//------------------------------//
// [Side Chapter]Corrupted 
// Story: Reaper Tales 
// by aapur 
//------------------------------//

The wind was bitter cold. It usually was in the icy regions north of Equestria. This was where the aurora normally was seen, and almost nopony lived here. Tonight was one of the nights the aurora was really active. The green and red lights were shifting slowly in the sky, lighting up the barren wasteland. 
Two reapers emerged from the shadows behind a mountain. One was black as the night, with a flaring mane and tail and red eyes. The other was dark blue with a lighter mane and tail, and green eyes. They were both on a mission.
"Blood. I hate this place already. We should leave." The blue one shivered.
Blood laughed. "Oh come on, Eclipse. Are you really that easily taken out?"
Eclipse hissed. "No. But I don't see the point of why we even are here."
"Didn't you read the scroll?" Blood tilted his head. "My brother sent us here to investigate some weird happenings. We can't return before we're done."
"Fine…" Eclipse sighed. He hated missions like these.
The two reapers kept moving for about another hour before they reached their target. It was a tall mountain, much taller than the others. It was too windy around it for the snow to settle, so it was bare. There was a mist of snow streaming off both sides of it in the strong wings, whirling up on the backside.
"Now we have to reach the cave up there." Blood pointed up. The cave was in the mountainside, hidden by the whirling snow.
Eclipse grinded his teeth. "Great. More snow and wind."
Blood laughed. "You're no fun, Eclipse. Where is the spirit you had when you got to know about the mission?"
"It vanished." Eclipse sighed and took flight.
Blood followed. "Oh well. We're soon done."
They gained altitude fast. The wind got stronger as they ascended, and soon was the air filled with snow and ice. It soon got painful. The ice and snow felt like razor-sharp needles, piercing them as they flew. It was like flying through a rain of glass shards, and the larger particles left behind small wounds. Then they reached the cave, soon getting into a safe zone from the deadly winds.
Eclipse growled. He was bleeding from a deep cut between his eyes. "I'll have to demand some free time after this…"
Blood chuckled. "True. True." He had several smaller wounds, but he didn't really care.
"So what now." Eclipse looked around.
Blood opened and read the scroll. "We should head deeper into the cave. The source should be in there."
Eclipse nodded and started galloping into the cave, followed by Blood.
The sight that met them was surprising. It was a massive ice cave. It was spherical, the walls almost polished. Suspended in the middle was a large orb that looked like it was made of concentrated aurora. 
"Mother of Celestia…" Eclipse was the first to enter. "What in Equestria is this?"
Blood entered. "Beats me. And I don't know what we are supposed to do with it either…" 
Eclipse was about to speak, but then the cave was filled with a deep rumbling sound. The orb darkened, and then it shot out tendrils, aiming for Blood. As soon as it hit was the cave filled with a blinding light, and then it all went black.

Eclipse got up. It had probably gone several hours, and his wound had healed into a scar. He looked around. "Blood?"
There was no reply, but Eclipse felt that he was being watched. Something was looking at him. He turned.
Blood's grin was the first thing he saw. The grin of a maniac, and the wild expression that only could lead to bad things.
Eclipse backed up. "Blood… What the hell have gotten into you…"
Blood's eyes had a glow now. "I'm sorry, my friend." His horn started glowing. "I will return for you once Equestria is mine."
Eclipse's eyes widened, filled with fear. "Blood! Stop this!"
Blood grinned wider. "You'll be safe."
"BLOOD!" Eclipse roared, but that was all he got to say before everything went black.
Blood sighed. He faced Eclipse. "I'm sorry, my friend. You would have spoiled my plans." He grinned at the blue alicorn, yet knowing that his friend couldn't see that through one meter of solid ice.
Blood took flight, leaving Eclipse behind. He knew that Eclipse wouldn't move for the next few hundred years. Then again. It isn't easy to move when one have been frozen into a wall of ice.

