//------------------------------// // Fuck'n Forest Fae are Feisty // Story: The Truth about Reapers // by MineLittleDashie //------------------------------// "-rge!.....George!....George!.....George!!" I started, waking at the sound of Fluttershy's voice. Almost instinctively, I looked around and was bewildered to find myself in my host's bed....and my arms and legs were chained to the bedposts? "Oh thank goodness!" The voice drew my attention to one side of the room where Fluttershy, Twilight, and Rainbow Dash stood; all with relieved, yet also worried looks. Seeing three familiar faces, I began to calm, allowing my heart-rate to return to normal. Having achieved that, I raised an eyebrow. "You could've at least taken me to dinner first." Twilight blushed embarrassingly, and Fluttershy squeaked, hiding behind her mane. Rainbow Dash, however, growled and got up in my face. "You think it's funny, punk? You scare Fluttershy like that, then make a joke when you finally wake up?!" I immediately sobered up and adjusted my gaze to Twilight. "What happened?" Twilight walked over and began to undo the cuffs with her magic. "I'm not sure. Fluttershy burst into the library earlier this morning and said you were having a seizure and needed help, so I dropped everything and rushed over. We got Rainbow to help restrain you while we got you into Fluttershy's bed, but shortly after that the seizures stopped. We've been trying to wake you up ever since. And before you make any more lewd jokes, the chains were to keep you from hurting yourself." I sat up and twisted my body so that my legs were hanging off the bed and my feet touching the floor. "I apologize girls, It's a condition I have. It doesn't happen very often, but when it does it shouldn't last very long." To be fair, I was telling the truth. It's another little 'safety' measure every reaper has. It's a way of alerting other reapers if someone or something is attempting to invade our consciousness via our dreams or some other mental pathway. I'm guessing it started when Luna invaded my dreams. Twilight cocked her head at me. "Are you sure you're alright?" "Perfectly." I stood up, using the normal action as backup to my claim. "Though I must thank you girls for caring about my well-being. I admit that there was every chance that one of us could've ended up getting hurt." "You're quite welc- where are you going?!" Twilight cried out as I proceeded to leave the room and descend the stairs. "Out. I have some business to take care of." I replied. "B-but, after what just happened?" Fluttershy flew around until she was eye level with me. I stopped and smiled sweetly. "Fluttershy, I assure you I am okay. Though if you want to come with me, to make sure nothing bad happens, that's fine." "Oh, okay." Fluttershy moved out of my way, and I proceed down to the first floor. Where are you going?" "Well, first I have to check my supplies." I gestured to my suitcase, which was still sitting by the armchair. "Possibly go to the market if I need anything, but ultimately I'm going into the forest." There's a flash of yellow and Fluttershy once again blocked my path. "T-The E-E-Everfree Forest? Why in Equestria would you ever need to go there?" "Nothing dangerous, I assure you." "Fluttershy's right to be worried," Twilight said as she descended the stairs behind us. I sighed and rolled my eyes before turning to address the purple alicorn. "I know that, but this can't wait." "Monster hunting business?" "Not so much hunting a monster so much as hunting for something, but yes." "Might I come with you? That way, Fluttershy won't have to be scared about entering the Everfree, and we can keep an eye on you just in case." "Sure, why not," I growled. Seriously, why are these ponies so insistent on helping others. Hm, maybe I shouldn't talk. "Perfect!" Twilight squealed, and I can't help but think that maybe she's a little too excited about this. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A Couple of Hours Later After checking my suitcase, I had discovered that there a few materials that I was missing. So Twilight and I had hit the market, which turned out to have the majority of things that I needed. Granted they were pretty common things, like kite string, nails, and bookmarks. The only thing they were missing was scented candles, the lack of which would make this task harder than I would like. So I settled for lilac-scented bath soap instead. After gathering these last few things, the alicorn and I returned to Fluttershy's cottage, packed up the rest of my supplies in a bag, then entered the Everfree Forest. We had gone about thirty minutes in when I signaled Twilight to stop. Peering through the bushes ahead of us, I spied a small pool of water. 