New crossover! I've been bouncing between this and a standalone sequel to 'Magic and Madness,' but I eventually settled on this. Hope you enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Eater or My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.
/
A scream tore Twilight's concentration from her studying.
Her head snapped up to the nearby window, as Owlicious hooted in distress. Outside, the dark of night made it hard to discern anything.
Immediately, her thoughts went to the recent incidents, where a few ponies had gone missing in the middle of the night. Rumors were flying that some sort of monster was responsible. It was scaring everypony. The Mayor had warned the citizens of Ponyville not to go out after dark. But how could Twilight stay inside when an incident was likely happening outside right now?
"I'm going to check it out," she declared to her nighttime study companion.
"Hoo," the owl responded, flying from his perch and landing on Twilight's back. She smiled at him, understanding his wish to go with her. She stepped outside.
Twilight produced a light from her horn, and started walking in the direction that she had heard the scream in. As she walked through the empty streets, she couldn't help but feel anxious. Normally, there were at least a few ponies out at night, nocturnal dwellers who chose to live under the stars in honor of Princess Luna. But even those ponies didn't dare step outside their door tonight.
Twilight then heard another cry. It sounded like a filly! What was a pony that young doing out this late? It didn't matter now, she supposed.
"Hang on!" she yelled, "I'm coming!" She galloped in the direction she had heard the cry.
As she approached an intersection, she saw somepony round the corner. A filly. As Twilight shined her light on the young pony, she saw that she didn't even have her cutie mark yet. Twilight could see a yellow horn poking through her golden mane.
When the light fell on her, she flinched in surprise and turned towards the source. Her eyes widened slightly and she ran over.
"Are you o—" Twilight started.
"Help me!" the filly cried, "Please ... hide me, or ... something!"
"Why?" Twilight asked, leaning down to meet the filly's eyes, "What's wrong?"
"They're after me!"
"Who are?"
Twilight's head snapped up as she heard a crash up ahead. There, standing not far from them, was another pony, a stallion. But he wasn't like any stallion Twilight had ever seen in Ponyville. His eyes glowed red, his mane was scraggly, and his coat was in poor shape. He hissed and were those fangs?
The filly backed up slowly, bumping against Twilight.
"Is that who's after you?"
"N-"
"Stop!" Another voice rang out.
The filly squeaked upon hearing it. She scrambled behind Twilight, "Hide me! They're here!"
Feeling confused, Twilight nevertheless concentrated, her horn glowing. The filly then vanished, cloaked by Twilight's invisibility spell.
Almost as soon as the filly disappeared, another stallion appeared. Twilight couldn't make him out very well in the dim light. She could, however, make out the sword that was strapped to his back. She almost backed up herself, but she remember the filly that was right behind her.
"That's enough," the sword-bearing stallion said stepping forward, "You won't be killing anyone tonight." He seemed to be addressing the monstrous pony.
The pony turned around, and hissed again. Without warning, he galloped forward towards the swordspony. The swordspony merely reached back with his head and grabbed the handle of the sword between his teeth. He pulled it in front of him, wielding it with what Twilight could tell was practiced expertise.
It happened so fast that she could barely follow. The swordspony surged forward and sliced right through the other stallion...
Twilight was aware that she was barely breathing as the demonic pony dissolved, leaving behind a red, floating, glowing ball.
What was this? What was going on? Had that swordspony really just...!
The swordspony didn't seem phased by the fact that he had just murdered another pony in cold blood. Instead, he sheathed the sword and walked calmly over to the red ball. He took it in his mouth and placed it inside one of his saddlebags. He then turned his attention back to Twilight.
She flinched. Owlicious hooted. She was suddenly very conscious of the filly hiding behind her. If this was what the filly was running from, Twilight didn't blame her.
The swordspony nonchalantly walked over to them, as if nothing had happened, "That pony shouldn't be causing any more trouble. Sorry you had to see that."
"Wh-wh-," Twilight swallowed, "Who are you?"
