Visual

[hattrickery]

When the scroll turns on, it shows Hayate, sitting in her cloud shack and looking thoughtful, her wings rustling in contemplation.

"So, uh...today I realized something. It's been eight months since I showed up here, you know? And in all that time, I haven't died once. This is the longest I've ever gone without getting killed!"

Her wings shudder briefly before fully extending.

"It's actually kind of weird, really, and I'm not sure how to deal with it. Like, what if I get out of the habit? I mean...I'd have to relearn how to fight and everything! So, uh...anyone got any good tips? Where can a girl go to get killed around here?"

...uh-huh.

Comments

[visual]

[tinkertytonk]

"M-Ms. Hayate, I can assure you, getting killed here isn't pleasant in the slightest." In fact, Bertie would have to rate it at the top of his list for Things Not To Do In Equestria. "You really don't need to practice it."

[hattrickery]

Hayate actually considers her reply, since Bertie is her friend and all.

"It's just...I'm getting rusty, Bertie. I mean, in the past, I've died up to eight times in a single day in order to put down a threat, and now I'm worried that if something that needs that kind of dedication out of me comes along I might not be able to respond."

A pause as she ruffles her wings uncomfortably.

"...and if that happens, I'm basically failing you and everyone else in Ponyville."

[tinkertytonk]

She seems so serious. Bertie can't imagine going through what Mechakara had done eight times in a day. It defies all logic and reason and decency. But her earnest response isn't one he can brush away lightly.

"My dear girl, I have full faith in you that, should the moment arise, you will put your life to the hazard without a single thought to your own well-being." Much to her detriment, in his opinion. "But don't... don't cheapen that. You said you've died taking out threats. What good is it to die for nothing? That's not really what you'd be doing."

[hattrickery]

Hayate thinks about that for a while, her wings extending and folding back idly as she does.

"...I guess all I'd really get out of it was length of time until revival, huh?"

[tinkertytonk]

And he can answer that for her. Granted, they have all of three ponies to go off of. "Four of us have died here," Bertie explains, expression earnest. "Nemo still hasn't come back. Pollo and I... and Ms. Gwen, I think it must have been three days or so for all of us. That's an awfully long time to wait if you do manage to return to us. I wouldn't want you lost for something-something so trivial."

[hattrickery]

Hayate's eyebrows raise up as her wings flare out in surprise.

"Three days? That's...unheard of."

[tinkertytonk]

What? Bertie is more confused than ever. "H-how long does it usually take for you?"

[hattrickery]

"Well, if Sanjo's on top of things, it takes him like ten seconds to cast Kazing...if there's a total wipe, though, it might take...I dunno, half an hour?"

She folds her wings back in as she contemplates.

"Most of that is travel time, I'm pretty sure."

[tinkertytonk]

How can death be something so ephemeral? He knows Hayate's an angel, but is the rest of her group, too? And what the deuce is this 'Kazing' business. "You burst into rainbows when you die. If there's some sort of spell meant to hit you after that, you're not exactly about for the thing."

[hattrickery]

She is, in fact, the only angel in her group.

Or her world, really.

"...that sounds...really bad. Like, just off the top of my head, I can think of maybe three things powerful enough to pull something like that off and they are all the sundered fragments of God."

[tinkertytonk]

Hasn't Hayate heard any of this before? "That's what the Pale Pony is, isn't she? Some sort of monster, god thingummy that eats universes like Queen Melissa's and hops it to the next to start bothering that one." He pauses because that raises a very confusing question. "Wait... the Pale Pony's evil. Why is she bringing us back to life?"