Original Link:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1pPh90A6Sh6w8HX7RELNJAus7OKDdAp2VQL0HISh8qe8/edit

After a short hesitation, Twilight concluded that, right now, it would be most important to alarm Ponyville first and ensure the safety of the villagers. Once they were out of danger, she could think of a way to rescue the black stallion.

“Obsidian. I need you to fight the demons for as long as you can! I will go and ring the bells in Ponyville! I will be back soon, I swear!” the purple mare promised.

“Twi...light... I... I can not...” Obsidian started, but Twilight was already on her way.

---

Her first goal was to find Applejack and Big Macintosh. Luckily, they were back in the farm house by now. Both had been looking for their little sister and were very confused when the purple mare rushed in and commanded to join her in running back to Ponyville without any explanation. Although finding Applebloom had highest priority to Applejack until that moment, she instantly understood that something very bad was going to happen, so she didn’t bother with the details and just followed her.

Using multiple teleportations again to buy as much time as possible, the three ponies arrived in just five minutes. Twilight instantly used her magic to ring the bells in the roof of the town hall as soon as it came in sight. While the lights quickly went back on all around the village, Derpy Hooves was one of the first to come flying over to her.

“Twilight, what’s going on?” she asked.

“We don’t have time for a full explanation, so I will cut it short: Obsidian is turning into a red reaper at this very moment and I need you to help me get everpony as far away from here as possible!” the purple mare shouted.

“Obsidian is what?!” Applejack asked unbelieving.

“No... Are you absolutely sure, Twilight?” Derpy wondered.

“I am dead serious, Derpy! Does it look like I’m making jokes here?” Twilight countered.

“Oh gosh... alright then. I will inform the other reapers immediately. You should run as well and leave the fighting to us!” Derpy suggested.

“No! Don’t kill him! I’m sure I can find some way to save him!” the purple mare protested.

“What?! Twilight, you have no idea what you are dealing with! This is a disaster of unspeakable proportions! If he gets away, it will be next to impossible to find and catch him!” the gray mare stated.

“I can’t set up an evacuation all on my own! We just don’t have the time to explain what is happening to everypony and convince them to run! Ponyville is used to reapers by now and respects their authority! If you tell them to run, I’m sure they will do so without questioning! As for Obsidian... we can’t just kill him! There must be a way to save him! He is our friend! We might be able to do something! Please, Derpy. Just give us a chance!” Twilight pleaded.

“Dang... Alright, Twilight. You are one of the most intelligent and powerful ponies in all of Equestria. If anypony could find a way, then it’s you. You get your chance, but I won’t take any risks. I will still inform all the other reapers. I just don’t know if they can make it here in time... Now go, Twilight!” Derpy responded.

“Thanks. Let’s go AJ! We need to get Rarity and Fluttershy!” Twilight spoke.

“Alright. Let’s do this! Big Mac, ya help Derpy clearin’ out town! They’ll need every helpin’ hoof they can get. Ah’ll take care of Obsidian and see if ah can find AB!” Applejack suggested.

“Eyup!” her brother confirmed.

---

Finding Rarity was easy. Carousel boutique was nearby and she was still working on a dress. Twilight gave her the same short summary she gave Derpy and Applejack and suggested that she should take all the gems she currently had with her. Fluttershy, on the other hoof, was a whole different story.

“She’s not home!” Twilight announced after she teleported herself back out of the cottage.

“What do you mean she’s not home? Where could she have possibly gone this late?” Rarity wondered.

“I have no idea, but we can’t waste any more time! We have to get back to Sweet Apple Acres, stat!” Twilight commanded.

“He’s at the orchard? Twi, once this is over, ya will have to tell me what happened,” Applejack spoke.

“I already fear that moment... anyway, get ready, girls!” Twilight announced while casting another set of teleportation spells.

---

After another ten minutes, the three mares arrived back in the orchards and started running towards the Cutie Mark Crusaders clubhouse. It was suspiciously silent. Nothing could be heard but a light breeze blowing through the leaves. Twilight’s worst suspicions came true as she realized Obsidian wasn’t laying in front of the club house anymore.

“No! Shoot! We’re too late!” Twilight stated.

“Well... now what?” Applejack wondered.

