//------------------------------// // Blurred Lines // Story: Reaper: Grand Charade // by Ise no Kami //------------------------------// Nothing had really changed for Trixie. Her convoy still went who knows where, with no windows to illuminate the darkness within the truck, or to give here even the smallest view of the world outside. Now, however, her chains were made of dark magic that couldn't be frozen and shattered. At least now she had Rainbow to keep her company... Suddenly, the convoy came to a halt. The truck shook imperceptibly as the driver got out...and a few seconds later, the back doors opened. Trixie and Rainbow shielded their eyes from the blinding daylight outside. As their eyes adjusted, they saw Thatch standing over them, with a faint but twisted smile on his face. "I have a proposition for you," he told them. "You see, there's a certain threat here in Baltimare who's been giving our agents trouble. Much like you two, we need to contain this threat as soon as possible. However..." He snapped his fingers, and the dark shackles around Trixie and Rainbow vanished. "If you help us catch this person, and a few more down the line, we'll go easy on you. We'll have to keep tabs on you, of course, but you'll get to have your lives. So what do you say? Ready for a little hunt?" Trixie and Rainbow looked at each other for a second, before nodding simultaneously in response. "Good," Thatch replied. "Just for the record, if you do try to attack or break free, this deal's off." The agent backed out of the truck, gesturing for the girls to follow suit. They found themselves just on the edge of Baltimare, the large city looming above them. With another simple gesture, Thatch ushered them into the city. As they walked through the streets, the entire crowd around them gave them weird looks. Clearly news had traveled far...and it cast them in a bad light. To these people-to the world, probably-these girls would always be outcasts. Rainbow realized this, and immediately regretted the deal she made. She and Trixie could live their lives... Yeah right. What lives? This incident had permanently erased any hope they had to live their lives normally; no matter what they did to change things, people would always fear them. She looked to Trixie. Her egotistical bravado was starting to show, but clearly she was breaking down inside... Suddenly, a loud crash echoed through a nearby alley, and the whole crowd fled in panic. Startled, the girls looked toward the alley to find an agent pressed against a wall by a massive stalagmite, unharmed but trapped. Realizing they had found the threat, they rushed down the alleyway, squeezed past the stalagmite... ...and found a rather frightened Applejack. Before Rainbow could even respond to her friend, Thatch followed them around the corner, that smile still stretched across his face. "Good job so far," he commended them, "but I didn't just need you to find her. Bring her in." "Rainbow, don't do this..." Applejack pleaded, starting to feel betrayed. "What, you think I would!?" Rainbow yelled, her anger exploding. She turned around to send who knows how many volts right into Thatch's chest... A look of utter astonishment fell across her face as the dark chains formed around her once more. Yet her recapture was not what had shocked her so. No, as she turned to attack Thatch, she saw Trixie, just as much a nervous wreck as Applejack, complying with the agent. She held out her hand, and a wall of ice formed around Applejack's legs, trapping her in place. "Sugarcube...why?" Applejack asked in horror. Trixie simply collapsed in response. Why did she capture Applejack? She didn't really know. Ever since all this chaos started, her life had gone down the tubes. She had wanted adoration, but now the world saw her as nothing but a monster. She...she just wanted her life back... "That's a good girl," Thatch congratulated her, before turning his gaze to Rainbow. "You, on the other hand, broke our deal. It appears we'll have to contain you...indefinitely." "Yeah, no. Not happening." Suddenly, Azrael dropped down from the sky, bringing down one of his blades on the dark chains ensnaring Rainbow. The moment the steel hit the shackles, they vanished. Meanwhile, Shimmer climbed her way down from the rooftops, and carefully melted Applejack out of the ice. Azrael turned to Thatch. "You're really going to lock these poor people up, when they've done nothing wrong?" he asked. "Since when does that fly?" He rushed toward the agent, blade before him... Suddenly, a barrier of light formed in front of him, blocking his path. It broke immediately upon contact with his sword, but that contact cost him his momentum. "Getting a bit ahead of ourselves, aren't we?" Lockheart mocked as she appeared behind Thatch. Thatch turned away and scoffed. "What, do I need a babysitter now?" he asked. "I think I can handle this just fine." Lockheart didn't even acknowledge his comment. "Get that girl back to the convoy," she ordered, motioning to the broken Trixie. "I'll take care of this." Thatch was quite visibly annoyed...but then his face broke into a sly grin. "You know what, sure. You wanna take this guy on, go right ahead. You're the boss, after all." He reached over and grabbed Trixie's wrist. In her shock, she jumped back in panic and fear, or as close as she could get to jumping while kneeling on the ground. "Sorry sweetie, but we gotta go now," Thatch told her as he ushered her out of the alley. Azrael rushed after them, but Lockheart raised another barrier in his face. He got the message, and stared Lockheart down hard as he broke the barrier in a single sword swing. "Mind if I ask you a question?" he requested, only to be met with silence. He