'Perfect.' "Stay here and don't move." I whispered to Twilight, then silently crept over to the pool. Arriving at the edge of the water, I reached into my bag and pulled out a large wooden bowl, followed by the soap and a small bottle of something grey. I placed the soap in the bowl and pulling out the stopper, carefully poured a small amount of the grey substance over the soap. A foul stench began to rise from the mixture and I gently slipped the bowl and its contents into the water. I gave the bowl a gentle push that sent the object floating into the center of the pool. As the bowl floated away, I pulled a lighter out of my coat pocket, and barely able to reach the floating mass, touched the flame to the mixture within. I immediately pulled back as the grey substance burst into a blue flame. I hustled back to the bushed and crouched down next to Twilight. "What wa-?...!" My hand snapped up and closed around the alicorn's muzzle, cutting off her question. She glared at me, but stopped when she noticed my expression. Quietly, she turned her head to watch the pool of water, and I removed my hand. We must have sat there about 10 minutes, never moving an inch. At about 4 minutes in, the scent of lilac began to drift throughout the forest, carried by the barely visible smoke from the fire. I had no idea if this would work, or if it did, if I would get the results I wanted. Finally, my attention was drawn to a glimmer of movement among the trees. A small light appeared to our left, then another from the north of the pool. Gradually, more and more lights began to appear, all of them floating towards the flame and the source of the sweet scent. My hand began to move, slowly, a centimeter every 3 seconds, towards my bag and pulled out a long, thin tube of wood, along with a couple of tiny green darts. I loaded one and slowly raised one end of the tube to my mouth. The lights got closer to the bowl, until the majority of them were hovering over the pool. They floated there for a few minutes, then one of them dropped and alighted itself on the edge of the bowl. It was at that moment that I struck. I blew through the tube, launching one of the darts. It struck like a snake and one of the still floating lights dropped into the water. The rest of the lights scattered, making for the safety of the trees. Well, most of them. The one that had landed on the bowl, had attempted to take off, but it's sudden movement had caused the bowl to tip slightly, causing the light to lose its balance and fall into the water as well. I was up and bounding towards the pool the second the first light went down. I arrived just after the second one was submerged, and reached into my bag, removing a couple of clay jars lined with runes. Setting the jars onto the ground, I jabbed my hand into the pool and felt a small form. Immediately, I retracted my hand lightly tossing the figure into one of the jars, closed the lid, and watched the runes light up. The process was repeated, with the recovery of a second tiny form, and the sealing of the second jar. As I stuffed the jars back into the bag, I heard a commotion behind me and Twilight rushed out of the bushes. "What, what happened? What were those?" She was understandably confused. The moment from when the first dart had been fired to the sealing of the second jar had covered a span of 4 seconds. It could only be accomplished by someone with extreme reflexes, and followed only by someone who had been exposed to those with such reflexes for a long period of time. And right now, even Twilight's genius-level intellect was struggling to keep up. I would've answered her question, but I was distracted by a loud buzzing. "RUN!!!" I yelled, swinging my bag over one shoulder and scooping Twilight into my other arm. What followed was a period of running, extremely loud buzzing, and Twilight screaming every time I jumped over an obstacle or anytime the swarm got too close. Eventually we burst through the edge of the forest, but my speed didn't slow for a second. We, well...I, continued running until the buzzing sound could no longer be heard. I slowed and looked around. We were within sight of Fluttershy's cottage, so I sat Twilight down, removed my bag, and flopped down into the grass, breathing heavily. "Oh....(pant)....Gods....(pant)....(heh).......it's been too long since I've had to do that....(wheeze)." "WHAT WAS THAT?! WHAT HAPPENED?!" Twilight shrieked. I glanced over at my companion and found her lying on her back with her legs straight in the air, like one of those fainting goats. Her mane also looked disheveled and she was staring at me with huge eyes filled with fear and confusion. "Forest fae," I said, having finally caught my breath. "Nasty little buggers." I sat up and clasped a hand to my back as dots of pain erupted in that area. "Ah, looks like some of them got me. Well, I'll have to take a look at that later today. Speaking of which, Twilight...." I looked over at the purple alicorn and found her unconscious. Nothing bad, I assume her brain couldn't keep up with today's event and shut down for a while. After checking Twilight over for any wounds, (which she didn't), I picked up both her and the bag and proceeded towards the cottage, where food, hot baths, and some rest awaited the two of us. I would take care of my two 'guests' later.