//------------------------------//
// Ch17 Crash of the K-7 Limitless 
// Story: Limitless Skies 
// by Priceless911 
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                “Guard?... Excuse me Guard?”
The annoyed bat pony trotted down the hall as he looked at the captive through the dungeon bars, “What is it Blueblood?”
Prince Blueblood sighed with distress, “Where do I start?... this rocky floor is doing damage to my well preserved hooves, while this humidity is causing my coat to feel prickly. Then don’t get me started on the linin issues? Just how do you expect anypony to thrive in these conditions?”
The cloaked bat pony sighed in hopelessness, “I know you’re a prince and all, but even somepony like you should know when you’re a prisoner. This cell is the way it is and you better get used to it, cuz you’re gonna be here for a long time. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got better things to do then to babysit a pampered little noble.”

As the bat pony turned to leave his prisoner alone, Prince Blueblood spoke up, “Well then could you at least be a gentlecolt and bring me and my guest a bottle of your finest champagne?”
Thinking that he heard wrong, the confused bat pony turned around and looked into Prince Blueblood’s Cell as he replied, “Guest? What are you talking about? You’re the only pony in there.”
The Prince cleared his throat as he smiled, “Yes… but you’re not the only pony out there…”
Feeling like there was somepony watching him, the now nervous bat pony slowly turned around as he saw Fancy Pants standing behind him with a casual expression, “Good morning…”
before the bat pony could reply, Fancy Pants used his magic to tighten the guard’s cloak around his neck as he fell to the ground gasping for air.

With the guard on the ground struggling for his life, Fancy Pants nonchalantly approached the stallion as he pulled the keys from the guard’s cloak and spoke, “Pardon me sir… but I'll be borrowing this for a moment.”
Continuing to act as if the kicking and wheezing pony wasn’t in the area, Fancy Pants stepped over him and approached the cell as he unlocked it and spoke to the prisoner, “Funny to see a stallion of your nobility just sitting around some dingy dungeon. Perhaps is suits you.”
Prince Blueblood gave him an annoyed look as he exited the cell, “Don’t be absurd, a fine gentlecolt like myself belongs nowhere near a place as vile as this. And I would ask that you not speak of this to anypony.”

Fancy Pants nodded his head as he replied, “Agreed, now make haste and release the rest of The Cutters if you please. We must gather our numbers and retake the Haven.”
Prince Blueblood sighed in disappointment, “Retaking the Haven… but why? Surely you know of Lady Mist’s demise. Without a leader, The Cutters are truly go…”
Fancy Pants shook his head, “But we do have a leader… in fact, she is above fighting The Reaper as we speak.”
Prince Blueblood gave him a curious look, “We do?... but who?”
Fancy Pants smiled as he turned around, “Lady Mist of course.”
With that said, Fancy Pants started running down the corridor as Prince Blueblood followed, leaving the choking bat pony on the floor, as he turned blue and passed out.

Above on the surface, the residents of Canterlot hid in their homes as they watched what could easily be described as a standoff. Silvia stood at the ready as Equinox smiled, “I'll START THINGS OFF!!!”
With that call, Equinox charged at Silvia and swung his scythe as he tried taking off her head with the first attempt, however Silvia barely reacted as she raised her wing and blocked the incoming attack with ease. Then she parried the scythe blade as she swung her other wing upward with the blade on her prosthetic completely exposed. Jumping back and dodging the attack Equinox smiled, “So, those pretty little accessories aren’t just for show after all… but you’re still no match for me.”
Silvia smiled as she stared him in the eye, “We’ll see…”
Equinox could only smile back as he charged towards the confident mare as he raised his scythe and tried to slash her in a diagonal swing. But as he did, Silvia raised her wing up and blocked the incoming blade as she swung her other wing forward putting a small cut on Equinox’s face as he jumped back to get a safe distance.

