//------------------------------// // Chapter Seventeen // Story: WOLVERINES! // by The Producer //------------------------------// Celestia slowly stalked over to the six as the thumping inside of Supernova's head became more painful and often. One hand rose up to grasp at the side of his head, Celestia enveloped the six, and started to message them, causing them to wriggle about. She sent little bolts of electricity, knocking them all out. As the thumping became a bass progression of pain, Celestia was advancing on Twilight again, Supernova heard Reaper's voice drift across his consciousness, "You will not have my freedom..." Supernova felt some of his control after he heard this, and half of his body suddenly went numb, starting to move on it's own. Before Supernova could try and suppress whatever Reaper was doing, he felt his mouth moving independently, shouting out, "CELESTIA! STOP WHAT YOU ARE DOING RIGHT. NOW." Celestia's head swiveled to look at Reaper, half of his body rigid and immobile, the other pointing it's palm at her horn. Celestia's head jerked forward as large balls of black ejected themselves out of her horn, being sucked back into Reaper's body. As the last one came out of the tip, Celestia's hair grew limp, simply content with billowing around, dropping the six elements to the floor with a few thuds. Celestia's eyes went vacant for a few moments before she began to look about the room. When her eyes landed on reaper, she saw one red eye looking up at her with concern, while the other black eye radiated only contempt and hate. She called out, "Reaper? What happened? I can't remember anything after you came back to the castle..." The side with the red eye seemed to smirk, as he said, "Nothing you need to worry about, you weren't you." Celestia almost didn't notice as one of the void-sharpened claws started to make it's way up to Reaper's throat. Celestia stared at it as she said, "Reaper? What are you doing?" Reaper gave off a grunt as he looked down to see what was happening, and he saw the hand independently moving on it's own. He grabbed it, and began to struggle with his hand as a voice seemed to boom out of the black eye. It said, "IF I CAN'T HAVE YOU, THEN YOU CAN'T EITHER!" Reaper was suddenly flung across the room, landing on a wall. When Reaper got up, his body was being wracked with convulsions of pain. He raised his palm towards Celestia. As arcane energies started to swirl into a black ball in the direct middle of his hand, Reaper shouted out, "Celestia, I need to send you to the sun! I'm sorry, but it's for your own protection!" Celestia's face went from confusion, to shock, and then to understanding. She lowered her head, and lifted her wings to full extent just as the ball of energy hit her in the breast. A loud, bright explosion wracked the air, and when the flash subsided, the only thing left of Celestia's teleportation was a sizable crater and sizzling yellow bolts of magical energy. Reaper started to drag himself towards the six before he was forced off his feet again. This time, it was Supernova who had control of the body. He quickly made his way over to the slumbering six, and summoned some of the corruption that he had gathered from Celestia, and began to seep them into the six, being careful to corrupt only certain things, not making them invalid to be the incarnations of the elements. Reaper reared his head, and as the corruption did it's job, he forced them to teleport into a clearing by the edge of the forest. Supernova's body stood rigid and immobile, not even hinting at the struggle happening within the body's mind. Nightmare gouged out with a mental spike, as Reaper covered himself with a wall of mental steel. After the initial assault, they started to mentally trade blows with each other. Whatever presence that had resided in Chaoseater helped out Reaper, and together, they started to go out on an offensive, slowly driving the nightmare from Reaper's brain. As they started to purge, they found out that the Nightmare was heavily entrenched, curling around Reaper's psyche, dug deep down inside of it. After a good hour of struggles, the Nightmare was finally being removed from Reaper. His body let out a long, pealing cry, and it seemed that his currently altered state seemed to start to peel off of him, like a mirage. Another thirty minuets, and the visage was completely removed from Reaper's body. Reaper fell to his hands and knees as he received verbal abuse from the Nightmare, a wispy voice cutting through all thought. "You... YOU FOOL! YOU'VE RUINED EVERYTHING