Reaper: Grand Charade

by Ise no Kami

Reaper

As the flames died down around Shimmer and her demonic captor, she found herself in the middle of a large plain. To her right, the familiar sight of Canterlot's towering buildings loomed in the distance. To the left, and behind, tall mountains hung over the horizon. All of these landmarks were miles away from where they stood. As good a place as any to bring her.

"Don't you worry, my queen," Baphomet told her in a sickening tone. "Soon you'll see things my way, and we can rule over this world together."

Shimmer managed to break free of his grasp, but she didn't run. In this vast expanse, the demon had every advantage over her, so running was clearly pointless? And what were her fire powers supposed to do to a fire demon? All she could really do was stall, and maybe figure out what was even happening.

"Why are you calling me 'queen'?" she asked first. "What do you even want with me?"

Baphomet smiled. "I have seen your past, my dear Sunset," he replied. "On my way out of the fires of Hell, I saw you within them, with my form, asserting your dominance over all around you. You...you were perfect. You ARE perfect. You are the only one worthy of sharing my glory when this pathetic world burns!"

Shimmer stepped back, horrified. "That...that's far behind me," she explained. "I am not that person anymore, and I'm never going to go back to that! Sorry to disappoint you, but I'm not who you think I am!"

"I had a feeling," Baphomet answered. He opened his claw, and ominous dark red energy emanated from it. The sight terrified Shimmer, disturbed some core part of her, causing her to step back further. "Still, you did follow that dark path once. And if you've been there once, I can take you back. So just sit back and relax. I'll bring that side back, and then we can burn this world...together."

He started approaching her, and she started backing away, faster and faster, until she finally turned and ran. Odds be damned, she needed to run, to get away. Of course, this didn't quite go well. Baphomet rushed forward, his wings carrying him much faster than Shimmer could possibly run. At the last second, however, Shimmer turned back to her assailant in fear, twisting her body just right in the process to narrowly avoid the dark claw. Baphomet sped past, his right side brushing against Shimmer's body, her hand...

The two stopped in place, and Shimmer's mind exploded as her telepathy touch activated. What she felt, what she saw, none of it was anywhere near as coherent as other memories she'd seen. She saw Charade standing over a human Baphomet, conducting his wicked experiments on the poor boy. Then, when the magic was injected, the whole vision fell apart. Her vision was filled with flame, and an intense, unbearable pain shot through her, a horrifying effect of the experiment. She could feel the agony break Baphomet's mind, and struggled to keep it from breaking hers. His thoughts, his feelings, both physical and emotional, degenerated into a garbled mess, shredding Shimmer's sanity as she tried to comprehend it all. All she could make out was a continuous feeling of torment, of despair...and then of anger and malice. Burn. The world needs to burn. That one thought echoed throughout Baphomet's mind, to the point where everything else, even the reasons behind his destructive impulse, was forgotten.

Finally, the touch set her free, and she collapsed on the ground. Baphomet was also freed from stasis, and he turned to his captive. She couldn't run anymore, couldn't even move. Her eyes flooded tears as she tried to rationalize everything she had just seen and felt. "I...I'm so sorry..." she mustered.

Baphomet recharged his claw, and approached her. "Don't cry," he "reassured" her. "Soon you will be able to ease my pain..." He held up his claw, ready to thrust it into her...

Both of them were shocked into silence, into a near catatonic state in Shimmer's case, when an azure bolt cut through the air between them. "I gotta stop running into you," Daniel taunted, having arrived on the scene while the two were incapacitated.

Baphomet turned to face him, knowing he would not get his desire while the reaper standing over him. "Why? Why won't you leave me alone!?"

"Call it fate, I guess," Daniel shrugged in reply. "Clearly we keep meeting because the world needs you dead."

Baphomet snapped, rushing forward and snatching Daniel in his claw. "How dare you!" he screamed. "Who do you think you are to decide who lives and who dies!? Why should I die after all that has been taken from me!?"

Daniel just gave him a flat look. "Dude, we've been through this." He generated astral mist around himself, breaking free of the demon's grasp. "I am Death. Of course I get to decide who lives and who dies. That's my #@$#ing job." He summoned his scythe, and prepared for battle.

Is that so? Luna wondered within his mind. Daniel shrugged the question off and rushed forward.

His swing was stopped as Baphomet grabbed the curved blade. He summoned forth hellfire from the ground to incinerate the reaper, but he blew forth astral mist from his feet, protecting him from the flames somewhat and using the updraft to propel him into the air. He landed a few feet away, and sent forth an astral tendril. It wrapped around his scythe, still held by the blade in Baphomet's claw, and pulled it back to him, slicing through the claw. Baphomet howled in pain, his whole body erupting in flame as the pain turned to anger. He rushed for the reaper, hoping to immolate him. Daniel waited for him to get close, then sent forth astral spikes to pierce his flesh, followed by a strong swing to finish him off when his body tumbled over. Except, while all these attacks landed, none of them staggered the demon, or even slowed him down. Daniel plunged his scythe right into Baphomet's shoulder, only to be run over by his flaming charge.

Irritated, Daniel let out another blast of astral mist to break free, only for Baphomet to blast him with fire as he leapt away. He fell to the ground, charred and beaten, but still very conscious. He turned back to his adversary. The demon was clearly wounded, the holes burning with white hot flame instead of leaking blood, but Baphomet seemed completely unfazed. He fired off more astral spikes, this time keeping them in place as they held the demon down.