Feeling angry, Equinox put his hoof on his face and felt the cut as he looked down at the blood left on his hoof and sneered at his sister, “You… that was a cheap shot. Blocking with one and attacking with another.”
Silvia smiled as she changed her stance from defense to offence, “What can I say… I have two wings.”
Realizing the weapons resembled the Cupid’s Kiss, which was the very weapon their ancestor wore, Equinox mumbled to himself, “I gotta find a way past her guard…”
Silvia smiled, “What was that? I couldn’t hear you over the sound of me winning.”
Equinox shook his head and he replied, “Well then… HEAR THIS!!!”
With that action, Equinox opened his cloak and threw three needles at his sister; only to see her throw her wings up one at a time as each wing deflected one needle. Then with both wings still in the air, Silvia trusted them down, as she lifted herself off the ground leaving the last needle to part her tail as it went through and pierced her navy cloak.

With that action, Silvia hovered in the air as Equinox stared at her in surprise, “Y-You can fly?... but I thought that was impossible?”
Silvia smiled as she replied, “Yea… but it was also impossible for an earth pony to fly too… nevertheless, Allen found a way.”
Equinox sighed in hopelessness, “That earth pony… he’s nothing but a nuisance. Why you even humored him for so long is beyond me. Maybe you went soft after that little manticore incident.”
Silvia smiled, “Why don’t you come up here, and I'll show you how soft I got… brother.”
Equinox sneered as he jumped into the air and flew towards her, “FINE BY ME!!!”
As the angry bat pony approached his sister, Equinox swung the scythe horizontally as Silvia dodged the attack and countered with her hind hooves as she kicked him in his face as hard as she could.

With the force of the impact throwing him, Equinox did a full back flip before regaining his stability as he charged a second time swinging the scythe diagonally this time. But like before, Silvia dodged the attack and used the delay in his attack as she swung the blade on her right wing at him as it made contact putting a long but shallow cut on his neck as he flew away from her to a safe distance. After that, Equinox felt the second cut as he mumbled to himself, “Twice… she hit me twice. This isn’t good. She’s still too much for me… and without Shade and his bow… I'm gonna have to fight this one fair and square.”
Silvia smiled at her brother knowing she had the upper hoof as she spoke, “Your move… Reaper.”
Then without warning, a lone royal guard rushed onto the site as he yelled, “STOP RIGHT THERE!!! Both of you! Cease this fighting immediately and drop your weapons!”
Equinox gave the Royal guard an annoyed look as he replied, “We’re a little busy right now… but if you want my weapons… then here TAKE IT!!!”

Trying to remove the distraction, Equinox tossed two needles at the Royal Guard, but just as the needles got close to their target, Silvia dropped in from above as she landed right in front of the royal guard and knocked away the needles with her wings. Then she turned to the guard and spoke, “GO! Tell the Princess that The Cutters are under attack and they need the support of the Royal Guards!”
As the guard stood, stunned at both what Silvia did and what she told him, he replied, “S-Silver Stream?...”
“I SAID GO!!! THERE ISN’T MUCH TIME!!!”
Coming to his senses, the guard nodded his head and replied, “Y-YES MA’AM!!!”
As the guard turned around and ran, Silvia started to turn back towards her brother, but as she did, Equinox had already closed the gap between the two as he grabbed her by her cloak and jerked her to the ground while swinging his scythe at her.

Out of reflect Silvia brought up her unscarred wing to block the attack, but since her action was mere reflex, she didn’t turn her wing around so when the blade of the scythe made contact, it wasn’t stopped by the metal blade. Instead, the blade cut through the underside of her wing before severing half of it and knocking off the metal weight from below as it shattered the invention and sent it flying away from her along with the severed half of her now injured wing. When the metal weapon hit the ground about ten feet away from its owner, there was a brief silence before the streets of Canterlot were filled with the screams of the injured bat pony as Equinox held her against the ground by the base of the cloak. Griping her injured wing Silvia stopped screaming, as she held back as much of the pain as she could. Meanwhile the cruel brother stood over his injured sister as he smiled, “There… now both sides look the same… funny, I was worried for a second since you were famous for your aerial combat skills… but now… You’re back to where you belong… Below me.”
Equinox laughed as Silvia sneered at her brother in rage, “I-I‘ll kill you…”