I WORKED TO ACCOMPLISH! YOU WILL RUE THIS DAY!" Reaper just grinned, and got up to his feet. He called on Chaoseater again, and brandished it at the perverse shadow of himself, and said, "That's nice to hear. Now, how about you move your god-forsaken ass away from me before I do something I regret." The Nightmare scoffed, and fired a wispy dark spike at Reaper. Reaper deflected it with an expert flick of the blade he had. Reaper quickly countered with a slash directly down the middle. The ghost of himself dissolved into a pool of black, and Reaper eyed it carefully as it dissolved into the ground. The voice resounded out as Reaper slowly slumped to the bround, crashing from the Adrenaline that had been coursing through his body, saying, YOU KNOW THAT IT ISN'T DEAD, RIGHT? Reaper just muttered out, "Yeah, now let me sleep..." Reaper's body slumped onto the ground, and he was out like a light before he even hit the dirt. --- --- --- When Reaper opened his eyes, he found himself to be on some type of dreamscape. He looked side to side, appreciating the funnel of dust that he was currently standing in. For some reason, he felt the unquenchable desire to explore the area, so he set off to find the end of the tunnel. After an imperceptible amount of time, he arrived at the end of the tube. It entered into a large meadow, surrounded by large trees, flowers and tall grasses dominating the clearing. In the middle of the meadow was an uncharacteristic pile of human skulls with a large blade sticking out of the top. As he approached the pile, an apparition appeared to him. It was a man covered in some type of demonic armor, and two long locks of bluish hair popped out from the cowl that the figure had on. It held up a massive arm seemingly made entirely of metal, and beckoned Reaper over. When Reaper got within arms reach of the blade stuck into the ground, he recognized it immediately as Chaoseater, and reached out to grab it, but was interrupted by the figure standing next to it. The figure shook it's head, and ice blue eyes flashed out from under the cloth covering it's face. As Reaper started to speak, the figure interrupted him with it's powerful voice. It said, "You must think very hard before accepting that sword, Reaper. What it means is that you are going back to Equestria, and fighting Nightmare, even if that means you will die." Reaper glanced at the large obelisk of metal that erupt out of the small pile of skulls. The figure went on, saying, "Tell me, what do you see, Reaper?" Reaper mumbled out, "We're in a large meadow, a clearing in a forest. There is tall grass everywhere, along with so many flowers. It seems peaceful. Wait, why do you know my name?" The ghost walked over to the side of the blade, resting its gauntlet on the hilt of the blade. It said, "I know much about you, Reaper. I know how long you served in the army before you lost your identity. I know how your parents died. I know your real name. I know when you will die." Reaper's eyes widened, and he whispered out, "Are you death?" The apparition smiled, gleaming white teeth glinting out under the shade of the hood. It chuckled a bit, and said, "No, that would be my brother." The ghost quickly passed its hand over Reaper's head, and Reaper began to see things unfolding from the inside of his eyes. Scenes of one man going up against legions of enemies, some being angelic, some devilish, and even some more being regular humans brandishing futuristic-looking armaments. The same ghost from last time was brandishing Chaoseater, decimating and laying waste to every enemy in his path, barely sustaining any wounds. As the battle raged on, the different enemies started to slowly morph into every type of soldier that Reaper had fought in his extensive lifetime in the army. The ghost started to shift and morph as well, the plates of metal armor shifting into blocks of Kevlar, moving to cover the entirety of his head. Chaoseater turned into a LMG. It was Reaper. A voice drifted across the raging din of the battle. It said, "You see Reaper, I know of you because we are brothers. A bond forged by the strife of war, and intertwined by the blood of our enemies." Reaper responded, saying, "I think I know who you are. You say your brother is death, and we are brothers in our own rights by the fires of strife. You are war." Another chuckle reverberated off into the distance as Reaper began to regain his ocular senses, and he found himself standing right in front of Chaoseater. War's voice drifted through Reaper's brain again, saying, "Then you would be