It was at this point that Shimmer finally came to her senses. The demon that wished to destroy the world, who had tried to erase all the progress she had made...was about to be destroyed by someone who had no idea what he had been through, and no intention of saving the person he once was. He could have been saved by the power of friendship, but now the monster would die to one of his own.

Except that wasn't really happening. Even Shimmer noticed that Baphomet was taking far more damage than any normal person would be able to, and throwing just as much back at Daniel, with just as limited success. Could his demon form really make him that strong?

"Why won't you die?" Daniel asked, more irritated than anything.

"I thought I told you," Baphomet explained. "The depths of hell cannot hold me! The power I've been given has allowed me to live forever! I am a god, and I will shape this world in my own image!"

"Is that so?" Daniel replied. He hadn't seen the same vision as Shimmer, but he was starting to put the pieces together. As he did, Baphomet rushed him one last time, intending to finally slay this nuisance...

He stopped in place as his body went cold. He looked down, and saw Daniel's arm stuck in his chest, black and red energy emanating from the point of impact.

"For what it's worth, I'm sorry," Daniel told him. "I do feel bad for you. Charade stole not only your life, but your afterlife as well. Still, the fact remains that the monster he has turned you into cannot be allowed to exist, to wreak havoc on the world. I do wish I could save you..." He pulled his arm from Baphomet's chest. The black and red energy still poured out of the hole, and dark purple energy, more similar to the Tantabus than astral mist, formed in the air around his body. In Daniel's hand was a yellow glowing orb, the demon's soul. "...but all I can do is offer you oblivion."

He crushed the soul, and Baphomet's body disintegrated into that purple energy and disappeared.

Daniel disappeared his scythe, and walked over to Shimmer, still sitting on the ground. "Why...?" she asked. "Why did he NEED to die?"

Daniel looked down at her with a solemn face. "You wanted to use the 'power of friendship,' huh?" he noted. "I get what you mean, but you're just being naive. Don't get me wrong, trying to find a peaceful option is very noble of you and your friends. But you have to understand..."

...and I'm afraid this goes for you too... he mentioned to Luna.

"...this isn't a normal day for you. You're not fighting some cliche villain. You're in my world now, a world of violence and strife. You CAN'T take the peaceful option. That's the choice that kills people. You let the people I've faced live, even in any sort of prison, and they WILL cause more suffering. In my world, you fight to kill."

Shimmer went quiet at this, astonished. "What kind of world have you been living in to make you think that way?" she asked.

Daniel turned away, turning his eyes toward the city in the distance. "One as far removed from your peaceful little world as possible," he replied.

Shimmer paused for a long while, before finally getting up. "If that's really how you see things," she began, "then I need you to do me a favor: don't you dare hurt Azrael."

Daniel turned back quickly, surprised. "I'm sorry, did you just ask me to spare the guy who tricked your friends and cut me open?"

"He didn't know who he was at the time," Shimmer rebutted. "He's not the same person we met a month ago."

Daniel stared her down real hard, trying to figure out why she would have a complete 180 on her feelings toward the white alicorn. Then...he gave her a cocky smile, apparently finding what he was looking for. "Heh, alright," he agreed. "I'll let him live. He's looking for you, isn't he?" Shimmer nodded. "Alright then, gimme a sec."

Daniel closed his eyes, and a faint white light glowed around him. Shimmer wasn't quite sure what was happening, but it seemed that the grim reaper would not be able to respond to her in this state.

---

Azrael was floating in a vast empty abyss. Having been knocked unconscious, his dreamscape hadn't had time to form a tangible landscape for him to traverse. All he could do was float there, ruminate on his failure, until his mind brought some sort of structure to his dream, or he returned to the waking world.

"Geez, is that the best you can do? You really need to redecorate."

Azrael turned around in his empty space, to see Daniel standing there in the abyss. "H-how...?" Azrael wondered.

"Dreamwalking," Daniel explained. "A little trick I learned from...a friend of mine." As if on cue, Luna appeared at his side in the void, raising so many questions that Daniel wasn't going to answer. Instead, he started his message. "Thought I'd drop by and say your girlfriend's safe."

"She's not my-" Azrael stopped himself, let out a chuckle, and flashed the grim reaper an irritated smile. "You really are a grade A douchebag, aren't you?"

"Pretty much," Daniel agreed. "Not exactly done here. Apparently, Charade wants to get back to that magic pool to power up his dear daughter now that the cap's been lifted. Thing is, those agents built a base on top of it."

"That so?" Azrael noted. "Looks like we're headed there as well. Those feds took some people they really shouldn't have."

"How convenient," Daniel laughed. "Makes things so much easier for you. I'll be bringing Shimmer with me to the base. You want her back, just keep doing what you were doing."

Azrael flashed him another smile in agreement, but Daniel raised his hand, indicating there was still unfinished business. "Your girlfriend made me promise not to kill you, but we still have a score to settle. Gotta pay you back for that nasty gash you gave me back in Canterlot." Luna was apalled, but Azrael was curious. "When we meet tomorrow, why don't we see who's stronger?"

"Why?" Luna wondered. "Why do you need to fight an ally?"

"Eh, let him have this," Azrael told the blue horse, his cocky smile fixed on his face. "Even I can tell how this guy thinks. He needs this fight. Why not give it to him?" They walked forward and clasped hands, as the dreamscape faded away. Azrael awoke, and Daniel returned to his body.

"Come along, miss," he told Shimmer. "I'm taking you to your friends."

"Really?" she wondered. "Where are they?"

"The question is, where WILL they be?" he corrected. "The answer...the place where we can all finally bring this to an end."

Author's Note:

The more I write this, the more I think I've just turned Shimmer into a plot device. Whoops.