Spike’s cries were quickly followed by what Reaper identified as the sounds of a fight. Reaper could hear yelling, growling, laser beams, and cracking wood. Although Reaper ran as fast as he could, he only made it to the scene of the battle as the fighting ended.
When Reaper arrived, he saw Starlight and Twilight standing side by side against a group of wolves that appeared to be made of living wood. Most of the wolves were reconstructing themselves from scattered bits of wood, and the whole group had just started to turn tail and run. Spike was standing guard in front of Fluttershy, who was tending to an injured dog underneath a tree.
Starlight zapped one of the fleeing wolves with a laser beam from her horn, causing it to yelp. “Yeah, you better run!” she shouted at it. “Come after my friends again, and I’ll turn you to kindling, got that?!”
Twilight laid a hoof on Starlight’s shoulder. “That’s enough, Starlight. We’ve won.”
Starlight nodded. “Right...right. Sorry, got a little carried away there. Just thinking about what they almost did to Spike and that poor dog - Oh, Spike! Are you alright?”
Spike nodded. “Yeah, I am, thanks to you guys, but the dog...” Spike looked back at the injured dog and his face fell. “It’s all my fault.”
Twilight shook her head. “That’s not true, Spike! You did everything you could to fight off those timberwolves. If it wasn’t for you, the dog wouldn’t have made it at all!”
As Reaper approached the group, he examined the area more closely. All across the trees and stones around them were scorch marks. One set of trees to the side had been burnt to a crisp and the rocks around them reduced to slag.
Kid’s got more fire in him than we gave him credit for, Reyes’ voice commented.
Spike’s expression hardened. “I made things worse!” he exclaimed. “I got so caught up trying to fight off the timberwolves that I accidentally burned the dog! I should have just run away and called for help at the start.”
Twilight pulled Spike into a hug. “You did the right thing, Spike. You fought off a whole pack of timberwolves to protect one of the sanctuary’s dogs, and when it got hurt, you shielded it with your own scales. I’m proud of you, my brave little dragon.”
Spike sniffled then embraced Twilight without another word.
Starlight stepped past the two and approached Fluttershy. “How’s it look?” she asked.
The dog - a large male Groenendael [1] - snapped its jaws at Starlight’s approach. Fluttershy tried to calm it down, but it continued to growl until Starlight stepped back further.
Fluttershy left the dog’s side to stand next to Starlight. “I’m sorry about his behavior,” she said. “He isn’t from the sanctuary, so he’s not used to being around ponies, and his injuries aren’t really helping his temper.”
Starlight’s eyes widened. “Not from the sanctuary? You mean he’s a wild dog?”
“I’m not sure, actually,” Fluttershy replied. “It certainly seems that way, but I’ve never heard of wild dogs in this area before. In any case, I would advise you to keep your distance for now.”
“There are a lot of scars on that dog,” Reaper said, startling the pair as they hadn’t noticed him arrive. “Whatever his story is, it can’t have been a pretty one.”
Reaper locked eyes with the Groenendael and saw the fire in them.
One thing’s for sure, it’s a fighter, Reyes’ voice said. Feeling a bit of a connection?
“Maybe,” Reaper said under his breath.
Spike and Twilight joined the group examining the dog from a distance.
“It’s worse than I thought,” Spike said as he saw the burns along the dog’s body. “Fluttershy, will he be okay?”
“I’m afraid I don’t have anything at the sanctuary or my cottage to treat these kinds of injuries,” Fluttershy said sadly. “It’s not just the burns, he’s got scratch wounds and bite wounds all over. If even one of those is from a timberwolf, then we can’t rule out infection either. We have to bring him to Doctor Fauna for treatment, but her office is a long way from here, and I’m not sure I could carry a dog this big that far on my own.”
“I could carry him with my magic,” Twilight offered.
Fluttershy shook her head. “I’m afraid that’ll just agitate him. He doesn’t trust ponies, and he isn’t listening to anything I try to tell him. How did you get him this far, Spike?”
“I...didn’t, really,” Spike replied. “I just saw him standing at the edge of the treeline, watching me chase the other dogs around. When I tried to go after him, he ran into the woods. I ran after him...and then we both ran into that pack of timberwolves. Even during the fight, I was mostly just trying to keep up with him.”