guessing right. I am war, rider of Ruin, one of the bringers to the end of your old world." Reaper began to reach for Chaoseater as he asked out, "Then how are you present here, War?" Right before his hands touched the handle of Chaoseater, War replied, "Not only are we the harbringers of the end, but we are also universal rulers over the things we are named after. For instance, my brother, Death, is often seen as the grim reaper in your old world. Only me and Death are here, the other two can barely even talk to us when we are here due to the lack of what they represent in this world." Reaper grinned with anticipation as he wrapped his hands around the hilt of the blade. Suddenly, a great pain tore through Reaper's skull, feeling like it would split in two. Reaper felt like he was being bent in half, and suddenly, he got sucked through his bellybutton. When Reaper came to, he woke up on the ground with a pounding headache. Chaoseater was embedded in the ground in-between Reaper's thighs. He hoisted himself up on it, and tried to access his magical stores. He found out that he was drier than Nevada in the middle of summer. Reaper tiredly noticed that it was getting late, and he somehow needed to take control over the sun to make it move in the sky. He reached out a mental probe into the sun, and he felt as though the sun was happy, almost willing to comply with his demands,lowering itself to the other half of the world, and set the moon on it's path of ascent with a bit more trouble. Once he was satisfied with his work, Reaper ripped Chaoseater from the ground, and dragged its dangerous double-tip along the ground, digging a furrow as he went. Reaper followed his instinct, and after a good thirty minuets of traveling, he arrived at the gate of Canterlot. Reaper still needed to keep a low profile, so he went to the back of the city, and started to crawl up the side of the castle. He successfully got inside of the castle without notice of the very few brainwashed guards. Reaper went to the room containing the rest of the guardsponies were held. Once he got to the door, he knocked on the door and called through, "Hello? Captain Steel-feather? You in there?" There was a faint shuffling and bickering as Reaper heard hoofsteps approach the door. A strong and proud voice called through, a bit dampened after a few days on starvation rations, called through the thick steel door, "Yes? Hello? Who is out there?" Reaper cautiously called out, "It's Reaper, Steel." There was a small scuffling of hooves as a few ponies got closer to the door. Steel-feather called out, "Reaper? Is that really you? Because if that is Supernova that I am talking to out there..." Without answering, Reaper just yanked open the door to the rest of the room. Steel was standing there, crouched low at the sudden movement, wings splayed out in the case of a fight. The strain on all of his muscles gave way when he saw the familiar visage of his teacher. Steel swiftly went up to a salute, followed by the rest of the guards within the room. Reaper grinned, and said, "Come now, ponies! The ones that the nightmare-distorted version of me has taken out of the room have been brain-washed! We are now to subdue them all so that I can reverse the state that they are in! Everyone, break up into your squads! Sunbeam, left castle! Dayflash, take out the sentries! Moonbeam! Right castle! Shadow Spear, Take care of the higher-ranked guardsponies! Eclipse, you're with me, we're going to get the General the hell out of dodge." The respective squads all broke apart, braking into formation as they headed into the main landing, leading into the main complex. Reaper took up the lead of the legion, Chaoseater slung across his shoulders. He broke open the large double doors, and stood still with his squad of ponies as Pegasus soared and scrambled in even ranks about the air as earth ponies and unicorns calmly marched out in battle-formations. They weren't actually going for kills, but intimidation is seventy-five of the battle. Reaper saw the entire scene play out, and he turned his head to Steel, his grey coat contrasting with his gold armor, and said, "Have I ever told you guys how proud I am of you?" Steel responded by saying, "No, sir." Reaper started to walk off as he said, "Then let me congratulate on your accomplishment. I'm proud of you." The rest of eclipse guard followed behind Reaper, the elite hand-picked by Reaper from both sides of the guard. They silently trotted behind the looming figure that had superiority over even the general of the army. They arrived