took this as a yes. "Why? Why are you people so hell bent on eliminating magic?" "Tell me, have you seen what magic has done to this world?" she asked in reply. "I know for sure the girls with you have. Several times now, the magic that has leaked in from that other world has only brought chaos and destruction, small and short lived as it has been until now." "That's completely unfair!" Shimmer argued. "Not all magic is like that. The magic of friendship we possess has done a lot of good, too!" "Right, your power," Lockheart mentioned. "You say your magic is good, but we've only ever seen it take out those who have abused magic in the past. You know what that tells us? The only way to counter the other world's magic is with more magic. In that case, we can't afford to allow such power in this world at all, not unless we can control and regulate its use." Azrael let out a short, sickening laugh. "Really now. I think it's a bit late for that, wouldn't you say? Magic has spread all over the world. It's not just an unwelcome force anymore; it is a part of this world. Are you still going to stand there and tell me you can contain all of it? And how low are you willing to stoop to try?" He raised a blade to her face. "How many people will you hurt for the sake of 'defense'?" Lockheart immediately brandished her handgun right back. "I could ask you the same thing. You think people shouldn't get hurt for the sake of security, but if that's the case, what are your blades for? A pacifist defense only delays the inevitable. In order to truly keep people safe, you must attack the aggressor. If you're honestly naive enough to think otherwise, you have no business holding a weapon." With that, Lockheart fired. Azrael, expecting this, strafed right just in time. The bullet whizzed right by his head, passed Shimmer, and hit the brick wall behind them. He took this opportunity to blast Lockheart with white magic, blowing her through the corner of the nearby building and back into the street. Miraculously, she got up nearly unscathed. By the time she did, however, Azrael and the three girls had followed her into the street. Rainbow Dash came out first, and immediately shot off a bolt of lightning at the agent. It came too late, as Lockheart had collected herself enough to raise a barrier and block it. She then used her power to form a spear made of light, which she shot out at Rainbow at an insane speed. Though she might have been able to dodge the spear, it wasn't necessary; Applejack raised the earth in front of her, making a shield of her own. Before Lockheart could react, Azrael rushed in and once again broke her shield with one swing. He then jumped up into the air, allowing Shimmer to throw in a fireball while the shield was down. The blast singed her, and knocked her to the ground. Azrael jumped back down, and stuck a sword in her face. "Let me ask one of my questions again," he requested. "After all that, after seeing how little you stack up to a combined force, do you still think you can capture every single magic user in our new world?" "...if you're going to kill me, do it," Lockheart told him, ignoring his question. Azrael withdrew his katana. "Why would I do that?" he asked. "What you're doing is wrong, but you don't deserve to die for doing what you thought was right. Just stop chasing people down, and we'll be fine." "So you would show me mercy," she noted. Azrael simply nodded, a soft smile on his face. The girls followed suit, Applejack even tipping her hat. "That was a mistake." Suddenly, light spears appeared from nowhere and pierced the girls, Rainbow in her leg, and Shimmer in her stomach. Rainbow fell to the ground, swearing from the intense pain. Shimmer went silent from the shock, then collapsed. Lockheart picked herself up, clearly not as hurt as one would expect after taking a fireball to the chest. "Searching for peace is admirable," Lockheart began, "but also naive and idealistic. Those who seek to do us harm won't simply shake hands and be our friends after a defeat. If you let your enemies go, they will stab you in the back. All I've done was demonstrate this." "Bull@#$#!" Azrael yelled, slashing at her. Lockheart jumped back, and fired back a series of light spears. Azrael kept slashing, and the spears disappeared the second they touched his blades. However, while he was busy with those, Lockheart pulled out her handgun, and fired. She hit him square in the right side of the chest, knocking him back. Though the wound was clearly an issue, he responded to the pain with anger rather than shock. He dropped his right hand katana, held his arm out, and focused a powerful magic blast. Lockheart responded by raising a barrier, and it completely absorbed the attack. He had broken all her barriers before, but this one held. "As I thought," Lockheart noted, a smug smile on her face. Suddenly, a painful shock spread through her body. While she had raised the barrier to deflect Azrael's direct assault, Rainbow, already low from an earlier attack, aimed a lightning bolt at her feet. The shock brought her to her knees once she was freed of its grasp. She started weighing her options. Despite her abilities, she had only taken out one of the four. Her barriers could protect her from most of the group's attacks, but if this kept up, they would get the better of her. There was only one option... "I was hoping to deal with you here, especially Azrael," she started as she attempted to stand again, "but I'm afraid that won't be possible. I'll take my leave now, but I'll be seeing you all again." Azrael attempted to approach her, fighting the pain of his wound, but Lockheart teleported away. With the threat gone, Azrael turned back to his hurt