“What if we teleport him back to town?” Starlight asked.
“It’s too dangerous,” Twilight said. “Even putting his disposition aside, teleporting someone with burn injuries is just asking for trouble. There’s a high chance the magical field will just make the burns worse.”
Starlight thought for a bit, then asked, “What about a sleep spell? If we knock him out, we could carry him back to Ponyville no problem.”
“Do you know a sleep spell that you know for sure will work on a dog? And won’t hurt him?” Twilight asked. “Because I don’t!”
“Well, we can’t just do nothing!” Starlight exclaimed.
“I know! I know!” Twilight cried. “Just...let me think!”
We can help, Reyes’ voice said. We are just a cloud of rouge biotics trapped in a cycle of degradation...and regeneration.
“We don’t know that for sure,” Reaper muttered.
It’s worth a try, Reyes’ voice insisted. We’re made of the same stuff Mercy saves lives with. Just tell that stuff to destroy the infection and rebuild the tissue.
“It’s not that simple,” Reaper said. “Besides, that energy has to come from somewhere.”
Yes, and how do we usually get it? Reyes’ asked.
“By...you want me to shoot the dog?” Reaper asked, raising his voice slightly.
“Did you say something, Reaper?” Fluttershy asked.
We can do this, Reyes’ voice said. We won’t fail. Not this time.
“Not this time,” Reaper whispered to himself. He stepped forward and the Groenendael growled at him.
Fluttershy started to move forward and said, “Reaper, what are you -”
“Stay back,” Reaper interrupted. He turned to face the others, and added, “I have a plan...but you need to trust me. No matter what happens, stay back and trust me. Okay?”
Twilight saw the plea in Reaper’s expression and nodded. “Okay, Reaper. No matter what happens, we’ll stay back. We trust you. Just...stay safe, alright?”
Reaper slowly nodded then continued to make his way towards the Groenendael.
The Groenendael tried to get up to challenge him, but its legs gave out and it fell to the ground with a yelp, causing Fluttershy to gasp. It recovered quickly, however, and began to bark at Reaper.
Reaper spawned his shotguns and muttered to himself, “Can’t even turn into mist, and now I’m trying this shit.”
Once Reaper was close enough to see all of the Groenendael’s injuries, he aimed his shotguns at them. Before he could fire, the Groenendael lunged forward and snapped him up in its jaws.
“Oh my goodness!” Fluttershy exclaimed, hovering off the ground on instinct, but like the others, she stayed where she was.
The Groenendael started shaking Reaper, and Reaper could feel its fangs biting deep into his body.
Take the shot! Reyes’ voice commanded. Take the shot!
But it was no use. Reaper was being shaken so hard that he could barely hang on to his shotguns, much less aim them. He groaned as the Groenendael bit down harder.
As Reaper felt his body get crushed by the dog’s jaws, he heard Reyes’ voice let out a resigned sigh. Guess we...failed again after all...
“No!” Reaper screamed. “NOT! THIS! TIME!”
Dark mist started pouring out from his wounds. When the Groenendael inhaled it, it spat out Reaper and started coughing and snorting in an attempt to get the offending substance out of its system.
Reaper, with holes in his body emanating dark mist, got to his feat and levelled his shotguns at the Groenendael’s wounds. He could feel the familiar urge overtake him, the need to unleash everything he had and feed. He screamed again, struggling to bend it to his will.
In his mind, Reyes’ voice screamed with him.
FEED! KILL! The hunger commanded.
NOT THIS TIME! Reyes’ voice screamed in response.
Then Reaper realized what he needed to do: the same thing he’d always done, but the other way around. His shots would leech the energy from the dog, but instead of taking them to heal himself, he would loop them back to heal the dog. Instead of making his target die, he would make it -
“LIVE! LIVE! LIVE!” Reaper shouted as he fired.
He filled his mind - his entire being - with that word, repeated over and over and over again by both him and Reyes. Together, they drowned out the hunger and in so doing, bent the mist to their will.
When Reaper’s shotguns clicked empty, he collapsed.