Equinox stopped laughing as he replied, “Yea… that ain’t happening sis.”
As Equinox raised his scythe to deal the final blow, he felt drop hit the top of his head as rain began to fall onto the surrounding area. When he felt the drops, Equinox looked up at the sky, as Silvia took this opportunity to bring both her hind hooves up and kick Equinox in his face, tossing the unsuspecting pony a few feet away as he released his sister and hit the ground rolling. Though it was a good attack, Silvia knew that in her current condition, she still couldn’t regain the upper hoof in this fight. Especially since she was now bleeding a great amount from her severed wing. As she picked herself up trying to overcome fatigue from her blood loss, Silvia swayed as she watched Equinox pick himself up and laugh, “Another cheap shot… but this time I don’t care. I already know that this duel is over.”
Still swaying from her injury, Silvia replied, “It’s not over… not until you pay for Serene… not until you pay for everypony you hurt!”
Equinox smiled, “Trust me sis… that isn’t gonna happen. You’re nothing without your ability to fly and with your wing like that, you aren’t gonna be flying anytime soon.”

Silvia glared at her brother as she replied, “That doesn’t matter… I'm still gonna kick your plot.”
Equinox laughed as if he heard a funny joke, “Really? You can barely stand straight and you’re threatening me? Look at you! The only reason you could fly a second ago is because of that crazy earth pony and his stupid little mare friend. Ya know what, after I finish you here, I think I'll pay them a visit too. Come to think of it, maybe I'll find that cello player friend of yours and take care of her while I'm at it.”
with his words sinking into her mind, Silvia’s rage filled expression got even angrier as she replied, with a deepening voice that scared a few of the spectating bat ponies, “If you touch one hair on their heads… I'll rip you in half.”

Equinox could only applaud his sister as he replied, “Bravo sis… there’s the rage I was hoping to see, but luckily it’s pointless. I mean, how could you possibly rip me in two… when you’re already dead? It just kinda disappoints me that you won’t live to see me take them out.”
With those words, Equinox started trotting towards his sister but as he did, the sound of a distant engine could be heard in the air, as the ponies in the area looked to the sky to see Allen and his aircraft as it flew out of the rainclouds and over the city. As Equinox saw the plane fly over, he looked back at his sister and smiled sinisterly, “Ya know what?... maybe you will. I'll be right back…”
With an evil smile, Equinox jumped into the air and flew into the sky as Silvia called out, “NO! STOP! ALLEN!!!”

In the sky over Canterlot Allen Key flew through the falling rain as he looked through the city mumbling to himself, “Darn, I might have to land if I'm gonna fi…”
At that moment, Allen heard Silvia call out his name as he looked into the street below and could see both Silvia and the surrounding herd of cloaked ponies. However, Equinox wasn’t in his sight so he called down, “SILVIA! ARE YOU OKAY!!!”
Silvia pointed past him as she replied, “ALLEN!!! LOOK OUT!!! IT’S NOX!!!”
Allen looked in the direction she was pointing as he replied, “What? Nox… WHOA!!!”
When Allen looked in the direction she was pointing, he saw Equinox charging him at high speed from the front with the scythe ready for an attack. Luckily, Allen was able to pitch the aircraft away dodging the attack as the blade missed him, plane, and all.