"Blood!" Death looked at his brother, not looking pleased. "What the hay happened at your mission!"
Blood sighed. "I don't know. Eclipse proceeded to fast, and I couldn't save him."
Death growled. "And you didn't stop him?"
"I tried." Blood looked down, trying to look sad. He did a great job at it too. "But he didn't listen."
"And then we had the earthquake." Blood opened several files on the computer., several showing rockslides and fissures. "Whatever happened could be felt all over Equestria. Celestia want answers!"
Blood looked up. "I would have told you if I knew." He looked at the screens, focusing on one where there was much activity around. "But everything went black before I got there. When I woke up had the cave collapsed." He studied the screen some more. "Anyways. What happened there?" He pointed at it.
Death shook his head. "The rockslide took out a whole film team. Nopony survived. It was the only lethal part of the aftershock." He opened a file. "And just so you know it. I let the director choose between passing on and becoming a reaper. He chose to stay. His name is Horror Movie, so next time you see him should you say that you're sorry."
Blood sighed. "Fine…"
"But missions come first." Death changed the screens. "The current events have brought life back to the Nightmare cults. They're having a gathering to try to call back Nightmare Night tonight."
Blood studied all the data, and he had to fight himself to not start laughing. All the reapers would be at this event, and this was the perfect chance for him to kill them all.
"Alright." Death nodded. "We're heading out."

Darkness was falling over Cherrywood as the reapers gathered in the trees. The cult members had already lit the fireplace and had started dancing around it. The forest was silent tonight, and there wasn't even a single breeze. Just the sound from the fireplace.
Blood was floating silently in the sky, his hair dimmed down. So he wouldn't be seen. He noticed a new face. It was a dark red alicorn with a black misty mane filled with red stars. He landed besides the other reaper. "You look scared. What's the matter?"
"Eh…" the stranger sighed.
"I get it." Blood chuckled. "You're shy as you are surrounded by legends. Don't worry. You'll become a legend too. I'm sure."
Death landed besides them. He had taken a few sweeps to get a better overview of the situation. "So it begins." He sighed. "The final battle."
Then the reapers attacked. There were more cult members than anticipated, but the reapers were ready for that, and outnumbered the cult members.
Blood, however, pulled back and prepared for his own plan. He grinned. "The reaper organization dies tonight."

After hours had the forest calmed down. The cult members were all turned to ashes or captured, and the reapers had all gathered up again. Blood took flight, soon circling over the reapers. He grinned as his horn started glowing.
Several powerful magical missiles shot from his horn, hitting random reapers, killing them instantly. The response was instant. The reapers got up and scattered into small groups. "And the hunt begins…"
He knew that they panicked. If not had they been returning fire by now. He started chasing the smallest groups first, attacking fast and accurate. He also aimed for the veterans first. They were the toughest ones to kill due experience. He then stopped and though, noticing that a group had stopped by a cliff. "Perfect."
He teleported, appearing in front of them. He grinned, his grin showing clear signs of insanity. "Oh. Good to see that you guys are alive." His voice was slick and sarcastic. "What's the point of this!" A dark grey reaper stepped forward. He was one of the oldest reapers. "I thought you were one of us! We all thought so!"
Blood fangs could only laugh. "Oh. So that's what you think. Too bad it's not really like that." His grin was filled with madness ad he charged up an attack. As he was going to attack jumped several reapers off the cliff. This included the dark red one he had seen earlier. He didn't care. They would probably die from the fall. "Good bye, Moonbeam." He attacked, killing the remaining reapers of that group. 
He then though for a moment. The rest of the reapers had probably been scattered out everywhere now, which meant it was pointless to even consider chasing them, so he left in a bright flash. The last thing he did was showing a wide grin to Moonbeam, and then he vanished.

Many years had passed now, and Blood had been spending then thinking. He was annoyed, as Death had relocated the whole soul stream system so he couldn't sneak in and attack. He had been spending this time in the old cave, making a cloud base. His plan was to hide out of reach, but yet so close that he could attack. He had yet to be bothered by reapers.
Several ponies came to his base. There were both earth ponies, unicorns and pegasuses, and they all had the same cutiemark. The leader bowed down for him. "Master."
Blood smiled. "Good to see you guys. Is everything set, Darkhoof?"
Darkhoof nodded. "The magic seals are all set, and we're all set to get the base out."
"And the possibilities for earthquakes?" Blood smiled.
"One hundred percent. Equestria will feel this." Darkhoof grinned.
Blood chuckled. "Then what are we waiting for? Get everypony onboard."
Darkhoof nodded and gave the rest the sign. They all marched onboard. He then followed blood as they headed inside, watching the hatch behind them close.
Blood laughed. "Fire away!"
The seals exploded, shaking the ground as they did. The quake that followed could be felt all across Equestria. It happened just as the Wonderbolt Derby was about to start, spreading panic through the crowd. Several ponies were tossed off the tribune and into their deaths. This was later known as the largest earthquake in almost a hundred years.
Blood was happy. His base flew silently into the air, vanishing out of sight. Everything was going as planned so far. This was good.