“He can’t be far away! I mean, I hope he’s not. We must find him, whatever it takes!” Twilight explained.

“Twilight, dear...would you be so kind as to tell us how are we supposed to find a master of stealth?” Rarity wondered.

“Well, technically speaking, not at all. We can only hope that he finds us! We need to get his attention!” the purple mare replied.

“Well I certainly know how to get anypony’s attention!” Rarity stated.

She then let a diamond levitate out of her saddlebag and turned it into a light beam, shooting straight up into the night sky.

“There’s no way he didn’t see that!” the white mare concluded.

“Good. Now, let’s just be noisy and call for him. We need to stick together. I have no idea how he will react to us,” Twilight suggested.

--

For seven minutes, the mares slowly walked through the orchard, loudly shouting out the reaper’s name. Since he could approach from any direction, they were constantly looking around and used strong light spells to illuminate as much land around them as possible.

Twilight started to get really worried. Did she make the wrong choice? Did her attempt to warn Ponyville and rescue Obsidian only lead to the black stallion getting away in an insane state?

The purple mare kept staring up between the apple trees into the sky while she went through all possible events sprouting out of the red reaper’s escape. At least Ponyville would be safe, but what would he do? Where would he go? What would he be capable of, now that he lost his mind?

Suddenly, the purple mare saw something passing by in the corner of her eye.

“Girls! Quiet now! I think he’s here!” Twilight commanded.

Applejack and Rarity instantly became a lot more nervous. Knowing Obsidian, they knew he was hiding in the shadows, looking for the right moment and angle to strike for an immediate kill.

The three mares came very close together, their eyes quickly jumping in all directions. Half a minute passed until Rarity suddenly shouted out.

“Above you!” she screamed and quickly used another diamond to shoot a light beam right above Twilight.

The beam hit, causing a black mass to get launched through the air a bit. Though while still in air, it picked itself up again and landed next to Twilight with some distance. Rarity’s swift reflexes saved the purple mare from the awaited strike.

Now exposed to the light the horns of Twilight and Rarity gave off, they realized it really was Obsidian. The reaper’s black and red eyes were wide open and he was grinning widely at them, presenting his shark-like fangs holding his scythe.

The black stallion huffed loudly while staring at them with this completely crazy face. A sight just as horrifying as it was painful to watch.

“Obsidian! Stop! It’s us! Your friends!” Twilight shouted.

The insane reaper giggled shortly in a for him very unusual high pitch. Then he started running towards Twilight.

The purple mare became startled and teleported herself to gain some distance. But Obsidian followed, teleporting himself after her. Rarity lifted multiple gemstone out of her bag while Applejack tried to follow them.

When Obsidian landed right next to her with another teleportation, the orange mare tried to distract him with a kick. He, though, was fast enough to not only dodge the kick, but also grab Applejack’s hind leg and use the momentum of the kick to throw her over and pin her down.

Rarity quickly launched a sapphire at Obsidian, turning it into a large ball of water in attempt to knock him over. But this time, he saw it coming. The reaper quickly lifted into the air and hid in the shadows again. It seemed like, even though he had become insane, he was still very capable of fighting and constantly kept an eye of all three of them.

“Dagnabit, Obsidian! We’re here to help ya! You can’t- Rarity behind you!” Applejack shouted.

The fashion diva quickly turned around, just fast enough to see the black stallion swinging his scythe at her and being able to duck in the last moment. As he missed, Obsidian used the movement of the swing to turn around and kick Rarity into the air, just like he did with the Chimera, months ago. Then turning back around to strike again.

Twilight teleported Rarity over to her before he completed his turn. The kick was hard, though. The fashion diva placed her front hooves on her chest, coughing and gasping in pain while lying on the ground.

“Please, Obsidian! Remember! We are your friends!” Twilight begged.

The black stallion didn’t respond. He still had this terrifying grin on his face and it seemed like he didn’t even hear them. Twilight had to admit that talking to him was useless right now. The only thing the insane reaper had in mind at this moment was killing them.

Obsidian reached his left front leg out to the purple mare and launched a fireball at her. Twilight took over control of it in flight and used the trick he taught her to turn it into a cold flame, shooting it back at him. But by the time she got to this point, five more fireballs were flying at her.