The swordspony chuckled, "Just somepony who was assigned to clean up this mess. I'm friendly, don't worry." He stepped forward. She still couldn't make him out very well in the shadows. "I'm going to be leaving soon. But before I go, have you seen anything ... unusual?"
"U-unusual?" She asked, aware that she was shaking.
"Just ... anything strange. Kinda like that pony you just saw, except probably a bit more subtle."
Hoping she was coming off as convincing, she said, "N-no. Nothing..."
"Hm," the swordspony looked thoughtful. He then turned away, "If you can, forget about tonight. It will be better for your mental health, trust me." He then trotted away.
Once he was gone, Twilight finally released the invisibility spell on the filly behind her. Said filly immediately darted in front of her and pushed up against her.
"Thank you so much!" She said.
"Was that pony with the sword who was after you?" Twilight asked.
The filly nodded then shivered, "If he finds me, he'll kill me. Just like he did to that other pony."
"WHAT."
"Yeah. That's why I can't let him ever find me! I slipped up tonight and he almost caught me!"
"Why?" Twilight blurted, "Why does he want to kill you?"
The filly shook her head in distress, "I can't say..."
Twilight observed the filly in front of her for a moment. She then reached forward and nudged her, "Come on. You can stay with me tonight."
n/n/n/n/
"You know, I never got your name."
Twilight was back in her library, trying to get her mind off things by reading a Daring Do novel. The filly was making some tea, something she had insisted on doing as a way of showing her gratitude. Her back was turned to Twilight as she prepared it. Owlicious was perched nearby, observing the scene curiously.
The filly hesitated a moment. Then replied in a chipper voice, "Morning Glory! Ah, I never learned your name either!"
"Twilight Sparkle," Twilight replied, "I'm a student of Celestia."
There was another pause. "Really? That sounds important."
"It is," Twilight smiled to herself, "My special talent is magic. I learn magic directly under the Princess's tutelage. Right now, I'm here in Ponyville studying the magic of friendship specifically."
Morning turned, "Tea's ready! You can tell me everything while we drink it!"
Twilight spent most of the rest of the night telling Morning about herself, her friends, Celestia, her studies, and a whole variety of other things. Morning listened eagerly, seemingly taking in every word.
As the morning approached, Morning looked out the window, "I should go. The sun will rise soon."
"Why can't you stay here?" Twilight asked, "I could send a letter to Princess Celestia about the situation-"
"Twilight," Morning said sternly, "Please, no. The Princess won't be able to do anything. Don't tell anyone you saw me either. I need to get moving." She started to walk towards the door.
"Morning?" The filly stopped at Twilight's voice, "If there is anything I can do, please, tell me."
A pause, "I will."
"Also, you're always welcome back here, if you need a place to stay."
"...I'll keep it in mind."
Morning then stepped out the door, leaving Twilight with a bevy of questions.
n/n/n/n/
Dear Twilight,
I am sending you this letter to request your help on an increasingly dire matter. I can't say much in this letter, for a variety of reasons. I will give you the full details when you arrive in Canterlot. What I can tell is to pack for a long trip. This mission will take you far away from Ponyville, and you will be at this place for a while.
Do not bring your friends along, not even Spike, at least not yet. If the situation calls for it, we will send them to you.
I look forward to seeing you, and sincerely hope that you accept this task that I will place at your hooves.
With regards,
Princess Luna.
To say Twilight was surprised to see the letter from Princess Luna was a bit of an fact that Luna was asking for Twilight's help on what seemed to be an important manner was even more surprising. If the situation was really as bad as Luna said it was, why didn't Celestia send the letter?
Another thing that worried her was Luna's insistence that Twilight's friends not come along. Were her friends not one of Twilight's greatest assets? Nevertheless, she trusted Luna's judgement.
It didn't stop her friends from seeing her off at the train station though.
"I do wish we could come with you," Rarity said, as they waited for the train to pull in at the platform. "I would love to see Canterlot again."