at Reaper's room, and he donned his long-forgotten helmet, and cocked his LMG. Only a short walk thereafter, they were in the throne room, where General Iron-hooves was. They entered the throne room, and there the general was, his slightly older frame decked out in metals. He was currently sitting on a smaller throne slightly removed from the celestial ones. When he saw the group enter the room, he chuckled evilly as Reaper briskly walked up to him.The general said, "Foolish boy! You can't defeat the dark mistress! She is just too powerful. Now, come, join me so I can return you to her." As Reaper raised his hand to start unraveling the enchantments wrapped and burrowed inside of the earth pony's brain, the General screamed out one last time, "STRIKE ME DOWN! I ORDER YOU TO STRIKE ME DOWN AND CONTINUE YOUR JOURNEY TO THE DARK MISTRESS!" Reaper shot a spear of light from his hand into the earth-pony's forehead, causing him to writhe in pain. Reaper brought up his fingers and palm so that they were pointing to the ceiling. A dark penumbra began to emit itself from the now-prostrate form of the older stallion, and it sped towards Reaper. As he flashed his palm at the shadowy cloud, it stopped in it's tracks. The shadow began to visibly grow even darker, turning into almost like a storm head. Reaper's eyes twitched under his helmet as he mentally fought with the nebulous shadow for dominance and control over the minds of the afflicted guardsponies. After stabbing deep within the cold depths of the sentience of a segment of the Nightmare, he made it collapse on itself. After a little boom, the cloud was gone. "Sir...What the buck was that?" Reaper turned his head to the side toward Steel-feather, and said, "Just a little thing I like to call condensed evil." He slung Chaoseater over his shoulder, and started to walk out the front door. Steel intercepted Reaper, and asked, "Sir! What are we to do?" Reaper stopped without looking back, and said, "Resume course as usual. I will be dealing with the sun, just keep up the facade of normalcy. You will know when I've... Resolved the problem. Reaper strolled out the door. --- --- --- Reaper had affixed the greatsword to his back, and had both of his arms entwined with the LMG slung across his shoulders like a yoke. He had been on the road for an hour and a half, contemplating how he was going to try and explain everything to the element bearers, and he walked into the center of Ponyville without noticing it. What he did notice, however, was the sudden vacancy of the town on a completely beautiful day. There was no cloud in the sky, and it hadn't gotten too hot yet, so it would be perfect outside weather, yet everypony was shut up inside of their houses. When the realization came to him, Reaper repressed the urge to facepalm, and Reaper went to Pinkie's place, hoping that she would be one of the most understanding of the six ponies. When he reached the front door of Sugarcube Corner, he knocked on the door. When the Bouncing Party Pony opened the door, her hair and eyes went from jovial and bouncy to flat and lifeless. When she spoke up, her voice mirrored her facial features. She said, "Oh... It's you. Who don't you leave this town, you disgusting freak!" Reaper took a step back in surprise. He expected for the six to be upset, but this might be overreacting. He said, "Pinkie? What's wrong? Why are you acting like this?" Pinkie just snickered, and her eyes narrowed. She said, "Oh nothing's wrong, everything is fine... for me, anyway." Reaper was confused, why was she acting like this and acting like nothing was wrong with her? Pinkie went on, as if she could read Reaper's mind, and said, "Nothing is wrong with me, but it is for you. Just look at you! You look like some sort of rejected crocodile with those teeth! And I guess you have those black eyes because you can't live with people knowing who you really are! Hahahahahahahaha!" Reaper was trying to keep his temper down as Pinkie bombarded him with insults. His face slowly evolved into a scowl as Pinkie continued on, "Whats wrong? We're all laughing here!" Reaper walked out of Pinkie's abode without saying a word of goodbye. He guided himself to Sweet Apple Acres, hoping that Applejack could tell him just what the hell was going on with Pinkie. Reaper could have been blind and noticed if something was wrong with her. As he walked, he tried to calm down by watching the scenery switch from suburban, to grassland, and finally to light forest that lead on to the apple farm that AJ worked on. He followed the sound of hooves