A few years later had he started executing missions from the base. His subjects were sent out to cause havoc across Equestria. One of the recent missions had taken down a large dam that had been made to control the flow of a river. This had lead to several things. Several smaller towns experienced power loss and the river became deadly. Several ponies had been taken by an unexpected undertow at the usual bathing spots, and reapers had been dispatched to investigate.
This wasn't relevant for him. He had his own business to take care of, and other evil plans to make. He looked at the area under the base. They were heading for a cold region, for a manor there. Blood had a few connections with the owner of the manor, and he was heading there to check on some business.
"Well who do we have here." Blood had barely entered the main hall when she appeared in front of him. A red pegasus with unmatched beauty.
"I'm just here to see how the doll project is going, Cassandra." Blood grinned. "And you just appear to look better and better."
Cassandra giggled a bit. "Well I'm going to try them out next week. Will limit them to target mares only for now. Mares and reapers. We'll see how much damage they can do in Trottingham before extending the attack area.
Blood smirked. "Just don't get yourself killed, okay?"
She gave him a push. "Oh don't worry. You should get going. I must return to my work."
"Fine." Blood headed out. "I'll be expecting a report in two weeks."
"That's a promise." She closed the doors behind him.
The report never came.

Blood was starting to get annoyed now. For years had his mission slowly started to fail, and it got harder to get new ideas. The recent failures had been the deadly parasprites and the use of an old altar in Cloudsdale. The worst bit was that the same reaper had disrupted both missions. A dark red one. 
Blood hadn't given up. He was going to try again, and this time would he do it himself. The plan was simple. Destroy Canterlot, using the castle. He had stationed himself in the caves under the castle, and he was ready. All he needed was the message saying that the sleeping gas had been released in the castle.
Three earth ponies entered. They were the ones responsible for the gas. But before they got the chance to say anything was an explosion heard, and two reapers entered. A dark green mare and the same reaper who already had been destroying several of his missions. He growled. "Horror Movie…"
Then two more reapers entered. He was shocked. One of them was too familiar. That was the dark blue one. She reminded him a lot of the mare he had used as parasprites bait in the cake. The situation was getting tense. He had to break in.
He descended, grinning. "Well look what we have here. FOUR reapers? That must be a record."
The four reapers turned and faced him. The eyes of Horror Movie, Darth star, Miasmic Fog and Stormy Clouds were all focused on him.
"Oh, I forgot to introduce myself." The black alicorn grinned. The grin was the grin of an insane lunatic. "I'm Blood Fangs. I'm the leader for the Discordian Cult."
Horror narrowed his eyes. "The Discordian Cult?"
Blood growled. "Haven't any of you ever heard about it? Damn. I guess my followers didn't do a good job in Cloudsdale or Ponyville."
Horror growled. "They were all your guys?"
Blood laughed. "Yes, and you, my friend, have been a major thorn in my flank. You destroyed both my plans, and now I have to find more followers."
Stormy took a step forward. "Too bad your path ends here."
The four reapers prepared themselves to attack Blood.
"Oh no. I don't think so." Blood grinned, and the ground started shaking. "Because I'm now going to make the castle fall out, killing everyone inside."
The ground and walls around then started cracking. Large rocks fell down. 
Meanwhile was the silent night in Canterlot disturbed as the ground started shaking. Ponies looked up at the castle with fearful expressions as the mountainside around the castle started cracking. Large rocks started falling down.
Inside was Blood Fangs laughing. "Well suck on this, tiny reapers!" he took flight. "But I must be off. You all should just enjoy this nice chaotic mayhem." He then returned to his base in a flash.
From the clouds was he watching as the reapers headed out. He was slightly disappointed. Horror didn't even recognize him. 
He just sighed and watched as they once again saved the day. 
Then the door to his room opened. A changeling entered. "Master. The three ponies you've asked for have come."
Blood smiled. "Finally. Lead them into my office."
The changeling bowed and left his room. Blood grinned. The new plan was about to unfold.

Blood was in his office again. In front of him was Metalwings, and underneath the base was there a huge fissure in the Everfree Forest. He was pleased. "I hope dying wasn't too much of a problem for you."
Metalwings grinned. "Of course not. Anything for you."
Blood nodded. "Good. The others are at the moment attacking Canterlot, and they should be done soon."
Metalwings laughed. "And soon Equestria ends."
Blood grinned and fired up the engines of the cloud. "Yes, my friend. Yes. We just have to stop somewhere first. This chaos should be enough to wake up Discord."
"What about Death?" Metal was unsure. "You didn't kill him."
Blood laughed more. "Leave the old coot to die. His wounds will kill him."
Metalwings nodded and they were off.