Twilight shook her head. "Luna doesn't want any of you coming along. I don't know why, but I'll find out soon enough."
Rainbow Dash slouched in midair. "This sucks," she grumbled. "You're going off on an adventure, and we're stuck here."
"Aw, don't be like that Dashie. We'll have lot of fun with just us here in Ponyville!" Pinkie Pie said, bouncing on her hooves.
"Not sure if I should be excited or not..." Rainbow muttered.
Applejack rolled her eyes and stepped up close to Twilight. "Listen, promise me you'll be careful. I got a bad feelin' about this, like somethin' really nasty is 'bout to happen. Promise you'll call us if things get bad."
Twilight nodded, "I promise. Luna already told me in her letter that she'll bring you guys over if I need you."
"Good. You'll probably need us if the manure hits the fan."
The train finally pulled up. Twilight prepared to board when she heard a yell of "Twilight!" She turned in time to see Spike running up, carrying something. He stopped in front of her, panting, "I made it in time. Here!" He held up a book, "It's that history book that you wanted to bring, but couldn't find."
She smiled as she levitated the book out of Spike's hand and into her saddlebags, "Thanks Spike," she leaned down to nuzzle the baby dragon affectionately, "What will I do without my number one assistant?"
"I'll be fine!" He quickly insisted, "But...you'll send letters, right?"
"As often as I can," she assured, "Try to keep the library in order while I'm gone, okay?"
Spike stood up straight and saluted, "You can count on me!"
"You better get on the train before it leaves," Rarity noted.
"Oh, right," Twilight gave her friends one last smile, before turning and boarding the train. She peeked out the window, as it started to move. Her friends were all waving goodbye as the train pulled from the station and began making its way towards Canterlot.
n/n/n/n/
Canterlot was just as Twilight remembered it as the train pulled into the station. She started making her way towards the castle as soon as she was off the train.
Inside, she decided that while she was here, she might as well pay Celestia a visit. The Princess was always happy to see her student, and she likely knew about the 'dire matter' Luna had talked about in her letter.
As she approached the door to the throne room, she noticed that the door was closed, and guards were standing in front of it. One of them held out a hoof,
"The Princess is not seeing any visitors right now," he said.
"Sorry, I'm Twilight Sparkle. Her student? I just have a few questions for her."
"Her Highness gave us strict orders not to let anyone into the throne room for the next few hours barring a dire emergency," The guard gave her a sympathetic look, "I apologize, but we will be sure to tell her that you came."
She merely looked at the door in confusion. Why wasn't Celestia seeing anyone? That wasn't like her. "Can you tell me where Princess Luna is then?"
"She is in one of the royal study rooms," the guard pointed in a direction, "Near the library."
She bowed her head and thanked them. She made her way through the hallways of the castle, until she finally found the room she was looking for.
Twilight entered the room and surveyed it. It was filled with old papers and lingered in the air, and it was brightly lit. She was sorely tempted to glance at some of them, but she needed to focus. She finally spotted who she was looking for.
"Princess Luna!"
The Princess was poring over some old documents. She turned her head at Twilight's voice, though her serious expression did not change, "Twilight Sparkle," she said simply.
"I came as soon as I got your letter," Twilight walked up to Luna, levitating the letter out of her saddlebags as she did, "I tried to drop by the throne room to say hi to Princess Celestia, but they wouldn't let me in."
"I'm not surprised," Luna said, as she used her magic to roll up the scroll she was reading, "You likely have questions. Questions my sister does not wish to answer." She levitated the scroll into a shelf.
"Not wish to answer?" Twilight asked.
"Indeed," Luna turned to face Twilight, "I must warn you now, Twilight, this is dark business that you will be involved in."
"Can't be much worse than Queen Chrysalis," Twilight pointed out, "Or any of the other things that me and my friends have faced."