thunking on wood to try and find Applejack. As he finally started to hear the repetitive sound get louder, Reaper stumbled into a line of trees that contained the certain farm pony that Reaper wanted to find. As he caught himself from falling, he called out to AJ and waved his hand. Applejack didn't respond, so Reaper thought that she didn't hear, or see him. He tried again, but got a response that he wasn't expecting. Applejack turned her head towards him with a face-twisting scowl, and she shot out, "Whadda yew want?" Reaper was noticing a trend. His so-called friends have become complete douche bags. He decided to keep a collected composure; AJ could have had a bad day, and her mood could have been just a bit nasty. He said, "Hey AJ... I just came here to ask you just what is bothering Pinkie, and to apologize about what happened, but I'm sorry if I'm intruding. You're acting weird. what's wrong? Is there a problem with anything?" AJ shook her head, and said, "Oh, nuthi'n 's wrong with me. Its ahbout yew, I reckon. Yer the reason everypony's goi'n all nutso, we had a nice life before you showed up." Reaper was sure of it, she was as demented as Pinkie was. Hopefully, there was a way to try and help her, though. He said, "Why are you saying these things, AJ?" He was cut off from saying anything further by a flying buck to the chest. When Applejack got down on the floor from her assault, she said, "Only mah friends can call me that, Reaper." Reaper was buckled over, wind completely knocked out of him from the unexpected aggression. All he could get out was a choked, "...Why?" Before he got another buck to the side of his head. Reaper recovered quickly that time, because the adrenaline finally kicked in. When he straightened up, and the fire in his eyes blocked by the dark welder's glass that took residence in the helmet's eye-sockets. He was about to speak up again before he was interrupted by AJ. She said, "Ahm bei'n honest here; it'd be best if'n yew left this town here. Big Mac, Git' em." A familiar large red draftpony stepped into the row of trees. He dug at the ground with a hoof as AJ sauntered off. Big Mac growled out, "GIT SUM'BITCH!" As he rushed at Reaper. He neatly stepped to the side with a magical push that sent Big Mac into a tree. Reaper let his own rage get a hold of him as he pointed a hand straight to the air. A resounding boom echoed across the land as a sizable lightning bolt connected with Reaper's hand, the lightning fusing with his natural energies leaking out of him, engulfing him in crackling aura. He floated off the ground and spread out his arms in full splendor to Big Mac. He growled out, almost with the voice of what thunder would have if it could speak, "Do you really want to test me?" Mac got back up on his hooves, and snorted as he readied another bull-rush. Reaper just shook his head, and charged up a voltage that would be needed for a stallion of his bulk. Right as Big Mac was about to collide with Reaper, Reaper shot a large amount of voltage into Mac. It was just enough to knock out the stallion, but not to stop the heart. A few nasty-looking black burns on his coat were the only lasting impact left from the attack. Reaper shook his head again, before arcing up into the sky, using the lightning to propel himself. He was getting seriously worried about what had happened to his friends, the two that had been some of the most friendly and understanding of the six friends he had. Only one that had been any more kind than them... The word kind resounded around Reaper's head as he immediately changed course mid-air. He landed down a few yards away from Fluttershy's cottage to not startle her too bad, and allowed the electricity discharge itself through his hands and dissipate into the sky. He calmly walked toward the shy pony's house as he checked that Chaoseater was still in its resting place on his back. As he approached the little house, he heard the characteristic little squeak and the door being bolted. He got to the door, and knocked softly with the softer part of his glove. The door opened just like the first time he visited Fluttershy, and she said, "Oh... H-hi, Reaper. Please, go away," She gasped, as if she forgot something, and then said, "If you want to..." Reaper could understand if she was upset, so it didn't bother him much. He said, "Now I know that you must all think that I am terrible for what I did to both you and Celestia, but..." Reaper trailed off, not knowing what to say to Fluttershy, but she piped up, saying, "Oh, no, no, no. We knew that you weren't