Knowing that there was nowhere to run Allen banked his aircraft around and started increasing his throttle while Equinox turned around and started charging for a second attack. As the two ponies met once again, Equinox swung his scythe again as Allen pitched his aircraft to dodge the attack, however this time instead of missing Allen completely, the razor sharp scythe cut through the axle on the front landing gear. With the axle damaged and the stability of the wheels now gone, the wind passing by had no trouble in ripping the two wheels off the fuselage leaving the aircraft with no way to land. Hearing the impact and the sound of the wheels falling off, Allen leveled out his plane as he looked over the side of his aircraft at the now missing wheels and mumbled to himself, “Uh oh… that’s gonna make landing very difficult…”
At that moment, he heard a second sound as Equinox landed on his plane just behind the cockpit and spoke as he stood on the back of the aircraft and smiled, “Who said anything about landing earth pony? You know you’re gonna crash just like you always do… but don’t worry, you’ll be dead before you hit the ground.”

With that said, Equinox raised himself up on his hind legs to get a full grip on the scythe, but as he did, the oblivious bat pony opened his wings to keep his balance, only to have the surrounding winds catch his wings and pull him off of the wet aircraft. Although, Equinox still managed to swing his scythe as it hit Allen’s face. Cutting his forehead just slightly while removing his goggles completely as they fell from the aircraft in to the city below. However, that’s not all the scythe cut, as the unguided blade ran across the back of the fuselage, it also removed both the top and left wings of the tailplane as both wings flew off leaving Allen’s aircraft to wobble in the air. Barely realizing what just happened, Allen held his aircraft stable with one hoof as he felt the cut on his face with the other. Luckily, the cut wasn’t even deep enough to bleed, and the now missing goggles protected his eye, but with the aircraft missing even more parts now, it took everything he had to keep it stable, let alone fly. 

Silvia watched in shock from the ground as Allen tried to continue flying his mutilated aircraft. Then Silvia stumbled to the herd of bat ponies as she glared at the herd that were blocking her way, “Get out of my way! I gotta help him!”
The bat ponies blocking her path smiled as one replied, “Sorry Silver, but you ain’t going anywhere. And there is nothing you can do to stop me.”
Silvia sneered at the blocking pony, but before she could say or do anything in reply, one of the cloaked ponies standing next to him pulled down his cloak hood and he grabbed the bat pony by his main, pulled back his head and held a dagger to his throat as he replied for Silvia, “No… but there’s something I can do…”
With that action, a large number of cloaked ponied emerged from the herd and took down the bat ponies as more emerged from the doors of the Check Inn, quickly subduing all the cloaked bat ponies and leaving none with the chance to escape. As Silvia looked through all the rescued members of The Cutters along with the ponies who were subdued, Fancy Pants, Prince Blueblood, and Phi Phi stepped out of the herd as Fancy Pants spoke, “Waiting for your order… Boss.”
Silvia smiled as she replied, “I'd say kill them all… but there is an old saying. Cut the head off a snake, and the body will die with it.”
Phi Phi replied, “As your mother would say, kill one save the rest. That was the true purpose of the Cutters to begin with. Now let’s find that one and take him down. First thing is first though; we need to patch up your wound.”

Above just as the aircraft was leaving the city’s limits, Allen continued to hold his aircraft steady as he mumbled, “I-I gotta set her down… but… But whe…”
“READY OR NOT EARTH PONY!!! HERE I COME!!!”
As Allen looked above, he could see Equinox diving down on top of him with the scythe ready for yet another attack. Looking at the trajectory of his incoming foe, Allen timed it just right as he released the control stick, causing his unstable aircraft to do a barrel roll as the top right wing came flying up and colliding with the incoming bat pony as it knocked him away before he even had the chance to swing his scythe. Unfortunately, the impact also caused the supports for that wing to loosen up as the top right wing tore from its position and started dangling from the very wires that held it in position. Now, the K-7 was completely and officially out of control as it continued it barrel roll and started falling towards the ground. Terrified and unaware of where he would crash, Allen braced himself as he tried all he could to regain control, but it was no use. Before he knew it, the aircraft had crashed onto a truss bridge used for railroads as the plane colligated with the iron beams tearing the aircraft and propeller apart as it passed through and dangled off the other side of the bridge before catching the engine on fire.