"You say that now," Luna said, as she levitated a book from its shelf, "But I assure you, what I am going to tell you will shake you. It runs darkly enough that Celestia has taken a hands off approach to it."
"Wait..." Twilight looked at Luna, gears turning in her head, "Celestia is involved?"
"As am I," Luna said, "We have to be. We are the leaders of this land, and therefore, all involvements with this business go through us first."
There was a silence. Twilight fidgeted, "So...what is it that you're going to tell me?"
Luna sighed and opened the book floating in the air, "As you know Twilight, we ponies are naturally kind and good. We tend towards assisting others, to treating our fellows well," she started flipped pages through the book, as if trying to find a particular page, "But Twilight, have you ever wondered what happens to those ponies who stray from the light? Those who turn from their better natures, and resort to acts of horror?
"I am talking about ponies who have committed heinous crimes. Not mere thievery, which is usually the worst you hear of. But crimes like ... murder."
Twilight gasped, her mind flashing to the swordspony from a few days ago, "Murder?"
"Not just simple murder either," Luna continued, "Mass-murders, serial killings, torture, rape ... All of them are horrific things that happen here in Equestria." She stopped flipping pages, though Twilight couldn't see what she was looking at.
"Ponies who commit these crimes are going against their better nature, straying from the path of ponydom. Through magic we do not yet understand, this ... twists them."
"What?" Twilight was now thinking of the demonic pony from that same night. And then, she remembered the ponies that had gone missing. Had that pony killed them? Then... "You mean...They change."
Luna nodded and finally showed Twilight the book. Twilight levitated it from Luna's control, flipping through the pages. There were various pictures of twisted ponies, and various explanations. Twilight shuddered at some of the more macabre images.
"You can keep that," Luna said, "It will explain much of what I'm telling you more in detail." She started to walk towards another shelf, continuing, "Not just the bodies of such monstrous ponies change, but their souls change as well. The souls of such ponies become as twisted and dark as they are. Eventually, you are left with nothing but a monster.
"Such ponies could not be allowed to exist. Their souls become what are called 'Kishin Eggs.' If allowed to progress," she shook her head, "It will invite disastrous consequences. So, for over a thousand years, there have been ponies dedicated to eliminating those eggs."
Twilight nodded in understanding. So ... that swordspony must have been one of those dedicated to hunting these ... 'Kishin Eggs.' That demonic pony's soul had twisted, and therefore, had to be eliminated.
But if the swordspony was a good pony, then what about Morning Glory?
Twilight didn't like the answer, and pushed it from her mind.
"These ponies were led by the Grim Reaper, the incarnation of Death."
Twilight sputtered at that, "Seriously?"
Luna glanced at her from her shuffling of scrolls, "Very serious. I've met him a few times myself. He's changed a lot in the past thousand years, along with everything else." A pause. The Princess seemed to be lost in thought for a moment before continuing,
"Things have changed in the last thousand years, more specifically in the last eight hundred. Which is the reason I'm going through these scrolls now. Celestia took a very hands-off approach to Death and his business. She never liked it, necessary as it is."
"Why's that?"
"A variety of reasons," Luna replied, "But the main one is that I think she finds it difficult to see her own people fall so far that death is the only option left for them. It is like putting down a beloved dog who has contracted rabies.
"But I am getting off topic. Eight hundred years ago, Death founded an academy dedicated to training ponies to hunt Kishin Eggs. The Death Weapon Meister Academy, located in Death City in the middle of the San Palomino Desert. The city, although within Equestia's borders, does not fall under our jurisdiction. Nevertheless, Death has requested our assistance on an important manner.
"Some ponies are born with an incredible ability to transform into a weapon."
"Huh?" Twilight quickly paged through the book that Luna had given her and indeed, there seemed to be a section addressing something like that. "How?"
"It is a magical ability that some ponies are born with. Ponies with the ability are usually very quickly picked up on and then sent to the Academy. These ponies are trained alongside meisters who wield their weapon forms in battle against kishin eggs. These meister and weapon pairs are the heart of Death's organization.
