//------------------------------// // A Secret Revealed // Story: The Truth about Reapers // by MineLittleDashie //------------------------------// Ponyville: Midnight I sat on one of the ledges of the town hall, surveying Ponyville. There was a half moon tonight. My favorite phase. Allowing for an even mixture of shadow and light, it was a reapers best friend, hiding us and revealing our enemies. For example.... 'There she is.' I thought, when I saw the figure leap from the roof of one of the houses to the ground. I crouched, disguising myself against the roof, watching as the figure made its way closer, until it was directly under me. 'Now!' I dropped, whipping out my scythe as I fell. The figure suddenly rolled to the side, leaving my scythe to bite nothing but the dirt. I landed, then leapt away as the figure made a dash at me. I whipped a flashlight out of my satchel and aimed it at my enemy, causing them to shy away from the sudden brightness. "So I was right. Nice to see you again.... Miss Derpy." The pegasus hissed at me, revealing her two sharp fangs. As opposed to her daytime look, she had a purple coat and a black mane. Her cat eyes were aligned evenly, so I guess the walled eyes were a disguise. Her wings were also black, and looked similar to those of a bat. The only way I could tell it was Derpy was her bubble cutie mark. "So you really are a reaper." Derpy said, her voice dripping with venom. "I didn't believe myself when I sensed you earlier, made me drop out of the sky." "Well, you know what I am, then you know what's going to happen." She cocked an eyebrow, before her expression changed to one of terror. "Y-you wouldn't..." I extended my scythe to full length and she blanched. "Your move." I said darkly, crouching down slightly in a fighting position. She stayed frozen for a moment, before taking to the air and shooting off in the opposite direction, surprising me. Truth be told, I had been expecting her to fight. By the time I had snapped out of my confusion, the vampire was almost out of sight. I cursed, before setting off after her. I had to get her before morning, otherwise it would look like I was murdering an innocent pony. Our game of chase continued for a couple of hours. Over the course of it, Derpy tried several things to lose me, but I was able to learn how to counter each one. Fly high, continue chase on the rooftops. Doubling back, take shortest path to eventual destination. Sharp turns, vault the nearest object, be it wagon or house. At the very end, I thought I had lost her, but quickly spotted her form make its way into a house. Probably hers. "Gotcha." I whispered to myself. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Derpy was breathing heavily as she closed the door to her house. Re activating her disguise, she made her way to the living room to catch her breath. Then she was going to make herself some tea. 'A reaper! Here in Equestria?! Impossible!' she thought to herself as she plonked into a poofy armchair. She had never seen a reaper before, but she still remembered her families' stories about them. Ruthless, dark and dangerous, reapers would slay a vampony or marewolf without batting an eye, sometimes forcing the victims family watch as it licked the blood off its scythe afterwards. Derpy shivered in fear. *Ahem* Derpy's fur stood on end as she leapt off the chair and landed, her back to the entrance hall. There, standing on the other side of the living room, was the reaper. ----------------------------------------------- I stared at her. She had reverted back to her daytime form, her gray fur and yellow mane standing on end. I adjusted my scythe slightly, noticing her gaze slip to it, and stepped forward. She took a step back. "Mommy?" We both stopped moving. I slipped my scythe behind me as a light purple unicorn filly with a yellow mane slowly trotted down the stairs behind Derpy. She stopped halfway down to rub her eyes. "Mommy, I can't sleep." Derpy turned her head without taking her eyes off of me. "Why don't you go back to bed. Mommy will be up there in a minute." She said worriedly. The filly looked to where her mom was looking and saw me. "Who's that?" She asked tiredly. "Just one of mommy's friends. Please go back to bed now." A hint of urgency appeared in Derpy's voice. But the filly didn't move. Instead she looked me in the eye and asked, "are you one of my mommy's friends?" I gave her my best disarming smile. "Yes, but the grown ups are talking, so do what your mom says please." "Okay. Night mister." The filly turned and made her way back up the stairs. The both of us waited until we heard the sound of a door close before turning our attention back to each other. I took another step forward. Derpy took another step back, onto the stairs. "You're not hurting my muffin." She growled at me. "Is she also one?" I asked, catching my opponent off guard. "What?" "A vampire." "A vampony? No, she's a normal pony. And before you ask, yes! Yes, she is mine!" Derpy's eyes began to tear up. "Please. Please don't take her from me. Or me from her. Please!" I stared at her for a moment, before advancing once again. This time, the mare didn't move. She just sat there as I approached, and walked right past her to the front door. "Wait!" I looked over my shoulder and saw a teary-eyed gray pegasus watching me intently. "Why?" That was the only word she said, but I had an answer. "Not for you. I did it for her." I nodded upstairs. "Even if you're a vampony, that filly needs a parent and you're probably as good as any. But mark my words, had she been like you, then neither of you would've left this house again." Derpy sniffed, before nodding In a silent agreement. "Would you like to know the reason I live here. In this town?" She asked. I frowned. "A reason other than satisfying your hunger?" "Please, just listen! You can trust me." Derpy pleaded. I thought for a moment, my frown deepening, before turning back to face her. "I'm listening." She took a moment to dry her eyes before launching into her story. She explained to me that there is normally one vampony per town, (except in large cities where there could be one family). If there is more than one, they will fight it out for control of the town. When Derpy had arrived in Ponyville 30 years back, her intentions were the same as any other vampony. Take over the town, drink blood for survival, and convert ponies. But just before her arrival, she had been attacked by mare wolves in the Everfree Forest. She would've been ripped apart too, had an inhabitant of Ponyville not heard her screams and come running. The mare fended off the mare wolves and brought the young vampony home and healed her, despite what Derpy was. The mare wolves returned to finish the job, but were beaten back for good by the other citizens. All of them trying to protect a stranger none of them knew. Derpy had been so amazed at the bravery and compassion of the Ponyville citizens, that she made a promise to herself to never take advantage of these ponies. She settled down, got married, had a kid, her husband died from a disease.... She had tried her best to hide her past, believing that ponies today would not be so kind to her if they found out. But as long as she stayed here, she would be protecting Ponyville from other vampires who wouldn't be nearly as caring. When I questioned her about the source of her current supply of blood, she told me that the mare who had saved her all those years ago was still alive. She had a farm and apple orchard on the outskirts of town and let Derpy come over at night to snack on the cows. (Whose blood was apparently more delicious and nutritious). Derpy gasped for breath and it was then that I realized she had explained everything without taking a breath. Impressive. I allowed her a moment before turning back around to the door and opening it. Derpy started forward, but stopped as I looked back over my shoulder at her. "Well that's a pretty interesting story." I said, my voice devoid of emotion. The fear in the mare's eyes to grow. "But I should be leaving. Oh, and be careful next time you out at night. I hear there's a vampony about, but don't worry, I'll find it." I retracted my scythe and stepped out the door, closing it behind me. I could hear Derpy inside, weeping. From joy or sorrow I couldn't tell. ------------------------------------------ The sun was peeking over the horizon as I walked back towards Fluttershy's house, my scythe hidden in its holster, my suit jacket flapping in the breeze, and a smile on my face. As I got closer, the door opened and I was confronted with an upset Fluttershy. "Where were you?!" She flutter-shouted at me. I shrugged? Woke up early, so I took a walk." "And what happened?" Fluttershy could clearly tell I wasn't telling the whole truth. I turned and looked back towards Ponyville, a smile still etched on my face. A smile that could only be made after you've changed someone's life for the better. "I made a friend."