As Allen’s ears rang from the impact, he slowly looked over the front of his cockpit to see flames and smoke barreling out from the front of his now destroyed engine. With the smoke flowing into his face, and the rain falling on him from above, Allen unstrapped his seat belt as he pulled himself out of the cockpit and rolled onto the lower left wing which was the only wing still attached to the plane. Too battered and bruised to stand, Allen pulled himself along the weak wing until he was far enough from the burning engine so that he could breathe in something other than smoke. After catching his breath, Allen looked over the side of the wing to see that the Truss bridge that the plane had crashed on was crossing a deep gorge while the wing he was one hung over the side of that bridge. As he looked into the darkness below, he could only sigh at his luck, “Great… now what?...”
all of a sudden the aircraft that was dangling over the edge of the bridge shifted as Allen turned back to see Equinox land on fuselage, “Still alive earth pony? You definitely have a knack for being in the worst place at the worst time. Never the less, you have a choice here… Either I'll remove your head with my scythe… or you could always make it easier and jump. It’s your call.”

Still lying on the wing, Allen turned towards Equinox, he could easily feel the frailness of the wing starting to get weaker so he kept his actions slow as he replied, “Equinox! Why are you doing this! Why did you have your sister attacked? What possible purpose could possess you to betray your own family!?!
Equinox smiled, “My family?... My mother abandoned me when I was little after filling my head with hopeless dreams, my sister one upped me in everything I did while taking those dreams without even knowing it, and my father praised her over me because she was the one meant to inherit those dreams!... so… betraying them was just icing on the cake. As for me… I have much bigger plans in store.”
Out the corner of his eye, Equinox could tell that the cloak he was wearing was starting to catch fire from the engine, so without concern, he untied the cloak from around his neck as he stepped off the fuselage of the plane and onto the wing. As Equinox stepped closer, Allen continued keeping his actions slow as he pulled himself further and further from Equinox and replied, “You’re not going to get away with this!”

Equinox laughed at Allen’s words, “You too? Seriously, what is it with you ponies that makes you think you can change anything? News Flash! This isn’t some pony tale. This is the real world. The bad guy doesn’t always lose, the good guy doesn’t always win, and nopony ever lives happily ever after. In fact why don’t I give you a full spoiler on how this is going to end… I'm gonna kill you, right here, and right now. If she hasn’t already bled to death, I'm gonna go back and kill Silvia. Then I'm gonna hunt down that cello playing noble and that Stupid little mare of yours. And… you guessed it, I'm gonna kill them too. Then in a few years, Nightmare Moon will return and I'll join her ranks, she will be so pleased with my progress that she will push Commander Bolt off his pedestal and crown me as her army’s commander. I'm gonna bring us bat ponies out of the shadows and into the moon light, and there isn’t a single thing you can do to stop me.”
Allen continued pulling himself back until he was at the very edge of the fragile wing as he looked around for something he could use to fight with. Nevertheless, the only thing in his sight was a lone support wire that was still connected to both the wing and the fuselage behind Equinox. Taking note of how frail wires connector to the wing was and the tension that it was under with both him and Equinox on the wing, Allen thought up a plan as he replied, “So that’s the reason you’re doing this… to chase some foalhood fantasy of playing the role of Commander Bolt?... You know how that story ends don’t you? Do you think you can handle it?”