While they were sunken in a magic duel and Rarity slowly got up again, Applejack started charging the reaper from behind.

Just as she was about to pounce him, the reaper quickly ducked a bit, grabbed her right front leg with his mouth and sliced his scythe through its base. The whole act was perfectly timed to allow Obsidian to also dodge Twilight’s attacks.

“Applejack!” Twilight and Rarity shouted in shock at the same time.

The orange mare flew through the air for a bit more, leaving a trail of blood behind her.

“Agh! Mah leg!” she screamed in pain and shock after she landed.

Obsidian just stood there, grinning at the orange mare while taking a large bite out of her separated limb, chewing and swallowing it. Now it was clear that he was serious about killing his own friends and that Twilight underestimated the situation.

She had to act quickly to prevent Applejack from bleeding to death. Twilight wanted to avoid going this far, but now she had no choice but to go all out.

The purple mare used her arcane magic abilities again, aiming a purple bolt at Applejack to seal the wound.

At this moment, Obsidian dropped the bloody orange leg, picked up his scythe again and started running to Rarity. Desperately, she launched multiple gemstones at him, but they all missed, due to Obsidian teleporting himself right in front of her.

The insane reaper had his scythe lifted in the sky and was ready to strike. In her panic, Rarity lifted all the gems out of her bag and formed a shield of diamonds in front of her, successfully stopping the mortal strike.

To the second strike, though, she could not react fast enough. Obsidian knocked the diamond shield aside, grabbed the white mare and sunk his sharp fangs into her neck, trying to break it.

As Rarity screamed in pain and fear, Twilight turned her focus over to them and launched a wave of arcane magic at the black stallion. Knowing he was unable to stop it, he jumped to distance again.

Twilight was shocked to see how radically his personality changed. He had become very brutal and everything that they previously had between them meant nothing to him anymore. At this point, Twilight had to change the priorities. Survival and the protection of her friends were most important now.

The purple mare aimed another arcane spell to the now also heavily wounded fashion diva. Applejack was still suffering from her trauma. The bleeding was stopped, but she was clearly unable to continue fighting.

After Rarity somewhat recovered, she and Twilight switched places. While the fashion diva sought cover behind her friend and took care of Applejack, Twilight was trying to gain the reaper’s attention.

He, though, planned to finish them off. Obsidian tried running around Twilight, but she made sure he kept his distance to her friends. Then suddenly, he took a quick leap in the purple mare’s direction and got in position to swing his scythe.

Twilight instantly raised an arcane shield to block, but the reaper was making a feint. Instead of swinging the blade, he rolled to her side and rammed the end of the handle hard into her spine, knocking her over and leaving her in a lot of pain.

Obsidian now aimed to also get past Rarity. By now, she had all her gemstones floating in the air and ready for use. Like before, she used them to block off a few of his strikes. But since she was not combat trained, it didn’t take the insane reaper very long to bypass her defences.

The gemstones all suddenly dropped to the ground after he managed to punch her hard in the face, knocking her out.

Finally, Twilight got back up and instantly teleported her two friends over. Seeing what Obsidian was willing to do to her friends filled her with fury. Despite their friendship and her wish to save him, Twilight would not allow him to come close to them again and started casting more arcane spells at the black stallion.

Even a reaper as mighty as Obsidian was unable to withstand the power of arcane magic. While he was able to dodge the first few attacks, the following strikes hit him, causing purple magical explosions each time.

Although the black stallion got hit quite badly a few times and started bleeding all over, he kept grinning wickedly. He used his own magic to tear several trees out of the ground, levitating them in the air to both block off Twilight’s attacks and throw them at the small group.

The battle quickly became more and more challenging. Twilight had a lot of trouble to keep her friends safe from the wild mix of flying trees and spells. As Obsidian realized he got her distracted enough, he teleported himself right in front of the purple mare and delivered her a powerful punch in the stomach.

The sudden strike was so hard that it damaged Twilight’s inner organs, causing her internal bleeding. The pain, nausea and shock made her lose her concentration. As the purple aura around her vanished and her eyes stopped glowing white, the reaper grabbed her and rammed the purple mare hard to the ground, placing the tip of his scythe at her neck.