"Which finally brings me to the crisis that is developing; For some reason, some weapons are losing their ability to transform."
Luna finally levitated a scroll out of a shelf. She placed it nearby while walking up towards Twilight, "And that's not all. Several meisters are beginning to fall mysteriously ill. The combination of these two things is beginning to take its toll on Death's forces."
"And..." Twilight started, "You want me to help?"
Luna nodded, "Death has requested our assistance. I told him we would send the best pony we could. Both me and my sister agreed that you would be best for this task."
Twilight looked down, feeling both confused and overwhelmed, "But...why by myself? Why not allow my friends to help me?"
"My sister has covered up all of this for hundreds of years, with the, albeit reluctant, help of Death," Luna replied, "She would rather the information spread to as few ponies as possible. You are the only one going to Death City, Death's domain, for this mission. But I will send your friends if it seems that you need them.
"You need to understand Twilight, Equestria only seems peaceful because Celestia makes it seem so. She allows her subjects to be blissfully unaware. Can you imagine the chaos if ponies found out about all of the violent crime that occurs right under their noses? Or simply if they found out that they turn into demons under the right circumstances?"
Twilight didn't look up, but she did see Luna's point, "There would be a strong reaction, that's for sure."
"Indeed," Luna agreed, "Which makes it all the more important that we solve the problem in Death City. If the affliction plaguing it is allowed to continue, the organization will be crippled, and in the worst case, completely destroyed. Kishin Eggs will be allowed to proliferate. And if one hatches..." her voice trailed off.
"What happens then?" Twilight pressed.
Luna shook her head, "That book will tell you," She then stood up straight and looked at Twilight seriously, "But now I must ask you Twilight. In the light of all that you have learned, will you help?"
Twilight felt shaken. This was all so much to take in. She had a feeling that a lot of it wouldn't sink in until later. But this was all trumped by one thought.
Princess Luna, and Princess Celestia if what Luna implied was true, needed her help.
Twilight stood tall, "I'll do it."
n/n/n/n/
Twilight was on the train, which would eventually take her to Death City.
She was currently reading through the book that Luna had given her. According to the book, Death City was founded 800 years ago after an unspecified disaster. The city wasn't under any nation's jurisdiction, but the organization it was the heart of was international. Countries contributed funds, and students from all over the world attended the Academy. In exchange, the DWMA provided a variety of peacekeeping duties, the primary one being the elimination of Kishin Eggs.
One thing that greatly interested Twilight however, was the mention of Ancient ruins. The Ancients were a mysterious race the predated pony civilization by milena. After Death City was founded, one of the most intact ruins ever found were discovered near the city. The ponies of the city became fascinated with what of the Ancients were discovered there, to the point that some parts of the Ancient culture became part of their own.
The ruins were currently home to one of the most extensive archeological digs in the world. Twilight made a note to visit the site. It sounded like fun.
There were many other things in the book, but Twilight was now feeling slightly overwhelmed. Suddenly struck by her memory of Morning Glory and the swordspony, put the book away to pull out a letter that Luna had gave her. The letter was actually written by Celestia, but Luna had passed it on at her sister's request.
Twilight put the letter away and took out a novel that she was working on. Eventually, the train slowed to a stop.
Most ponies got off. A few, however, got on.
"This seat taken?"
Twilight looked up from her book. Standing there, was a pony with an electric blue and white mane, a white coat, and red eyes. A musical note was her cutie mark. She seemed familiar, though Twilight couldn't quite place her hoof on it.
"Go ahead," Twilight said.
The pony took the seat next to her. Shortly after, the train started to move.
"You headed for Death City?"
Twilight looked back up from her book again in surprise, "Yeah, you know about it?"
"Of course I do," the mare smiled, "It's kinda of one of those out in the open secrets. Not many ponies know about it, but it's not like it's actively hidden."
Twilight frowned, "I'm not sure about that. I've read scores of books, and I've never heard of it until recently."