Equinox continued approaching Allen as he got within rang to attack with his scythe, “I think I can manage… you should probably worry more about yourself right now. Then again you should feel honored right now though… you’re about to be killed by The Reaper… you’re gonna be killed by death himself.”
With that said Equinox stood up on his hind hooves and raised the scythe with both his front hooves while opening his wings to keep his balance. However, as he started to swing the scythe, the whistle of an arrow came flying through the air as it hit the thin skin of his wing and passed through tearing the flesh apart and rendering his wing useless. With the impact of the arrow catching him off guard, Equinox cringed in pain as he dropped back down to three of his hooves and turned to look in the direction the arrow came from. On the edge of the ravine still standing with his bow in his hooves, stood Shade as he lowered his bow, and mumbled to himself, “Darn… I missed…”
Equinox glared at his former comrade as he yelled in anger, “SHADE!!! I SHOULD HAVE KILLED YOU WHEN I HAD THE CHA…”
Before Equinox finished his sentence, Allen made his move and kicked the wire’s connector that was attached to the wing as the connector broke under the tension sending the wire up as it quickly wrapped around Equinox’s neck and immediately started choking him.

Surprised at the unexpected attack, Equinox grabbed the wire that was around his neck with one hoof while swinging his scythe randomly with the next hoping to either cut the wire, or cut down the one responsible for the attack. However, in his frantic act of desperation Equinox stepped too close to the edge of the wet wing as his rear hooves slipped out from under him causing him to fall halfway off the plane as he griped the wing with one hoof and stuck his scythe into the aircraft with the other. Afraid that he was going to fall, Equinox opened his wings and tried to fly back up, but with the cut left in his wing from Shade’s arrow, he was unable to give himself any lift as he glared over at Allen and yelled as he lost his grip on both the wing and the scythe, “I'll KILL YOU EARTH PO…”
When he slipped and fell from the aircraft’s wing, the slack in the wire quickly vanished as the plane jerked with the sudden tug of the support wire as Equinox’s words were cut short. Though he could easily have guessed what had become of his foe, Allen carefully rolled to the side until he could look over the edge of the plane’s wing, to see just a few feet below, a motionless bat pony, hanging from the wire wrapped around his neck.

Seeing and knowing that the dangerous stallion was now dead, Allen rolled back onto the wing and looked into the rainy sky as he sighed in relief and fatigue, “Death himself… this only proves that that pony was completely out of his mind. I just hope it’s truly all over…”
all of a sudden, as Allen laid there trying to regain his strength, he started feeling the wing shift from under him as a metal bending sound started ringing out from the base of the wing. Sadly he knew what this meant, but with his body too tired to move Allen could only close his eyes knowing that even if he tried, he didn’t have time to prevent what was about to happen. With the sound of the rain falling around him broken by a loud snapping sound, Allen could only wait as the wing broke from the base of the damaged aircraft and began falling from the bridge that the plane was dangling from. Passing the corpse of the defeated bat pony, Allen fell into the shadow of the deep ravine as he mumbled to himself, “I'm sorry Derpy… I don’t think I'll be able to keep my promise…”

All of a sudden, a large bat pony dove in from the sky as he crossed under the bridge and caught Allen as he rapidly increased his altitude with no decrease in his speed. As Allen looked up at the familiar bat pony, he spoke, “C-Commander?”
The bat pony looked down at him and smiled, “How many times am I gonna have to carry you earth pony? I though you got this flying thing down already?”
Allen was confused as he replied, “But… how?...”
the commander looked forward, “You can thank that mare friend of yours. I take what I said about her back. She is a lot smarter then I gave her credit for. When she came to me asking for help, I immediately turned her down, but then she and her friend mentioned that not only were The Cutters threatened but all of Equestria was at stake. Not to mention the honor of the bat pony clans and the Royal Guards. So I decided that as The Reaper’s husband, the bat pony clan leader, and the commander of the Royal Night guard, it was my duty to come out here and do something about that troublesome son of mine… and she also mentioned that she would tell the secret of The Cutters to the world, so I had to do something about that too.”
Allen could only smile as he replied, “Yea… she can be very persuasive at times… but… The Reaper… she’s…”
“Yea… I know… Octavia told me. It’s a good thing you killed Nox before I got here… I would make him suffer with every last breathe he would take.”

