on her haunches, still staring. The townsfolk were completely entranced by those huge, deep, shining eyes. Eventually, their eyes all turned a blank white as well. Then they all exchanged glances with each other, slowly glancing over at each member of the mob, clutching their weapons. And then they all initiated a brutal, bloody melee.

The only sound in the entire village was the sound of the ensuing battle. The sounds of bones breaking. The sounds of pained screeching, a primal, terrifying sound, born of unbridled agony. Blood splatters everywhere during the fight.

The mayor, who was in the epicenter of the battle, was spotted by the very same colt who murdered the zebra. The colt charged at her, and the mayor turned towards Eternal Sleep, who still sat on her haunches as she watched this bloody battle ensue, and the mayor tried to run towards her, but the colt who was charging her gave her a skull-cracking headbutt to the back of her head, knocking her to the ground. The mayor began crawling towards Eternal Sleep as her assailant proceeded to break her legs with his hooves, which was practically effortless. Stopping only to look back at her attacker and screaming in agony, she continued crawling, getting closer and closer to Eternal Sleep. Her attacker tore both of her then-useless legs off with his mouth, but was then attacked by one of his fellow townsfolk. The two began to fight as the mayor finally crawled close enough to Eternal Sleep to raise a painfully shaking hoof in a request for help.

"P-please... help.. me.." The mayor choked out. Eternal Sleep just sat there, pitilessly staring at the mayor. Tears were flowing freely from the mayor's eyes. "PLEEAAASEEEE!!" The mayor somehow managed to get out in a tormented scream. Still no response from Eternal Sleep.

The colt who was attacking her suddenly returned to finish his job, battering the mayor's ribs in with his hooves. Finally, he dismissively stomped her skull in, killing her right then and there. He turned to face his next victim, moved forward a few feet, and suddenly got stabbed in the side with a jagged piece of wood. He shrieked in pain, looked to his left to see that his sister was the culprit. Without a moment's hesitation, he grabbed the piece of wood with his teeth, ripped it out of his side and sent it right into his sister's eye socket, instantly killing her.

Alas, that was the last of his energy. He collapsed to the ground in a timely manner, as the last two combatant were just finishing up, and they both conveniently killed each other. Now it was just him and Eternal Sleep, who still stared, but now directly at him. He turns his head to her, his eyes returning to normal, and then he surveys the bloodbath. Tears welled up in his eyes.

Suddenly, Eternal Sleep rose from her perch and began walking towards him, slowly and menacingly, her mouth slowly stretching into an ear-to-ear smile. The colt tried to crawl away. "S-stay back! Don't come near me, please!" the colt pleaded, terrified. No avail. After what seemed like an eternity, but had only been a few seconds, Eternal Sleep finally walked up to him, staring down at him, now with a full smile creasing her face.

She raised both hooves up and sent them right down on his skull. "Please, n-" was all he managed to get out.

Eternal Sleep slowly surveyed the area, her smile diminishing. It was gone by the time she fully scanned the area. She stepped a few feet forward, hearing the squishy sound of her stepping on their mangled corpses, and a bolt of lightning suddenly struck her out of nowhere, releasing a huge burst of fire out in all directions, which began to eat away at the village and who used to inhabit it. Eternal Sleep had vanished as the bolt struck.

____________________________________________________________________________________________

"Oh! Such a wonderful job you did, Eternal Sleep!" The Destroyer said, happily tapping his hooves against the floor in admiration of his daughter's work, which she had just gotten back from doing. "Bravo, bravo! I am so proud of you! Tell me, did you enjoy it? Did you enjoy seeing all of those pitiful little villagers violently snuffing each others' lives out!?"

"Hmm..." Eternal Sleep thought, thinking back to her task. "Well, maybe just a little bit." She said, a smile on her face.

"Wonderful! Oh, such a joyous day this is! Perhaps I judged you too quickly and harshly, Eternal Sleep!" Her father shouted, his voice oddly cheerful. "We really should test our children like this more often, dear sister. That was great!"

"Hmm, yes." The Creator said thoughtfully. "Perhaps we should..."

The End.

Author's note

Hello, everyone! (Or should I say "everypony"? ahh well, doesn't matter) First and foremost, I would like to offer my sincerest thanks to you for reading my story! I really appreciate just the simple act of reading it, since I put a fair amount of effort into it and, y'know, everybody likes to feel appreciated every now and then, as if their work meant something. If my work supplied you with at least some entertainment and/or thought, then I guess it's done part of its job, now hasn't it?

I say "part" because this was meant as an experiment. A "test run", so to speak, to see if I "still got it" as a writer (Not that I ever had it to begin with, I was a god-awful terrible writer at first, and I still may be, for all I know.) I apologize if some of the sad/heartwarming scenes felt forced, because they kind of were. I'm used to writing dark and violent stories with relatively little focus on the drama aspects of it, which is why I was more comfortable in writing the last chapter of this story.

Now, you may have been surprised when you found that Eternal Sleep wasn't portrayed as an evil character, and here's my reason: I thought it would have been cliche to portray death itself as evil, because you always see that. I wanted her to seem more like an innocent child who was being forced into something she did not want to do. Did I get that across well enough?

Please supply me in the comments your feedback. I would very much like to hear what I did right, what I did wrong, where I need improvement, etc. etc. so please, comment away!

Now, I think, for my next story, I'll write something I'm more comfortable with: something dark and/or violent, possibly with a lot of action scenes. How's that sound? If it strikes your fancy, then please stay tuned :D

Special thanks go to xRezurrected, aka George Schupp, who helped me get settled into this fine site, and got me my story picture in place. He also took the time to exchange ideas with me in regards to storytelling, which I definitely enjoy doing. Thanks, George! :D

Anyway, enough of my rambling. Goodbye for now ^_^

-Nicholas