The mare shrugged, "Well, I've been in Los Pegasus for a while and most ponies there know about it. There's a lot of coming and going between the two cities. Why you headed out to the desert anyway?"
"Its a long story. What about you?"
The mare pointed at herself with a hoof, "Me? I'm moving in with a friend there. She needs my help with something. Already got a job at the local club lined up, so I'll probably be there for the foreseeable future."
At the word, 'club,' the pieces clicked in Twilight's mind, "I thought I recognized you! You're DJ Pon-3!"
The mare smiled brightly and stuck out her chest, "The one and only! Of course, that's just my stage name. My real name is Vinyl Scratch."
"Vinyl, I'm Twilight Sparkle. You might recognize me from Ponyville."
Vinyl cocked her head, "I kinda do. You worked in the library, right? Ponyville was a nice place. How's Pinkie Pie doing?"
"She's doing great."
Eventually, their conversation trailed off and Twilight went back to her book. Occasionally, she would look out the window, as the greenery that surrounded Los Pegasus slowly turned into the desert sands of the San Palomino Desert.
She was lost in the world of her book, until she heard the train conductor announce that they would soon be arriving in Death City. Curious, Twilight put away her book and looked out the window.
The city was huge! Rather than being spread out, it was instead looked like a 'pile' of buildings, towering over the landscape. The buildings were a style that she had never seen before, and here and there, she could see a large, strange skull decoration adorning them.
"Almost there," Twilight turned at Vinyl's voice to see that the pony had stood up and was now making her way out of the car, "I need to go to the luggage car and make sure that my gear makes it off in one piece. Hope to see you around, Twilight!"
"See you around." Twilight watched as Vinyl left. She then went back to looking out the window, admiring the city. She watched, as it grew closer and closer. She turned back into the car to gather her things when it entered the city itself. She stood at the door as the train slowed to a stop. The train door opened.
Twilight stepped off the train carefully. The heat of the desert air hit her like a wall of lava. She blinked as the bright sun shined in her eyes.
As she carefully stepped off the train platform, and started walking towards the Academy, she observed the city around her.
The streets were bustling with ponies going about their business. If it wasn't for the slightly bizarre architecture, it would seem like a regular city in Equestria. There were open air markets, shops, and a wide variety of other things.
Twilight was so absorbed in taking it all in, that she wasn't watching where she was going.
She was trotting perhaps a little too fast in her anticipation, and ran into something pony-like. Her hindquarters hit the ground as what sounded like a book skittered along the pavement. She placed a hoof to her head feeling slightly dizzy.
"I'm so sorry," she said. When her vision cleared up, she turned her head and grabbed the nearby book with her telekinesis, "I wasn't looking where I was going."
"Well," The other pony said, "I wasn't either, so its on both of us." The other pony, an earth pony, had a white coat, green eyes, and her ashy blonde mane was done up in pigtails. A book with a picture of a scythe on the cover served as her cutie mark.
Twilight was barely paying attention to the other though. The book Twilight was hovering in front of her was Dark Side of the Moon.
"This is a really good book," Twilight commented, "You like it?"
"I like what I've read so far," the mare said as Twilight hovered the book into her saddle bags. As she opened the bag, so noticed even more books inside it, "That's why I ran into you. I was so excited to continue reading that I was galloping too fast. Sorry."
Twilight, curious, hovered a few other books out of her bag. One was a Daring Do novel. Another was History of Soul Studies. The final one was Modern Magical Theory.
The last one intrigued Twilight. "Why would an earth pony study magic?" she asked.
The other mare blushed, "I like reading, and even though I can't do magic, it still fascinates me. Its a really interesting subject. Right now I'm trying to learn about Kimono's prevailing theories about why magic is so specialized to a unicorn's cutie mark, and the full extent of any given unicorn's magical repertoire."
"Oooh. Might I recommend Cutie Mark Magic? It had a lot of things related to Kimono's theories."