She stared at Obsidian in complete fear as she was pinned down in this all too familiar position and with this all too familiar face right above her.

The black stallion was ready to kill when a strong light beam hit him and knocked him away. Rarity came back to her senses and although her nose was bleeding quite badly, her first reaction was to launch a diamond at the reaper to stop him.

Obsidian staggered, leaving him off guard for a moment which Rarity used to strike again. As the second light beam hit the reaper, he got flung several meters away.

The battle came to a halt as the three mares and the black stallion stared at each other, all of them breathing heavily. By now, they were all in bad shape, just as the landscape around them.

The grin on Obsidian’s face slowly grew wider and wider as his heavy breathing reduced more and more.

Suddenly, he began to giggle in a high pitch again and a dark aura started building up around him. Twilight understood that he was readying another very powerful spell and tried to concentrate again.

Applejack and Rarity just laid there, their eyes wide open in fear and glued on that... thing which used to be their friend.

The dark cloud around Obsidian grew more and more. With a loud ignition sound, it became replaced by a massive amount of flames. The reaper grinned widely in the middle of the inferno he created while it built up more and more.

Twilight regained her own, purple aura. She too gazed at the reaper in disbelief as the flames started forming claws and fangs. She understood Obsidian was about to use the powers he gained from consuming the Salamander.

The purple mare quickly built up an arcane shield around her friends and herself. Just a moment later, a huge part of Sweet Apple Acres was shrouded in an enormous firestorm.

Despite the shield, the heat from Obsidian’s demonic fire was unbearable. At this point, there was nothing Applejack or Rarity could do anymore. Their lives depended on Twilight keeping up the shield. But because she was still weakened from nausea and the heavy blows to her spine and organs, she had trouble blocking of this very mighty attack.

Twilight lifted her head and glanced through the shield into the center of the flames. Obsidian was still staring at them with wide open eyes and insane grin. It seemed like this didn’t drain him far as much as it drained her.

Obsidian started preparing another spell while still keeping up the burning storm around him. Twilight could react just in time to focus more on the shield in front of her to also block a powerful black bolt he launched at them.

Trying to handle two more than lethal spells at the same time slowly turned out to be more than Twilight could handle. The more she concentrated on the bolt, the weaker the other shields became. While they were just sweating before, Applejack’s, Twilight’s and Rarity’s coats now began to smoke and the smell of burnt hair filled the small sphere which kept them alive.

The screams of agony coming from her friends forced Twilight to focus more on maintaining an endurable temperature in the sphere, but that again made the bolt get closer to them.

It now dawned to Twilight that she had no chance. She completely underestimated the situation, since she had never seen Obsidian go all out and seriously try to kill a pony. Even with her arcane magic, Obsidian was much more trained on combat spells than she was. Soon, she would run out of strength.

But Obsidian didn’t intent to wait for that to happen. He casted yet another spell, forming a dark cloud around him. Then, he slowly stepped aside. The aura, though, remained in place, taking over the casting of the spells while he gained the freedom to walk around in this hellstorm.

Twilight’s eyes were glued to the reaper as he slowly approached from the side. She could not possibly gather up enough strength to prevent a physical attack now as well. The purple mare understood that this was the end of the battle and he would win. The moment he strikes, the shields would give in and they all would die.

Obsidian as well was aware of that fact. He grinned widely while he stepped right next to Twilight with the scythe in his mouth.

Suddenly, the reaper got launched out of the firestorm and into a rock. The flames instantly vanished, as well as the black bolt and the shadowy silhouette of the reaper. Just a moment later, the purple aura disappeared around Twilight and she collapsed in exhaustion.

After a few quick breaths, she started looking around for what just happened. Not far from her, she spotted a steam cloud.

As the steam disappeared, it revealed Fluttershy. She must have soaked herself in water and then jumped into the inferno for a surprise attack, Twilight figured.

The attack seemed to have been hard, since Obsidian needed a few seconds to get back on his legs. The grin disappeared from his face and he threw an angry glance at the yellow mare. She as well focused Obsidian with a very determined expression.

The black stallion leaned his head down, trying to cast a spell at her, but it didn’t work. At this moment, a stream of blood washed over his face. The reaper reached up to his forehead, discovering that his horn was missing now. Fluttershy aimed a precise kick directly at it to break it off.