The rain was falling over Canterlot as Blood arrived. Things were about to unfold entirely. In front of him was Celestia and Luna, and he had killed them both, absorbing their powers. He was about to start when the door was rammed down. He was almost not surprised. It was the four reapers again. He thought he already had taken them down and locked them away, but it was obvious that they had escaped.
"Looks like you guys are too late." He grinned widely. "With their powers can I finally bring Equestria to an end!"
Horror growled. "Over our dead bodies!"
"Very well." Blood laughed and sent Metalwings at them. "Kill them."
He just watched as his companions failed. Backstab, his unicorn, was fried from the inside, while Metalwings had a really bad crash landing. This pissed him off, a lot. He replied with evaporating his dead teammates. Hegrowled deeply. "Too bad Fleshwound isn't here now."
"Fleshwound?" Stormy tilted her head.
Blood laughed. "He's busy, eating the royal guard."
Stormy grinded her teeth. "Damnit. You're all freaks."
Blood smiled. "But what do we say?" a huge meteor broke the clouds over Ponyville. "Ah. That's right. The End."
Horror growled. "Everypony! We must combine our magic. NOW!"
They all put their horns together and focused, activating the spell Death had given them. The magic combined, and everything became white. 
Blood became silent. "W-w-w-w-what's this!"
Death's voice was heard. "This is the end of your line."
Blood growled, but he started dissolving, vanishing. "N-n-n-n-no!" 
He had one chance. He still had his powers, so he did something he never knew he ever would do. He shredded open a rift to the forming timeline, tossing himself into it. It closed behind him, sucking out all of his powers and his energy.

Blood opened his eyes. He was unstable, and he felt powerless. He knew where he was. In front of him was there a massive ice wall. He looked up. "Well hello there, Eclipse. Looks like this mountain have been untouched by their reset." He grinned and headed for the entrance. "One thing. I won't leave this time. I'll make a base here so I can get my energy back. Then I'll release you so we can rule Equestria, together. You can be Prince Eclipse while I'm King Blood."
He laughed a bit. He knew what to do. He had to set up a machine that would collect aurora and convert it into magic, and he had to use a reaper soul to get it compatible for charging himself up.
Blood smiled and then he started building, something that would take at least a hundred years.

And so it did. A hundred years later was he done. The steam tower. It had taken him ages to finish, and now it was ready. Blood took one last trip down to the ice cave. He looked at the frozen Eclipse. "You know. You were like a son to me. You meant everything. That's why I didn't kill you back then."
Blood then returned to the control room. He opened a panel and looked at the lever. "Here goes nothing." He flipped it. The reaction took a few seconds, but then it started. The whole tower shook as the aurora absorber activated, slowly starting to fill the container. It would still take almost a day to fill it, so he also activated the sun/moon change override to lock Equestria in nighttime. Now he just had to wait for a reaper to appear.

It didn't take long, and to his surprise was there more than one reaper. It was four. And not any four reapers, but it was THE four reapers. This was perfect. He just watched as they spread out in two groups. Horror and Miasmic heading for the lower boiler room while Darth and Stormy started heading upwards.
Blood smiled. He hooked himself up to the tower so he could use the aurora power to win. He watched as horror and Miasmic entered the lower boiler room, and the he struck. A cage dropped over Miasmic while a massive claw gripped Horror, and they were both lifted up.
He then proceeded to lock Horror, who now was unconscious, onto a special chair, just in front of the soul extractor. "Too bad you're not awake."
Blood was rather happy now. He had captured two reapers, and he had soon reached one hundred percent, which was even better. He opened the shaft to the inside of one boiler. Miasmic's cage was suspended in it, resting on another hatch.
Miasmic noticed him, and growled. "You!"
Blood chuckled. "Look at that. Somepony actually recognizes me."
"Well duh." Miasmic rolled his eyes. "I expected that you were gone by now."
"Well…" Blood sighed. "You did kill me back then, or at least almost. But that doesn't matter now. I suggest that you shut up, or else will I drop you into the boiler."
Miasmic growled and watched as Blood turned on music. Classical music.
Blood then dimmed all the lights, except the ones on Horror.