"I'll have to see if the library has that. It sounds really interesting."
"If you're reading this, then you have to have read The Flow of Magic, right?"
"Cover to cover! I have to say, a lot of Ruby Moon's speculations were absolutely fascinating in their varied possibilities!"
Of all the things Twilight expected, she did not expect to spend her walk to the Academy to be spent discussing magic with an earth pony. Eventually, their conversation segued into one about Daring Do. It turned out the mare was re-reading that particular book, and soon the two of them were discussing their favorite parts and debating plot points.
Twilight was so absorbed in her conversation with the other mare, that she barely noticed that she had just finished climbing the long steps up to the Academy. The other mare realized it first.
"...Ack! I'm here!"
Twilight started and looked up. The Academy was very imposing up close. It was a huge, red and black castle-like structure decorated with the same skull motif she had seen through the city. The entrance even had a huge skull curving over it. She held back the urge to step back.
"Were you headed to the Academy too?" The mare asked, leaning in towards Twilight, "Are you a new student here?"
"Kinda, its complicated," Twilight admitted.
"I'm a student here too!" The mare chirped, "I hope we're in the same class."
Twilight smiled despite herself, "Me too, actually."
"Well, good luck! I need to talk to one of my teacher's about a recent report." She started to walk off.
"Wait!" Twilight called, "I never got your name!"
The mare stopped and turned, a smile on her face, "Maka Albarn! And yours?"
"Twilight Sparkle."
"It was fantastic meeting you Twilight, I hope to see you in school!" Maka then left.
Twilight stared after her. Her first thought was, that mare had a strange name. But then she remembered that her book had said about the ponies here being so fascinated with the Ancients that they had ended up adopting part of Ancient culture for their own. Twilight supposed naming was part of that.
There were ponies milling about. Some of them had weapons, often strapped to their backs, but also hovered in the air using magic. Once or twice, Twilight even saw a griffin walk by. She remembered reading about how the Academy was an international organization. While only ponies had the coveted ability to turn into a weapon, it wasn't uncommon for other species such as griffins to attend the Academy as meisters.
When she finally entered the Academy building itself, the first thing she realized was that she had no idea where to go. She walked up to a nearby pony.
"Excuse me?" The pony glanced at her, "Is there a map of the school somewhere? I'm new here."
The pony actually chuckled, "No map of this place. Defeats the purpose. Is there someplace you're looking for in particular?"
"I'm actually looking for either the Grim Reaper, or the headmaster of the school."
"...You do realize they're one and the same, right?"
Twilight felt her face flush, "Well...no I didn't. What I read said that Death founded the school and heads the DWMA organization, but not that he was also headmaster of the school."
The pony smiled, "It's kind of a reasonable assumption, don't you think? In any case, you're looking for the Death Room." Yeah, that didn't sound ominous at all.
The pony helpfully gave her directions. Twilight thanked the pony and walked towards what was referred to as the 'Death Room.'
As she made her way through the hallways of the Academy, she couldn't help but feel a mixture of anticipation and dread. This was the Grim Reaper she was about to see! The very incarnation of Death, if what Luna said and what Twilight read was any indication.
She finally reached the end of a hallway, where there was a door that read 'Death Room.' This was it. She reached up a hoof to knock on the door...
...Only to have the door open to reveal a black stallion with a red mane. The pony started upon seeing her.
"Oh, are you here to see Lord Death?" He asked.
"Yes," Twilight nodded, "I'm Twilight Sparkle, I was sent here by Princess Luna."
Understanding lit up the stallion's face, "Ah, so you're the representative that the Equestrian rulers promised to send. Lord Death has been expecting you." he stepped aside and gestured to the hallway that stretched beyond the door. Twilight stuck her head in. The hallway was lined with overhanging guillotines, and she felt that sensation of dread and even a bit of fear well up again.
The stallion nudged her inside, "I'll come with you; I had other plans, but this is more important." He followed Twilight as she finally stepped into the hallway and began making her way down it.