you, we just came to the conclusion that you're a terrible person." Reaper did a double-take. This wasn't like Fluttershy at all, she was a nice pony, and she wouldn't want to cause any type of harm to anypony unless she thought it was good for them... Right? Fluttershy continued on through the door, oblivious to Reaper's mental thoughts, saying, "Although we all knew it. The six of us. I really hate to say it... but... um... I don't think you deserve to be in this town anymore. I'm sorry, Reaper. Sometimes... tough love is the best type of kindness." The door shut again, leaving a speechless Reaper to stand perplexed at the oaken door. It wan't until a certain Rainbow-hued pony crashed into him at full speed, and tried to pin him under her to pummel. As Reaper shook himself out of the stupor of incredulity, he noticed the Pegasus trying to pummel him while screaming out, "Why don't you leave here, you ass! You don't belong here!" The Pegasus was sent flying into the air as Reaper got up on his feet. As he staggered upright, still smarting from the buck to the chest he received, and wondered what to do with RD. She zoomed about, landing a few blows every sweep that she did. Reaper soon got into her rhythm and began adjusting his body to conform to the attacks that Rainbow was raining down upon him. After a good thirty minuets of fly-bys, Rainbow hovered out of arm's reach from Reaper. She was glaring not daggers, but full-sized long swords into him. He said, "Will you please explain just what the hell is everypony's major malfunction today?" Rainbow continued her glower as she said, "Why are you here at Fluttershy's? I thought you would have gotten the picture from her to leave." Reaper was feeling it, he was about to make something explode. His eyes twitched, and raw magical power collected around his fingers. When he spoke, Reaper's voice was dangerous, low, and full of un-restrained anger. he said, "You will tell me why the hell you ponies are acting like this. Now." Rainbow scoffed, and crossed her arms. She said, "Haven't we explained enough? We all figured you out; you are nothing than a monster that was dragged here by some stupid reason. You don't even deserve to live." Reaper was just about boiling at this point. He said, "Why are YOU doing this, RD? I thought you were the element of loyalty?" RD's eyes narrowed as she heard him say loyalty. She said, "Loyalty? I AM being loyal. Loyal to my friends. YOU are no friend, just a guy here that can do only one thing. Kill. THAT is why we all HATE you!" At the end of her speech, RD bull-rushed Reaper. Reaper was fed up with everything, so he caught her by the hoof as she whizzed by. The impact made the leaves from the nearby trees. If he grabbed anywhere other than RD's hooves, it would be shattered. Reaper flung RD into the air, and blasted her with a shock wave of force to knock her out. She ended up landing on a stray cloud. He wasn't even going to try and go to Rarity's, so he went to the librarian's tree-library. As he walked down the road, he mentally calmed and prepared himself for what was probably going to happen; Twilight would be snapped. One thing that really bothered him was that the other elements had all mentioned their certain aspect of harmony, while they had been distorted in every other part of their personalities had been warped with their interactions with Reaper. Reaper got to Twilight's front door, and reluctantly knocked on the front door. The door was opened by Spike, and when he saw who was at the door, he quickly slammed it straight on Reaper's face. Reaper decided it was best not to force himself in, and called through the door, "Hey spike? Open the door please. I'm... better than what happened to me before. I've come to apologize." The door was hesitantly opened, and the scaled head popped out. Spike looked him once over, and said, "Really? Because Twilight said that you looked and sounded different. You don't look any different from when you first came here." Reaper said, "That's because I'm all better now. Could you let me in, please?" Spike gave Reaper another once-over, and nodded his head. The door swung open fully, and Spike waved him in. He called out to Twilight, saying, "Twilight! Reaper's here! He said he wanted to say sorry!" Twilight's head popped out the doorway right next to the stair, and Reaper readied himself for a glower, but what he got was a smile. She said, "Reaper! Am I glad to see that you are yourself again!" Reaper was flabbergasted. He had expected nothing but negatives and palpable hate gushing forth