Twilight tried to get back up, but she still was too drained to even stand. Her two other friends as well were unable to move. Fluttershy was the last one standing. It was all up to her now.

With his horn missing, Obsidian was unable to use magic anymore. Still, it didn’t seem to bother him too much and he just started grinning again.

The yellow mare and the insane reaper started running towards each other, resulting into a furious battle of kicks, swings and evasive moves. Their attacks were so fast that it was hard to follow what was happening for the untrained eye.

Somehow, Fluttershy managed to tear the scythe out of Obsidian’s grip and started attack him with it. After a few moments, though, he was able to reobtain it.

The two fighters built up more and more distance after each strike. Obsidian even went so far as to throw his scythe at Fluttershy, which she could not only dodge, but also catch and throw back.

Suddenly, they both lifted into the air and continued their fight above the burnt orchard. As they lifted higher and higher, Twilight could hardly see them anymore.

Then, a female scream filled the air. Two second later, a yellow Pegasus wing landed next to Twilight.

The purple mare’s eyes went wide open in shock as she stared at it. Her focus jumped back to the sky, allowing her to catch the moment Obsidian crushed Fluttershy down to the ground. Several bones snapped loudly on impact and the blood flew freely out of Fluttershy’s back.

The reaper stood on top of the yellow mare, pinning her down and grinning completely maniacally. Obsidian knew that he had her and that she was unable to fight back.

Victorious, he began to laugh with the scythe in his mouth. The reaper lifted the blade into the sky, ready to kill the pony he cared for the most while his eyes were constantly stuck at hers.

Obsidian swung. But before he could hit her neck, Fluttershy did something she had never done to him before: she used the Stare on him.

Although she could have used the Stare sooner, she knew that it would work on him only once before he would expect of her to use it again. She had to make sure that this one time would be well placed.

A wave of shock rushed through the reaper, causing the grin on his face to vanish and him to miss his target.

Instantly, Fluttershy punched him hard, forcing him to get up a bit. At nearly the same moment, she grabbed his scythe by the blade and pulled it away.

Ignoring her broken bones, she jumped back up, rolled herself over the reaper and...

The sound of the scythe piercing flesh filled what was left of Sweet Apple Acres. After that, it suddenly became silent. Obsidian and Fluttershy both stood motionless for a few seconds.

The reaper still had a stunned expression and stood upright while his gaze dropped down to his body. He saw the blade piercing through his stomach and blood flowing around it. Now he felt the pain, and along with it, he felt how the scythe started draining his life force.

As he rapidly got weaker and weaker and his sight got blurrier and blurrier, Obsidian’s expression shifted again. This time into a gentle smile.

“Thank you...” he spoke, just before collapsing.

While the scythe fell to the ground and a puddle of blood formed around the reaper, Fluttershy as well went down to the ground to breathe and rest her broken body. The battle was over.

Twilight and Rarity slowly got up again and helped Applejack to get back on her remaining legs as well. Then they helped her walk over to the yellow mare together.

“Fluttershy...” Twilight spoke.

She was still too exhausted to reply. Half a minute passed before the yellow mare lifted her head again.

“It’s okay, Twilight. It’s all good now,” she replied.

“But... darling... but...” Rarity stuttered.

“I know what I did. I know what just happened, but it’s okay. It was my choice. I decided to do it,” Fluttershy started.

At that moment, a small black orb lifted out of the reaper’s body and disappeared into the night sky. Right after that, a black fog rose out the dead body and the faint screams of the countless demons Obsidian had consumed could be heard. Now that he was dead and his soul left his body, they started breaking apart and turned back into purified darkness.

“I know Obsidian wouldn’t have wanted this, but I had to do it. I did it for you, for Equestria, but most of all, for him,” Fluttershy continued.

As the screams vanished completely, the last remaining bit of dark aura soaked into the cloak, which then undid itself from Obsidian’s body and started crawling towards Fluttershy.

“He deserved so much better... I don’t mind the consequences if it means to save my friends and the most important pony in my life. Now, everything will be okay again,” she kept going.

“Fluttershy...” Applejack spoke weakly.