"Um..." she started, "What's your name?"
"Spirit Albarn," he replied.
That sounded familiar, "Do you know Maka Albarn, by any chance?"
"She's my daughter," he suddenly perked up, "Why? Did you see her?"
"On my way to the school, yes."
"Ooooh, she's still in the school?"
"Um, yeah..."
"Wonderful! I'll have to go to her as soon as I'm done delivering you!" He seemed enthused by the thought, smiling brightly, then he got a dreamy look on his face, "Ah, I got a new book for her, I hope she likes it..."
Slightly weirded out, Twilight nevertheless continued her trip down the hallway.
She was prepared for many things. She was prepared for the menacing incarnation of Death. She was prepared for what would likely be scarier than any changeling or monster that she had ever met or read about.
She wasn't prepared for this.
"Oh hello, hello! Am I to assume that you are the one that Princess Luna and Princess Celestia sent?"
She did not expect this. She expected a large, menacing creature.
She did not expect a large black alicorn, wearing a large black full-body cloak that obscured his form, and wearing a goofy skull mask that resembled the skull motif that she kept seeing. What really threw her off was his mannerisms. Although she couldn't see it, she could tell that he was smiling brightly under her mask. His tone of voice was friendly and jovial. He wasn't scary at all. If anything, he was like one of those cartoon characters she had seen at the movies.
Feeling completely out of balance, Twilight could only nod.
"Wonderful! We've been expecting you! Yes, we've been in quite a bind recently. How much did they tell you, by the way?"
"Um..." She quickly forced herself to focus, "They told me that you were having problems with the students here."
"Ah yes," Death's tone became grave, "Recently, Demon Weapons have been mysterious losing their ability to—where are you going Spirit?"
Twilight turned her head to see that Spirit was walking towards the door, "I'm going to see my daughter!" he replied, "I'd also like to get home early to my wife." he chuckled, "Don't want her thinking I've been hitting the cabaret club."
Death sighed, "Very well. Have a good evening, Spirit."
After Spirit left, Death turned back to Twilight, "Now, where was I? Oh yes. Recently, Demon Weapons have been mysteriously losing their ability to transform. It started with just a few...and before we knew it, more and more have been losing the ability. That by itself would be a catastrophe, but many meisters are also falling ill. At the current rate, its only a matter of time before we won't even have enough to keep kishin eggs under control. But I'm afraid it only gets worse from there. Demon Weapons are our primary weapon against evil. If we were to completely lose them..." His voice trailed off.
"It would be bad, right?" Twilight guessed.
"It would be the precursor to chaos like you've never seen. Which is why our first priority is to find out what is causing them to lose the ability. I have a feeling that its connected to the illness affecting the meisters, so we'll be killing two birds with one stone, so to speak.
"Which is where you come in. We need your help to investigate. I'm told that you have powerful magical capabilities. That will come in handy as we try to get to the bottom of this."
Twilight nodded, "I understand sir," she then remembered the letter, "Oh, before I forget," she hovered the letter out of her saddlebags, "Celestia wanted me to give you this." The Academy, despite the violent vocation, was still ultimately a school, with many subjects that she never knew existed before. Celestia had seemingly realized this, and so, to make Twilight's stay more enjoyable, had provided a special request for Twilight to become an honorary student at the Academy.
"Hm?" Death levitated the letter from her, unraveling it and reading it over, "Ah, I see. Well, I certainly don't see the harm in having you attend some of the classes here, if that's what you really want."
Twilight stood up proudly, "I love learning, and there are so many things here that I don't know. I would be honored by the opportunity to find out."
Death chuckled, rolling the letter up, "Of course, I shall have you signed up for classes immediately. Also, there's an apartment setup for you. Talk to the front desk, they will be able to give you the address."
Twilight bowed her head, "Thank you."
"No, thank you. I have a feeling we are going to need everything you can do to help to get us through this mess."