The snow had been cleared away and the cold, crisp air had been replaced with a warm breeze that carried the song of birds to the ears of ponies. It was the first day of spring, and Ponyville had erupted into colorful splendor. The pegasi had made it a clear day that called everypony outside to enjoy the sun on their face.

Applejack had woken up just as Celestia was raising the sun over the horizon. After taking in a breakfast of pancakes dripping with maple syrup, she had stepped outside to begin the day with milking the cows. As she stepped out of the house and headed out to the barn, she paused for a moment to admire the golden hues that the sunlight cast across the horizon.

"It's gonna be a good day," she said to herself with a smile.

A rainbow streaked across the sky, cutting sharp corners to pierce through seven clouds. For a moment, the clouds seemed unaffected, but then they burst one by one into little wisps that soon disappeared.

Rainbow Dash grinned in accomplishment, witnessing the aftermath of her new trick. "Today is gonna be an awesome day!"

Lyra sat on the park bench in her own unique way, straight backed with her hind legs dangling off, holding her lyre in her hooves. Eyes closed, she plucked the strings with her magic, singing along as she did so:

"From the Horseshoe Bay to the Filly's Quay,
From the Badlands to the Crystal Hills,
No mare I've seen like the sweet cailín
That I met in Ponyville!"

Beside her, Bon Bon rolled her eyes in embarrassment, but nonetheless smiled and laid her head on her wife's lap. "Today's going to be a good day."

Spike added another rose to the bouquet and smiled at his handiwork. He had finished all his chores for the morning and Twilight had allowed him to go out, where he had promptly set out to find some flowers and gems for Rarity.

"It's going to be a good day," he said, heading towards the Carousel Boutique. He hadn't taken more than a few steps than he saw Pinkie Pie bouncing towards him; literally, as she had bedsprings attached to her hooves and was using them to propel herself along the ground, shouting "Boing!" with every bounce.

"Hi, Spike!" Pinkie said, bouncing up and down in front of him. "Guess what day it is! Guess, guess, guess!"

"Uh...first day of spring?" Spike asked.

"You're right!" Pinkie said. "That's why I have these springs; to make the first day of spring extra springy!" Pinkie suddenly stopped, her eyes widening. "Itchy nose...eyebrow twitch...hoof tap..." Spike braced himself for whatever unpleasant thing was about to happen, but then a wide smile spread across Pinkie's face.

"That means that today is gonna be a good day!" she grinned. "Well, have fun, Spike! I gotta bounce!" And she set off, still shouting "Boing!" with every spring. Laughing to himself, Spike continued on his way.

"Come along, little ones," Fluttershy said, guiding a mother duck and her little ducklings down the path in the park. The little birds chirped cutely as they followed in line, blinking in the sun. "You're going to love this pond," Fluttershy assured them. "It's nice and warm and there'll be plenty of room for you to swim around in." Looking up to make sure the path was clear, Fluttershy took in a deep, slow breath of the fresh air. "Today is going to be a good day."

In the library of the Rainbow Castle, Twilight had just finished sorting out the new books she had taken from the Castle of the Two Sisters and placing them on the shelves, which were still not yet fully stocked. She had just selected a spellbook to read and had settled down on a couch to read.

"Your Highness?" a voice called from the door. "Is there anything you need?"

Twilight looked up and saw Flash standing at the door, full armor shining in the sunlight streaming in through the window. "No, thank you, Flash," she said.

"All right," Flash said, but hesitated in the door. Realizing that Twilight was still watching him out of the corner of her eye, he tried to stir himself to action, but the connection between his brain and his legs appeared to have been momentarily severed.

Come on, just ask her, you chicken! he scolded himself. He swallowed, took a breath and said, "May I...join you?"

Twilight looked up in confusion, then smiled. "Of course," she said. Visibly relaxing, Flash entered the library and took off his helmet, laying it gently on one of the crystal tables. Selecting an adventure novel from the fiction shelves, he sat down on the chair opposite Twilight.

Twilight turned a page and sighed happily. "Today is going to be a good day," she said.

But not everypony in Ponyville was going to have a good day. Deep Digger wasn't going to have a good day.

In fact, today was Deep Digger's last day alive.

He didn't know that yet. But as he reentered his home later that morning from going out to get some groceries, the familiar chill that went up and down his spine was stronger than it had ever been since his roommate had shown up months ago. He quickly shook it off, however. He somehow sensed that whatever he was planning, it was coming to a head, and then it would all be over.

He entered his living room and set the bags down on the coffee table to sort them out. He was a tall earth pony with well-built rounded shoulders from years of digging. He had mud brown fur, and his pale blonde hair was starting to gray around the edges. The dull blue eyes were beginning to wrinkle from the years. He walked with a limp on his left front leg. On his flank was the image of a shovel. He caught the reflection of his cutie mark in the mirror and scowled.

He'd hated the mark ever since he got it. Digging graves and the occasional ditch was no way to make a living. He had known this from the day he got it, and had quickly turned to petty crime to supplement in his income. The result was, years later, when he had fallen so deep into the rabbit hole that was the Equestrian underworld that he had forgotten that there was a top, he had met him.

It was the mark's fault that he had a monster residing in his basement.

"Digger. Come here." The voice that traveled up the stairs was spoken with a harsh intonation, carrying no emotion. Deep Digger froze for a moment, but he didn't dare disobey. Forcing himself to remain calm, he slowly descended the stairs into the basement.

The other pony was sitting in the center of the darkened room, perfectly still, as if in meditation. All around him, photographs and papers were scattered on the floor and pinned up on the walls: the work of the past several months. Digger didn't know what it was for, and he didn't want to know.

"What did you need, sir?" he asked.

"Did you make the address label?" the other pony asked, not looking at him.

"Yes, sir," Deep Digger said, handing him the hoofdrawn address label. The other pony took it and looked at it for a long moment before nodding and setting it down beside him.

Digger swallowed nervously and spoke. "Sir, why can't we just kill him?"

The other pony slowly turned to look at him. When their eyes met, Deep Digger felt another chill go down his spine. His roommate's eyes were coal black, and completely devoid of any sign of life. It was like gazing into an abyss, only it gazed back unblinkingly, judging you the whole time.

"Because it would be too easy," he said. "I know how much you hate him, mein freund. But he is merely a pawn; all of this is part of my plan. He will die when I say he must die; not before, not after. Clear?"

"Yes, sir," Deep said, struggling to contain his feeling of vertigo as he ordered himself not to break eye contact.

"Excellent," the other pony said. And that's when Deep Digger felt something cold and sharp enter his neck. His entire body flared with pain, then went numb; his eyes widened and he tried to scream, but couldn't breathe. It took about five seconds for him to die: the whole time, the abyss stared coldly back at him.

The other pony removed the knife and allowed the body of his associate to slump to the floor. Ignoring it, he turned back to the photographs on the wall. Slowly, a smile crept across his face.

Today was going to be a very good day.

Author's Notes:

Here we go, the reboot of the story, tapped out in one day. I have to say, I am more pleased with this than with the last version, but let me know what you think.

Side note: this is the first time I have had a character in the story die "on-screen," but I fear it will not be the last.