It didn't take long. Voices were heard outside the door, and then one shouted. Blood flipped a switch and the massive metal doors opened. Darth and Stormy was waiting outside, and as soon as they noticed Horror were they both galloping. Blood flipped the switch again, and the doors closed. Then the music started and then lights came on.
Darth was the first to react. "No. Bucking. Way."
Blood grinned. "Oh hello my dearies. I didn't expect to see you all here."
Stormy growled. "How do you even exist?! We erased you from reality! We destroyed you!"
"Calm down, kids." He laughed. "You wouldn't understand what I had to go through to even be here. I lost almost all my magic powers when I escaped. I'm too weak to fight."
"He's lying!" Miasmic yelled from inside his cage. "That ring he have amplifies his magic! That's how he got us!"
Blood growled and pressed a button. The hatch opened under the cage, suspending it from a wire over one of the boilers. "Shut your trap or you'll be undone!"
Miasmic hissed in return, but chose to remain silent after that.
"So how did you do it, Blood. How did you escape your own removal?" Stormy wasn't looking pleased.
"Easy." Blood grinned. "I ran over to this new timeline as it was forming. As it wasn't done yet as I escaped wasn't it touched by the erase spell. I did loose most of my powers because of it, but thanks to the creation of this tower will I now restore them."
Darth growled. "Why would you even try…"
"Two reasons." Blood smirked. "I want to take over Equestria and become supreme dictator. And I also want to kidnap Octavia and marry her." He blushed.
All the reapers, except Horror who was out cold, stared at him. This came as a shock.
Blood looked at them. "What's the problem…"
Stormy growled. "Your wild fantasies. You really think you're going to get your powers restored? How do you even plan to do it? And kidnap a famous musician? You sicken me."
Blood growled. "How do you dare…" his horn sparked with the colors of the aurora, his whole expression changing. "I already have it all rigged. Just need to get enough aurora power." The gauge was showing the stored power. It was at 95% and rising slowly. "But aurora isn't enough. I have to fuse it with something to make it compatible with me, and that's why your friend over there is strapped to a soul extractor. I'll be using him to get the aurora primed and prepared for me." A wild grin appeared. "Now. You three should now prepare to die, starting with that loud-mouthed show-off in the cage over there." He pressed a button and the wire snapped, sending the cage into the tank of boiling water. Stormy didn't even hesitate. She cast herself into the tank, after the cage.
Blood laughed. "Was he even that much worth?"
Darth growled, preparing to cast a spell. "He's more worth than you'll ever be."
"Don't you dare!" Blood hissed like a snake.
Darth grinned. "Reaper spell number XXIV…"
A bolt of aurora shot from Blood's horn, exploding as it hit Darth. She was tossed into the wall higher up, and then collapsed on the floor. "Ouch. Looks like I was faster." He grinned as the gauge reached 100% and an alarm rang. "There we go. Nothing can go wring now." He powered up the extractor.
Darth growled and got up. She could barely stand as blood was leaking from several wounds. She turned to face Blood as he turned the extractor on. It charged up and…
The whole tower shook violently and sparks flew everywhere as several panels exploded. The extractor was knocked sideways, missing Horror and hitting another panel instead. The sound of several exploding tubes was heard and the sound of grinding metal, as the tower slowly started tilting, stopping at a 5% tilt. 
Darth rushed to rescue Horror, but blood got in her way. "You're not going anywhere!" He was furious, his whole mane now flaring with the colors of the aurora.
Darth hissed. "Get lost, fool!" she kicked him, hard, smashing the ring and sending him into the panel that had been hit by the soul extractor, getting him into the extracting beam. He screamed in pain as his body was shredded to dust and his soul sucked away.

It was dark. Really dark. Actually. It was black. Blood wasn't sure if he was falling or floating, but he heard voices.
"Blood…" it was Death. "Brother…"
Blood growled. "Where am I!"
"You are heading to your destination. Where you are sent to be punished." Death sighed.
Blood growled. "You can't do this!"
"Sorry." It was a different voice. It was Eclipse. "You were like a father too me, yes, but when you were corrupted."
"Eclipse…" Blood lost his expression.
"That's how it is. Every action has a reaction." Eclipse sighed. "You're permanently corrupted, and that'll never change."
Blood sighed. "Very well. It was nice knowing you, Eclipse."
"You too." Eclipse sounded a bit sad.
"One thing." Blood closed his eyes. "You know the four reapers? Join them. Future problem may need more help."
"Fine." Eclipse chuckled. "And take care."
Blood laughed. "You too."
Then everything went white around him, and he landed. He could hear death say one last thing. "Welcome to hell, Blood. Welcome to the dark world." Then it all faded away, and a door appeared. Blood sighed, and he walked out the door. It closed behind him and locked, for good.