//------------------------------// // Chapter 8: The Reaper // Story: The Long Road to Normal // by scifidude47 //------------------------------// They found nothing. Nothing along the road they traveled. Barren skeletons were left on the ground. Not even blood was left. Some skeletons even had bite marks on the bone where cannibals had chewed hungrily. They took shelter in a small house, but since it was entirely wood there was no place to build a fire. They put their sleeping bags in the living room. The only things they found when they searched the house were a pair of long-dead beetles. Fluttershy teared up, but Iron Wing decided it was better than cannibalism. He picked them up. and brought them downstairs. "I-I can't eat that..." Fluttershy shivered. "It.... didn't want to die." she hid in her unkempt mane. "I don't want you to die either. Please at least eat a bit of it..." Rainbow Dash begged. "I-I can't... I'd rather die..." "You mustn't say that, Fluttershy." Iron Wing responded calmly. "Why? It's just true... I'm sorry though..." She whispered. "I get upset when you say that." Iron Wing looked at the meek par of beetles. "Me too. You don't have to eat it, but promise you'll at least try the next thing we find." Rainbow spoke to her calmly, putting a hoof on her back. After about a minute, a meek "ok" was all Fluttershy could summon. Iron Wing and Rainbow Dash choked down the beetles. It tasted oily and disgusting, but it was better than starving. They all laid awake in their bags, held back from rest by hunger. "Do you think we'll make it, Dad?" Fluttershy asked. Iron Wing found it a bit difficult to respond. "I don't know. I've heard that somewhere in the south, it's safe, so that's where I've been going." "Us too. We think our friends made it there." Rainbow Dash butted in. "I've heard a lot of things about a paradise beyond the desert, even before the plague. Ironic, seeing as how nopony really ever came back when they went there." Iron Wing turned in his sleeping bag. "M-maybe the reason nopony came back.. I-is because they found something better..." Fluttershy suggested. "Maybe." Iron Wing replied. "I still think we should go there, even if there's the slightest chance that life there could be better." Iron Wing said. "Agreed." Rainbow Dash responded. Fluttershy was able to manage a meek nod before falling asleep. Iron Wing was startled awake by some nightmare he couldn't remember. As his vision cleared, he got up. He looked around, but only noticed two empty sleeping bags. He heard somepony running around upstairs in an extremely quick manner, and got out his switchblade. He slowly trotted up the stairs, and peeked inside a door. He saw no cannibal or thief, but he did see Fluttershy, tears streaming down her face a she hyperventilated. "Where are you? Where are you!?" She said through sobbing and tears. "What's going on?" Iron Wing put his hooves on Fluttershy in an attempt to calm her. "Rainbow Dash! She's gone!!" Fluttershy screamed. "Did she leave a note? Did she leave anything!?" Iron Wing said, concerned. "O-only her sleeping bag..." Fluttershy took a deep breath and calmed slightly, but she was still crying. Iron Wing hugged her as he wept silently. "I'm not losing her again.. I'm going to load up the cart, and we're going to find her. We need to look for hoofprints, scraps of food, anything." Iron Wing helped her down the stairs. He began folding the sleeping bags, but then he noticed the cart was gone, along with the gun. "They took... everything..." Fluttershy said silently. Iron Wing didn't stop though. He was intent on finding his daughter. He got up, and helped Fluttershy onto her hooves, but as he opened the door, he noticed about six stallions with guns, all pointed in his and Fluttershy's direction. He dropped his blade and the bags, but unfolded his wing around Fluttershy. "Step forward." A feminine voice replied from the dead trees. Iron Wing did so, and stepped foward. "Her too!" The voice yelled. Fluttershy stepped forward meekly, looking to the ground. Two more stallions appeared from behind them, armed with bloodied lead pipes. "Allow me to introduce myself." The voice said before it's owner stepped out into view. It was a yellowish mare with a dark green mane and deep red eyes. She was wearing pieces of metal and a few bits of proper clothing, all of which were blood-stained. She had a grocery bag tied around her, which clacked as she walked, for it was filled with bones, horns, and other inedible bits of meat. "Who are you?" Fluttershy asked the mare. "I go by many names in my group, but as far as you're concerned, you may call me The Reaper." She said as she walked around him and Fluttershy, looking at which cuts of meat she could take. "There's somepony and some things in our possession which we think might be yours." She said in a raspy, cold voice. As she finished, Rainbow Dash was pulled out from under some dead brush. She had several cuts on her, a bloodied nose, and she was bound by rope. "What did you do to her!?" Iron Wing yelled, but the cannibals aimed their guns at his head as a warning. "That is none of your concern. What does concern me is a choice you have to make." She looked him in the eyes. "We possess a good majority of your supplies, some of which have already been consumed. However, we are willing to give what is left back