“I’m sorry, girls. But it’s time to say goodbye to pony Fluttershy and hello to reaper Fluttershy,” the yellow mare concluded.

The cloak finally reached her and immediately began to wrap itself around her. The reaper curse that had gone from Obsidian’s body back into the cloak now left it again and seeped into her. While this happened, her bones healed and her missing wing regrew as well.

Fluttershy kept sitting idly in front of her friends with closed eyes for a moment. Then, she slowly lifted her head and opened her eyes. Since she just became a reaper, she still looked the same. But her friends could see that her eyes didn’t shine as bright anymore as they used to do.

Seeing the worried faces of her friends, the yellow mare tried to comfort them by smiling at them. Although she changed, it requires years of training to become truly emotionless. The transformation into a reaper only drained a big part of her emotions, but not all. Still, this would be the very last time she ever smiled.

Fluttershy stood up again and turned around to pick up the scythe which now was hers. She instinctively knew how to control it and allowed it to vanish.

Her focus then fell on the dead black stallion. She slowly approached the corpse and sat down right beside it.

For a minute, she just gazed at the reaper with an empty expression. Although he was dead, he still had that smile on his face. Besides the heavy injuries and the blood, it seemed like he was just laying there and sleeping.

Fluttershy’s expression slowly slipped into a one of enormous suffering and grief. Then, she suddenly grabbed the dead body, held it close and started crying loudly. Her other friends limped over to her and embraced the yellow mare from behind, grieving along with her.

Twenty minutes later, the other reapers arrived.

---

Twilight’s decision was one the demons expected. If it was only for her, their plan would have worked out. But they did not expect Fluttershy to seek Obsidian out and kill him.

Creatures of pure evil like demons do not understand the concept of love. They expected Fluttershy to be the pony least able to seriously harm Obsidian, despite her skill. But the opposite was the fact. She would have done everything to save her beloved one, even if it meant to kill him.

Through her training with Obsidian, Fluttershy became the fail-safe for all of Equestria. The last resort should everything go wrong. Although Obsidian planned this, he never wished for this situation to ever come. But now, it did.

The prophecy was prevented from coming true, at the cost of Obsidian’s life and binding Fluttershy into an existence as reaper.

---

The combined funeral of Obsidian, Applebloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo was met with the most mixed feelings. The villagers had been told that he was the one murdering these three teenage fillies. For a majority of them, it was just unimaginable why he would kill the Cutie Mark Crusaders after he served as a loyal guardian for all of Ponyville for a whole year.

Even more mixed were the feelings of the villagers about Fluttershy. While some praised her as a hero to sacrifice her freedom to stop a murderer, others were shocked she went so far as to kill her own partner. But despite the intense confusion, shock and sadness that filled the whole town, one glimpse of hope and relief was maintained. With Obsidian dead, this would be the last funeral in Ponyville for several years. An age of many deaths had come to an end.

Twilight and her friends somewhat recovered from their battle with the reaper, but it left their marks on all of them.

Applejack was crippled to the point where she could no longer work on the farm.

Rarity gained scars on her neck and a deformed nose.

Twilight’s organs and spine were still damaged and she had to see the doctor frequently.

But the most wounded of all was Fluttershy. Although she physically healed, her soul became heavily scarred and she quickly lost her ability to smile or feel happiness.

Nearly everypony who ever had known Obsidian was present at his funeral, even Princess Celestia and her reapers. After the coffin was let down into the grave, she turned to Twilight and started speaking.

“Please, don’t feel guilty for this. You did everything you could. You did the right thing by alarming Ponyville first. If he would have reached the village... the scale of destruction would have been unimaginable,” she solaced.

“I’m sure there was a way... there must have been a way to save him, I just know it. This all could have been prevented somehow...” Twilight spoke and turned her face over to Applejack. “I’m... so sorry I couldn’t stop this from happening to you, AJ...”

“Aw shucks, Twilight. Ya don’t have to blame yerself for that. Ah should’ve been more careful. Just think positive ‘bout it: I still got three legs left! But ah guess we’ll have a whole lot to do to get Sweet Apple Acres to the way it used to be. Even then, ah reckon there’s no way ‘round hirin’ some helpers fer the farm,” Applejack spoke.