As the two reached the edge of the ravine, Commander Soul sat Allen on the ground as he cringed in pain. When the commander saw this he asked, “You alright earth pony? I take it you don’t get into many fights do you?”
Allen replied as he rubbed his shoulders, “Not unless you count one sided fights. I think that crash hit me harder than I expected.”
The commander laughed at the young earth pony as he replied, “We bat ponies have a saying. Any crash that allows you to trot away from is a learning experience.”
“ALLEN! You’re alright!”
As Allen looked, over at where the voice came from he saw Silvia and a few members of The Cutters trot towards him as he saw her blood soaked bandages and spoke, “Silvia! Are you alright?”
Silvia raised her stub of a wing as she replied, “Well I’ve been better, but at least this time I only lost my wing and no friends.”

Silvia looked past both her father and Allen as she saw Equinox’s corps still hanging from the wreckage on the bridge as she spoke, “It’s good to see you were able to handle yourself pretty good… for an egg head I mean.”
Allen gave her an annoyed look as he replied, “Oh ha ha… wait… I did have some help though.”
Silvia gave him a confused look, “Help?... Dad?”
The commander shook his head, as he replied, “No, not me… I arrived right after Nox was killed.”
Silvia looked back at Allen and replied, “Who helped you Allen?”
Allen looked around as he replied, “He… was here a second ago… a bat pony with one eye.”
“… One eye?...”

Silvia knew who he was talking about but she couldn’t remember the name as she started thinking to herself to try to remember, “Oh… it’s… hmm… that one stallion…”
All of a sudden, Shade landed in the area after retrieving The Reaper’s Scythe as he landed with it in his hooves. However, as soon as he touched down, Everypony in the area except Allen readied themselves for a fight as Shade tried to speak, “Please! Don’t worry; I'm not here to fight… I only went to get this for you, that’s all.”
Almost immediately, Silvia relaxed her stance as she replied, “So, you helped Allen out right?... Why?”
Shade lowered his head in shame as he replied, “I know it isn’t enough to earn your forgiveness… but I just want you to know that I'm truly sorry for everything that he… and I put you through… I don’t know if there is a special way of presenting this to The Reaper… but… here.”
With that said, Shade laid The Reapers scythe on the ground between the two as he took a few steps back still hiding his face in shame.

As Silvia picked up the scythe and raised it up to look at the blade, Fancy Pants trotted beside her and spoke, “Will you lead us Lady Mist? It would be a pleasure to serve you just as it was to serve your mother.”
Silvia looked back at Fancy Pants and the rest of The Cutters who were looking at her with hope in their expressions as she looked back at the scythe and replied, “I don’t know if it’s the right choice or not. But my mother did say that I was the perfect pony to lead The Cutters into a new age… so I Accept. I'll become The Reaper, but only under one condition…”
Fancy Pants gave her a curious look as he replied, “And that would be?”
Silvia looked back at Shade and spoke, “You… what was your name?”
Shade replied, “I'm… I'm Shade…”
Silvia smiled, “Shade… I know you think that without your eye you’re not as good an archer as you used to be… and I think I'm not as good a flyer as I used to be either. So, if you will accept to join The Cutters and prove yourself wrong… then I will gladly lead you and the rest of The Cutters, so I can prove myself wrong.”

Shade couldn’t believe his ears, after everything he had done, Silvia still asked him of all ponies to join The Cutters. Shade could only give her a look of worry as he replied, “But… what about?...”
Silvia continued, “Mom said that with me as The Reaper, I could unite all the races and bring equality for all ponies, both surface and bat. So, who better to help me, then a fellow bat pony who wants nothing more than to better the Bat ponies’ future in this kingdom? And if the rest of The Cutters will accept you in this organization, then I'll gladly join and lead it.”
Though the rest of The Cutters hesitated at first, they all looked at each other and nodded their heads as Fancy Pants replied for them, “We gladly accept, I think it’s a splendid idea to have Mr. Shade as a member. His assistance in bringing down Equinox was most helpful indeed.”
Shade rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment, “Well… I did miss my shot… but if I had both eyes, he would have an arrow in his head rather than a hole in his wing.”
Silvia replied, “None the less, you helped us out and changed our impressions of you. I’m still angry about what happened a year ago… but… Serene would want me to let that go and move on, especially since the main pony responsible for that mess is now gone.”