to you in return for something you may not want to give." The Reaper smiled, revealing her makeshift scythe from behind a tree. "What's that?" Iron Wing said. "One of your daughters' wings." At that sentence, Two stallions grabbed Fluttershy and Iron Wing, and bound them with rope despite their resistance. "Let her go!" Iron Wing yelled. The Reaper paid no attention to his command. "So, what will it be? Your food? The blue one's wing? Or hers?" She waved her scythe at the items she described. Iron Wing's eyes darted around. He didn't want to starve, but he couldn't let one of those pony-eating freaks take away Rainbow's or Fluttershy's wing. "What will it be?" The Reaper commanded. "Let them take mine! I'm not starving!" Rainbow yelled. "Don't let them hurt me dad!" Fluttershy cried. Iron Wing had no idea what to do. A million things rushed through his mind as The Reaper stared at him, waiting for his decision. "What will it be!?" She screamed, holding her scythe to his throat. "Dad!" Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy yelled. "Take mine." Iron Wing said simply. "Ooh. This just got interesting..." The Reaper took her scythe away from his throat. "Don't do it Dad! Please!" Fluttershy yelled. "Take my wings, just don't hurt them.. please..." Iron WIng looked her directly in the eye. The Reaper put her face into his, her nose touching his own. "Those were just the words I was looking for." She pushed her lips against his, forcing a kiss before pulling away. "Leave him alone!" Rainbow Dash yelled as Fluttershy looked away. "This stallion is willing to give his wings, just to save his daughters from suffering. That is a loving father!" The other cannibals laughed. One stallion unfurled Iron Wing's left wing, and another got a rusty saw ready. "I'm sorry Dashie... I love you both, just look away..." Iron Wing begged the two mares. "Daddy... don't let them hurt you!" Fluttershy begged, but it was too late. The cannibal let the blade cut through the flesh, then the muscle, and stopped just to let Iron Wing scream. The burning pain in his joint made his wing vibrate. Fluttershy cried, and Rainbow Dash just yelled at them. As the saw began to cut through bone, Iron Wing felt nauseous, but had nothing in his stomach to vomit up. The others chanted some song as the bone marrow became visible. When the bone had been cut through entirely, the wing went limp, and The Reaper grabbed the wing with her teeth and pulled it off, blood covering her face as she and some other cannibals began to chew into it. The one holding Iron Wing began to cut some more, not even giving Iron Wing a chance to recover. The blade tore through blood veins, spraying blood in different directions, even into Iron Wing's eyes. Some of the other cannibals began to fight over the first wing as it began to run out of meat. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy both cried as they saw their "Father" in pain and anguish because he didn't want them to be hurt. As Iron Wing's other wing had finally been sawed off, The one holding the saw thew Iron Wing out of the way as he tore into his wing along with the others. "Now let us out!!" Rainbow Dash yelled through her tears. Fluttershy couldn't stop crying long enough to speak. Iron Wing could hardly see through his blurred vision, but he managed to make out the saw blade and one of the cannibal's rifles. He inched towards both in pain as the dirt rubbed against his wounds. He yelled out in pain a few times, but kept moving almost constantly. "All of the meat's gone!" One cannibal yelled. "We'll eat them!" The Reaper yelled, licking blood off of her lips as she looked at the two bound mares not too far away. "No!!" Fluttershy yelled. "Stay away from her!" Rainbow yelled at the mob of seven. Iron Wing had managed to get to the saw. He tried to cut as fast as he could, but the rusty saw snagged and got stuck several times. "DAD! HELP!!!" Fluttershy yelled. Rainbow Dash kicked at one of the cannibals, giving it a blood nose which showed well on his white coat. Iron Wing heard Fluttershy's calls. He brought the rope down hard upon the saw, finally cutting it all. He grabbed for the rifle and checked the clip to see that it was fully loaded. He rammed it back in and took a quick shot at the mob. It hit the reaper in the leg, and the rest backed off. "Leave them alone!!" Iron Wing yelled, standing on his hind legs so he'd be a better shot. "Take it easy!" One of the cannibals yelled. "Shut up!" Iron Wing yelled. His vision slowly cleared as his anger grew. The Reaper pulled out a kitchen knife and charged at Iron Wing. He aimed and pulled off a few shots but she didn't stop her movement. She brought down the knife on his shoulder, which made him yell out in pain. He bashed her off, pulling out the knife and charging forward. She punched him in the face and bit onto his foreleg, but he didn't let go of the gun. He pushed her off, her teeth tearing off some of the flesh as she fell back. He hit her in the face with the barrel of the rifle, which caused her to fall to the ground. "No, DON'T!" She yelled. But Iron Wing still pulled the trigger. He then fired a few shots at the other cannibals, who abandoned their leader and ran off. Leaving their weapons behind in fear. "D...Dad?" Fluttershy asked. Iron Wing just looked back at them, then collapsed to the ground.