from the unicorn smiling at him from a floor up, but he got regular old Twilight. He said, "Twilight! I am happy that you aren't like the other five. Have you talked to the other elements yet? I came to apologize, but they acted and talked funny. They all told me that I was a horrible person and didn't deserve to even be in this town..." Twilight's bright face quickly turned into a confused frown. She came down the flight of steps, and said, "Reaper, are you sure of what you are saying? I mean, this is a very serious accusation." Reaper nodded, and said, "AJ even bucked me and sicked Big Mac on me. RD rushed me after I was done talking to Fluttershy." Twilight sat on her rump as she thought about what happened. She said, "Did you notice anything... Strange about their coloring?" Reaper shook his head no, and said, "They all mentioned their embodiment of harmony, so I don't think that they have been discorded." Twilight let out a breath of relief. She said, "Well, perhaps they all are having a bad day, or..." Twilight was cut off by the sound of the Library's front door being torn off of it's hinges. A dark cloud rushed into the tree, and Reaper got up, saying, "OH, NOT THIS BULLSHIT AGAIN!" And began blasting everything he had into the cloud. It separated around Reaper, and grabbed twilight, levitating her and whisking her out of the tree. The door slammed, and when Reaper got to it, it was locked. He took out Chaoseater and began hammering away at it. A familiar voice snaked its way through his mind when Reaper was doing no perceivable harm to the wooden door. It said, Foolish boy... None will hinder my world domination! Reaper growled, and heard a commotion outside, a scream being rent out of Twilight. Reaper went to the side of the tree where he heard Twilight. Spike was already there, pounding away at the wall. Reaper pushed him away while saying, "Sorry about this spike." And placed his foot on the wall. As he strained all of his weight and strength at ripping a chunk out of the tree with his foot, Nightmare spoke up again, saying, You will never be able to save them, Reaper... Reaper screamed out, "DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM? I'M THE JUGGERNAUT, BITCH!" A burst of energy surged it's way through his leg, the wall completely tore off, sending the sizable hunk hurtling through the air. Reaper stepped outside, toting his LMG in his left hand, and Chaoseater in his right. Reaper couldn't resist the urge to scream out, "OHHHHHH YEEAHHHH!" As he blew up the chunk of wood that connected with the now prostrate form of what used to be Trixie. The powder-blue mare go up with a distortion of a mad smile, and cackled out, "Do you really think something as mundane as that could defeat me?" Without a response, Reaper toted his gun levelly at the mare's forehead. He emptied half of a magazine into her head dead-on and stopped. Trixie's head was cut completely in half. A small chuckle from the now-supposed-to-be-dead mare as the top half of her head floated back onto her skull, and attached itself. Reaper slung the carrying strap onto his shoulder as he rushed with Chaoseater. He grabbed a hold of Trixie's throat as he brained her -literally- with the flat of his blade. He then used a swift uppercut to slice her in half. Again, chuckling when there were no vocal chords, and the body stitched itself back together again. Nightmare-Trixie said, "Mmmm... My, my. This body has so much hatred in it, it doesn't want to quit. And you, Reaper. Seems that you've gotten even stronger than when we last met in the field of battle," The form of a purple unicorn in a fetal position hovered into view as Nightmare continued, "But... I need to take her. I've already met her other friends... But you already seen that, haven't you?" Reaper said, "NO. You will NOT be taking her!" He rushed again, every blade-stroke seemed to cut through smoke, dissipating the dust before it settled together again. He stuck Chaoseater inside of Trixie's chest and sent some of the pent-up rage into Trixie, making her explode into thousands of pieces. Yet again, her body drug itself back together. Reaper staggered back, in disbelief. Trixie let out another chortle, and teleported away. Reaper fell to his knees. He rested his head on the pommel of the blade until Spike knocked on the side of his helmet. He turned his head to find a sniffling baby dragon. Reaper used his arm to sweep Spike into a type of bear hug. When Spike recovered, he said, "What are we going to do, Reaper?" Reaper got up, Spike in arm, and held him in an