Shade looked at the ground to hide the tears that started rolling down his face as he replied, “Th-thank you Silvia… I… I don’t know what t…”
“Don’t get all mushy eyed on me… I’m not the kind of pony to just say thanks and carry on when you clearly helped my friends. Let’s just say that this is a chance for you to make everything you did right. Who knows, maybe I'll forgive you someday.”
Shade nodded his head as he wiped away his tears, “I hope so. Thank you… Boss.”
“Allen! Silvia! You’re Okay!”
Both Allen and Silvia looked towards the voices as both Octavia and Derpy approached them as Octavia looked at Silvia’s bandaged wing and spoke, “S-Silvia! Your wing!”
Silvia raised her bandaged wing up as she replied, “What… this? I’ve had worse.”
Octavia shook her head, “Now I honestly doubt th…”
Before Octavia could finish her sentence, Silvia gave her a dull and unamused look as Octavia realized who she was talking to before stopping herself and replying to the stare, “Right… maybe you have…”

Allen could only smile as Derpy approached Allen in a meek and shy manner, “Um… A-Allen?”
Allen looked at Derpy and smiled, “Yes Derpy? What is it?”
Derpy blushed as she scratched her hoof on the ground and replied, “Are… are you angry?... you told me to stay away from Canterlot… but I still got Silvia’s dad involved… so… are you mad?...”
Knowing Derpy wanted to do it herself, Allen reached out grabbed Derpy and pulled her in as he threw his hooves around her, and hugged her. Surprised at Allen’s actions, Derpy blushed as Allen replied while still hugging her, “How could I be mad. In a sense, you saved me. And there is nothing you could do to ever make me angry at you Derpy… I could never be angry at the mare I love. And… I hope you could never be angry at me.”
Derpy smiled as she started hugging him back, “I'm glad… I'm glad you’re all right… I… I was scared for a second… Scared that… that something bad could happen to you.”

Allen could feel Derpy’s tears as they ran down her face and dropped onto his shoulder as he backed up, wiped away her tears and replied, “I Promised you that I would come back right?… just as I promised you that we’d fly in the sky together… I will always keep my promises especially if they are to you.”
With those words, Allen kissed Derpy as Octavia looked at the couple and smiled, “Aww… that’s so sweet… Why can’t we be like that Silva?”
Silvia sighed, “Cuz we aren’t together anymore Octi.”
Octavia smiled, “Wanna try again?... I promise I forgive you.”
Silvia turned around as she replied, “I think we have more important things to worry about for the time being.”
Octavia sighed as she put up the hood on her cloak, “Yea… I guess you’re right.”

Allen had to ask, “So… what now Silvia… I mean, Reaper?”
Silvia replied, “Well first we need to clean up the mess on that bridge over there, then we need to start getting ready for what’s next.”
Commander Soul asked, “And what is next if you don’t mind my asking?”
Silvia replied, “We will begin by reuniting the colonies of bat ponies, then the rest of the Cutters. But I think our main task will be much further down the road.”
Octavia asked, “And that would be?...”
Silvia replied with a serious Expression, “The Return of Nightmare Moon… I don’t know what mom was going to do… but we need to prepare for that as well. Dad… I mean, Commander. Will you be willing to help?”
Commander Soul replied, “I’ll tell you just like I told the last Reaper, The Royal Guards and The Cutters will always be on friendly terms, and if help is needed, then help they will receive.”
Silvia smiled, “Good, because if the legend is true and both she and Commander Bolt return, then we will have a fight that will be impossible for The Cutters to keep from the public.”