comrades. Seeing Shimmer still lying unconscious on the street, he rushed toward her, adrenaline negating the pain of his bullet wound. He knelt down by her side, and grabbed onto her hand, panic clear in his eyes. "Ah'll go get Fluttershy!" Applejack mentioned. "She's nearby. She can help." "Please," Rainbow replied, still ticked off about her leg. Azrael shot her a look saying the same thing, and Applejack rushed off into the city. Azrael turned his attention back to Shimmer. "Come on, stay with me!" Though the shock had incapacitated her, Shimmer was still aware of what was happening to an extent. She could here the Azrael fighting against Lockheart, and her eyelids visibly squeezed tighter when the gunshot rang out. However, once Azrael came to help her, her awareness faded away into blackness. This worried her at first, making her think she was dying. However, she soon realized what was really going on. Her new pyrokinesis wasn't the only magic in her possession; she had acquired a telepathy touch during her stay at Camp Everfree, letting her see the memories of people she touched. And now she was seeing Azrael's memories. At first, she saw the dark and sterile bunker she had come across before, now through Azrael's eyes. He was sitting at a table, just as metallic and black as the walls around him. Charade sat across from him, wearing his half mask and wizard's outfit. Was this how he always met with his creations? Had Azrael ever seen the entirety of his master's face? For a long, unnerving time, the two just sat there, speechless. Charade had a cup of tea he took occasional sips from, but Azrael was almost completely motionless. Shimmer could feel a strong sense of unease from him, to the point that most people would pick up on it in a second. Yet, Charade didn't. He just sat there, drinking his tea, like the person sitting across from him was just as much at ease as he was. Eventually, Azrael turned his head to the right, presenting Shimmer with a wall of monitors, all linked to cameras overlooking the world above. Only now did Charade take notice. "Now is not the time for you to see the surface," he told Azrael in a monotone voice. "However, that day will soon come. I suggest you prepare yourself while you can." Shimmer felt a small sense of relief from Azrael, but she was still unnerved. There was something wrong with Charade's tone, something completely devoid of emotion. He spoke to Azrael like he were talking to a computer. To an object. It was then that Charade's words popped into her mind: in exchange for his great power and alicorn status, Azrael had lost his memories. She got very curious: who was Azrael before Charade had experimented on him? What kind of life had he known? Who had once been important to him? She focused hard, and searched back through Azrael's mind, beyond the dreary memories of that dark, cold bunker... She found nothing. The memories weren't just lost, they were completely gone. All she found was darkness. Just as the emptiness started to take its toll on her, she opened her eyes. As she regained awareness of her surroundings, she noticed Fluttershy kneeling beside her, the shy girl's hands on her stomach. A soft, warm light emanated from her hands, and that light closed the gaping wound in Shimmer's abdomen. As she looked around, she saw that Rainbow and Azrael had already been fully healed. She turned back to Fluttershy, who was starting to cry. "I...I'm just glad you're okay," she told her. With Shimmer's wound fully healed, Fluttershy collapsed onto her, embracing her in a hug of sorrowful joy. Slowly, Shimmer shared the gesture. As the sun set over the horizon, Azrael sat alone on one of Baltimare's rooftops, looking out at the sinking fire in the sky. As he quietly sat there, Shimmer climbed up to the roof. Without a word, she sat down on the edge with him. They shared a quiet moment, staring out toward the horizon. "Feeling better?" Azrael finally asked her. Shimmer nodded, but was otherwise quiet. Azrael gave her a worried look, and she looked away. "These powers we've been given," she started, forming embers around her hand, "they weren't the first powers we've had." She proceeded to tell Azrael about the events at Camp Everfree, the powers she and each of her friends had gotten...and what she saw-or rather, didn't see-while she was unconscious. Azrael sat there silently, taking it all in. When she finished, he closed his eyes...and smiled. "Azrael, I'm so sorry," Shimmer told him. "Charade stole your past from you..." "So?" Shimmer snapped toward him in surprise. He had opened his eyes, warming up his smile immensely. In his amber eyes, she saw not the emptiness of his missing memories, but a comforting and joyous light. "Maybe I don't have a past anymore," Azrael began, "but I don't really need one. Whoever I was before, whoever I knew back then, that doesn't really matter anymore, does it?" He turned to face the sunset once more, now with his own face beaming back. "The 'me' you see here, he wasn't built from anything I'm missing. So I'm just gonna push forward without it. There's nothing the past can offer me...so I choose to look to the future instead." "Really? And what kind of future do you see?" Shimmer asked. Azrael stood up, looking back out toward the sunset as it approached total eclipse behind the horizon, painting the sky red. "The future I see is much like this sunset," he answered. "It's starting to get very dark and bleak, but there's still a light of hope that remains until the very end. And even if that light should fade, if the sun should set...eventually it will rise again." He held out his hand to help Shimmer up. "We still have work to do," he told her. "Let's go be that light."