//------------------------------// // Unease // Story: Reaper: Requiem's Reflection // by Ise no Kami //------------------------------// Leaving Rainbow to mourn within Scootaloo's dreamscape, Daniel quietly left the hospital room along with the other ponies. Sombra stepped out of the nearby shadows, suddenly becoming visible as he entered the light. With just a look, each of the ponies told the king of darkness the tragic condition of the pegasi in that room. He bowed his head, saddened by the news. After a long pause, Daniel decided they'd mourned enough for now, and decided to change the subject. "This place seems kinda dull if you ask me," he blurted out bluntly. "I mean, it's called 'the Crystal Empire.' Everything should be bright and shiny, right?" Twilight raised her head to reproach him...but then she saw what he meant. Compared to the bright and colorful Crystal Empire she remembered, the crystals here seemed slightly duller, darker. It was clear the crystal ponies' spirits weren't high enough to maintain the gems' luster. If the empire get too dark...if the ponies didn't have enough hope and cheer to activate the Crystal Heart...then all of this would be for naught. "We should all have a chat with Cadence," Twilight suggested, throwing the first move that came to her out into the open. "She needs to know what's going on." "Cadence?" Daniel asked. "Why, none other than Princess Cadence, ruler of the Crystal Empire, my dear," Rarity answered. "And such a lovely place she rules over, too." "And she's Twily's sister-in-law!" Pinkie burst out. "Oh my gosh, this is gonna be so much fun! I better go plan the "Happy-Reunion-slash-Thanks-for-Protecting-Everypony" party!" And with that, she bounced away, without a care in the world. Daniel just stared blankly at the pink pony. "Uh, she does realize the crap that's going on, right?" "Ooh, almost forgot!" Pinkie's head popped out from under a nearby plant, causing Daniel's brain to smoke as he wondered how she got there and how she fit in that pot. "I never gave you a welcome party! Oh no, so much planning to do, and the story might be over by then!" She bounced all over the hall, legitimately distressed by this turn of events. "Uh, story?" Daniel asked. Not that he had the brainpower to do much else. "Oh well," Pinkie blurted out, suddenly reverting back to full happy mode. "I'll just have to plan it all out by the end of the chapter." She bounced up to Daniel's eye level when telling him this, before once again bounding off down the hall, until she vanished from sight. "WHAT!?" Daniel screamed after Pinkie had left, his brain practically shutting down. "That's jus' Pinkie bein' Pinkie," Applejack informed him. "Don't question it. Much easier that way." The tip came a bit late. Daniel was already curled up on the floor, his mind burning as it tried in vain to comprehend what had just happened. "Alright, that's enough," Twilight told him, grabbing his convulsing body with her magic. "I need you functioning when we talk to Cadence." She got only a pained moan back in reply. She rolled her eyes, and started heading to the Crystal Palace, dragging Daniel behind her the whole way. As Twilight made her way to the Crystal Palace, the dullness Daniel had noticed became more and more apparent. The green sky above made the Empire look darker already, but it was clear that the bright blues and pinks of the crystal structures had indeed been dimmed considerably. As she reached the palace, she looked up at the giant statue the crystal ponies had made of Spike. Oh, Spike.... As if his fate wasn't sad enough, his statue appeared to have been hit the hardest, its blue color dulled so much that it was practically gray. Things were far worse than she had first realized. She hurried into the palace, hoping her sister-in-law could help fix things. She quickly began to question that hope, however. The inside of the Crystal Palace had fared no better than the city outside. As she passed by the palace guards, she could see the unease in their eyes, and was even more worried when she noticed she was unnerving them further. Maybe it was because she was dragging an incapacitated alien being behind her...or maybe it was because of the way she had...changed. Hesitantly, she made her way into the throne room. Cadence spotted her immediately from her throne, as did her brother, Shining Armor. The princess of love launched herself from her throne to greet her dear friend, but stopped as she got a better look. She was left speechless at the sight of Twilight's lifeless eyes and dull reddish-purple coat. "T...Twilight?" She asked, stunned and confused. "Is...is that really you?" Shining Armor was rendered completely speechless at the sight. "Of course it's me," Twilight told her. To prove it, she immediately put down Daniel, who was still behind the door, and began their secret hoofshake. "Sunshine, sunshine, ladybugs awake. Clap your hooves and do a little shake!" That was all Cadence needed, and the two sisters-in-law embraced. This time, Shining Armor joined in on the family hug. "What. The hell. Was that?" Daniel walked in on the touching moment, apparently having come to his senses when his skull hit the floor. "Oh, Daniel, you're awake," Twilight noticed. "I'd like you to meet Princess Cadence, the princess of love, and my brother, Shining Armor. Cadence, Shining, Daniel." "Damn, you've got serious connections," Daniel noted. "Twily...what happened to you?" Shining Armor asked his sister in concern. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Daniel look away, ashamed. He turned to the human, and pinned him to the wall with his magic. "What did you do to my sister!?" "Calm down, Shining!" Cadence pleaded, surprised at the sudden change in tone. "No, it's okay," Daniel told her. "I...I failed to protect her." He recounted Twilight's gruesome fate on the frozen mountains of the other world, at least from his perspective. Shining removed his grip in shock. "Don't worry, I'm fine," Twilight reassured her family. Even as she said this, though, she suddenly realized that she had forgotten about her mutilation. For all she knew, she wasn't fine, and never would be again. "So, uh, should a safe haven really be this dark?" Daniel asked. "I mean, the place is only safe so long as everypony feels safe, right?" Cadence and Shining Armor went somber. "The crystals' luster is a reflection of our ponies' spirits," Cadence told him. "As you can see, we're having trouble keeping them up. Even under the protection of the Crystal Heart, they're still terrified of the monsters outside. Ponies have begun to disappear into thin air, too, only to be replaced by other ponies. I think these poor ponies are finding tears in the boundary between the two worlds, and are drifting over to the other side. And every time they do, everypony just gets more and more anxious." "We can definitely shelter these ponies for now," Shining Armor continued, "but at this rate, the Crystal Heart will only be active for so much longer. We need to find some way to stop this disaster as soon as possible." "And you believe such a solution exists?" The royal couple nearly jumped out of their skins as Sombra materialized from the shadows. "Oh yeah, forgot to mention him," Twilight apologized. "This is the other world's Sombra. Don't worry, he's on our side." "Unfortunately, he has a point," Daniel told them. "You don't seem to realize just how screwed we all are. If this is our last bastion, it might be time to throw in the towel." "How dare you," Shining warned. "You think I want this world to end?" Daniel asked the prince. "I want to save this world just as much as you do! It's just...I think we're out of options. We just...sit here and wait to die." "No." Everyone in the room turned toward Twilight, who stood with her head held high and a look of grim determination on her face. "This world has been my home all my life. I refuse to just give up and die along with it! There has to be a way to fix all of this! We just have to buckle down and find it!" Everypony's faces lit up as her speech filled them with hope. The room got slightly brighter as well. Daniel's demeanor, however, hadn't changed. The three royal ponies left to search for a solution, leaving Twilight in the room with Daniel. "Thanks for giving them hope," he told the dull red mare, "but I doubt they'll find anything. Not before this world ends, at least." "We have to try," Twilight rebutted. "I can't just let everypony die." "I get where you're coming from." Turning away, Daniel pulled out the mirror Luna had given him, and stared blankly into it. Luna... I'm happy I met you...but you should have let me die. Deep in the cellar of a crystal building, Pinkie was busy baking cake after cake for the massive three-in-one party she was planning. After all, all of Equestria was probably going to be there, and she needed to feed everypony. She giggled to herself as Gummy latched onto her tail. There was no way she was just gonna leave her little alligator friend behind. "Are you excited, Gummy?" she asked, only to get the usual blank stare in reply. "I sure am! This'll be the greatest party EVER!" Just then, she stopped what she was doing as her Pinkie sense started acting up. Her ears started flopping, followed by a tingle-no, a burst of pain down her spine, followed by some force causing her legs to give way beneath her. The combo ended with a massive sneeze that left her nostrils burning. "Not sure what that combo is, Gummy," Pinkie told her scaly friend, looking him straight in his blank eyes, "but I don't like it." Just then, her tail began twitching, signalling the fall of her mixing bowl, covering her head in batter. She rolled her eyes before licking it all up in one great motion of her tongue. "Oh well, guess we'll find out soon enough."