“I’ll gladly help you out with the financial parts,” Rarity offered. “After all, I run a very successful boutique.”

“Thanks, Rarity. Sorry ‘bout yer face, though... Ah know how important bein’ pretty is to ya,” Applejack spoke in condolence.

“Oh... its not that bad actually. I may look less pretty now, but I got these scars from protecting my friends. They add to my personality and I gladly took them to save you," Rarity explained.

Applejack smiled a little to the response, but then her focus wandered to Fluttershy.

The yellow mare was wearing her reaper cloak and had the heart pin attached to it. She stared down into the open grave with the same expressionless face Obsidian had for a long time. She just stood there, watching as it became filled with dirt.

“Fluttershy... Ah... Ah don’t even know what to say...” Applejack stated.

“It's okay. You don’t have to say anything. I did what had to be done,” the yellow mare replied.

After the grave was sealed, the air became filled with the sound of ringing bells. The keepers of harmony decided to put the miniature copy of the Seven Sounds Bell on Obsidian’s tombstone.

“A worthy grave for a worthy friend,” Twilight commented.

The others nodded in agreement.

Applejack’s eyes wandered over to Applebloom’s grave.

“Ah still can’t believe it... Mah lil’ sister...her of all dem ponies...” Applejack commented, a tear rolling down her face.

Her friends immediately came over to her and embraced her. Rarity as well had to fight back her tears, since she, too, was suffering from the loss of her sister. But she preferred to remain silent about it. After all, the case of Applebloom was even a whole lot worse. Once more, only the keepers of harmony knew the truth.

“I’m so sorry, Applejack...” Princess Celestia spoke.

“Ah guess there was no other way. Ya did what ya had to do... right Princess?” Applejack wondered.

Celestia nodded in response.

The ponies became silent again and listened to the sad melodies the Seven Sounds Bell played. Suddenly, it chose to play a song Fluttershy was familiar with, bringing tears into her eyes. As it played a second time, she decided to sing along.

“Hush now, quiet now
It's time to lay your sleepy head
Hush now, quiet now
It's time to go to bed”

The bell stopped ringing. Fluttershy placed a hoof on top of the grave.

“Sleep well, my love,” she spoke lowly.

Another minute of silence passed as all the present ponies mourned. Then, the yellow mare turned to Princess Celestia.

“I’m ready now,” she stated.

“Fluttershy... you know you don’t have to do this. I can arrange things so you can stay here,” Celestia explained.

“No,” the yellow mare responded, shaking her head. “Equestria needs me. These are dangerous times. With the elements of harmony not usable anymore, you need every reaper you can get to protect this land. I owe this to you, and to Obsidian,” Fluttershy stated.

“Very well... I will let you say farewell to your friends then,” Celestia agreed.

“Yes, Prince... Mistress Celestia,” Fluttershy corrected.

As she turned over to the three remaining keepers of harmony, she saw that they all had tears in their eyes.

“Will we ever get to see ya again, Fluttershy?” Applejack wondered.

“Don’t worry, my little ponies. I will do whatever I can so she can come and visit you. But... I am afraid that this won’t be more than for a few days every few years...” Celestia stated.

“Better than nothing, I suppose...” Rarity commented, sniffling.

The yellow mare nodded in agreement. Now Twilight spoke up.

“Fluttershy... take care of yourself... okay?” she requested, bothering to break out in tears.

“Will do, Twilight. Will do,” Fluttershy agreed.

They all embraced the yellow mare for the last time for several years.

“We will miss you,” Twilight stated.

“I will miss you too, girls. When I come back, you will have to tell me all the things that happened since I left. Okay?” Fluttershy requested.

“Sure thing...” Applejack said, sniffling as well and wiping the tears out of her eyes.

Fluttershy turned around again and walked towards the other reapers.

“Goodbye, friends,” she spoke.

“Bye, Fluttershy,” Applejack said.

“Farewell, darling,” Rarity said.

“Valētō,” Twilight finished.

Princess Celestia raised her head with sadness written in her face and started casting a spell. With a short white flash, she, the reapers and Fluttershy teleported away. For her, hundreds of years of endeavor lay ahead before she could get the faint chance to meet Obsidian again in the afterlife.