arm's length. he said, "It's not what you are going to do; it's what I am going to do." Before Spike could question what he was talking about, he felt that same weightlessness from when he first teleported with Twilight, and then he saw the familiar architecture of the Royal palace. He could only blurt out a confused, "Whah...?" Before he saw a guardspony rushing towards both him and Reaper. Reaper nodded towards him, and said, "Steel-feather." Steel-feather saluted smartly, and said, "Is the situation dealt with, sir?" Reaper shook his head, and said, "No, unfortunately not. It is just the beginning. Do you remember Twilight, Steel?" The guardspony nodded, and Reaper said, "Then you must remember spike, her dragon. Show him to his room, and give him all of the accommodations he asks for. Is that clear?" Steel saluted, and motioned for Spike to go with him. Spike looked up at Reaper, and Reaper said, "Don't worry, Spike. I'll get Twilight back, even if I die." Spike nodded solemnly, and followed Steel to his room. Reaper muttered to himself after the retreating form of the baby dragon, "...I promise..." --- --- --- Reaper was sitting in the royal garden with Steel-feather, explaining what was going to happen in the next few days. "When Nightmare attacks, I want NO PONY outside with me. None. I do not want any of them to die for my own battle." The captain nodded his head. Reaper continued, "If I die, and Nightmare is victorious, then bow to her will. Again, there is no use for sending dead bodies against a force that has, and already won. If I die, and Nightmare does not win, then I want you to plan my burial. If Celestia get to earth, refer to her preference to the burial." Steel tilted his head to the side, and said, "Why would that be, Sir?" Reaper just shook his head, and said, "That's under Celestia's digression for why. She only has that liberty to tell you." Steel saluted sharply, and set off to hand out the orders. Reaper was sitting on a tree stump in the middle of a clearing in the royal orchard. This clearing had a perfect view of the sky. The sun was beginning to pull down on Reaper's body, telling him that it was time to begin the end of the day. He reached out to the pleasant ball of warmth, and pressed down on it. At the same time, he touched the moon. A pang of guilt wracked it's way through him as he remembered what he did to Luna. As he pulled up on the moon, he projected his own visage onto the surface of the moon. --- --- --- Luna was sitting by a crater, looking down at the moon. Her usual calm composure was there again, but a cloud of sadness seemed to seep out of her every pore. She felt an entity touch her moon. It felt familiar. She surveyed the area, and was rewarded by seeing a ghostly apparition of what looked like Reaper. As wispy strands of white trailed off of his form as he walked towards Luna, she was shocked to see him on her domain. He came up to her, and put a hand on her cheek, and said, with obvious sadness and affection, "I... I am so sorry for what I did to you, Luna. I hope you can forgive me." Luna began to shed tears of happiness, and hugged Reaper. As they embraced, Reaper softly said into her ear, "I guess I could take that as an apology. But Luna, don't be sad. If friendship is two souls living on one body, then family is a collective of every soul living in every heart. We are family; never forget who we are, never forget where we are, and never forget why we are. Remember this. You are NEVER alone." Luna continued to hug Reaper, feeling his warmth heat her body, cold from the harsh, inhospitable surface of the moon. When she felt the warmth engulf her body completely, she opened her eyes, and released Reaper. When she took a step back, she saw that he was gone. Instead of feeling cold and alone, Luna smiled, and the warmth she received from her nephew stayed with her, reminding that she wasn't alone in this world. --- --- --- Reaper looked at the sunset, hoping that Luna would be okay after he went to see her. As the sun went halfway, bringing out more majestic colors of the death of a day, he heard nightmare. Hello, Reaper. I hope you are enjoying this sunset of yours, because It's the last you'll, or anypony else will ever get to see. Meet me in the everfree forest, the clearing you woke up in. There, one will rise, and one will fall. Reaper didn't even react; he embraced it. War decided to speak up. DO YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT AND WHY CELESTIA SENT YOU TO THE EARTH? Reaper nodded his head, and War understood. THEN YOU ARE READY.