"WHAT?!"
"Yep. That's what happened."
After what happened during Shooting Star's concert, Blue Fire and Red Flame immediately reported everything to Shining Spear. She wasn't too pleased to hear about it.
"I would have had Shooting Star do one-thousand, no, one-million push-ups if I had the authority!" Shining growled, slapping her hoof on the table. "I'm really sorry that you had to go through that." Shining said sympathetically to Tia, who was laying on the couch. Red Flame was healing her injuries.
Tia smiled, wincing while doing so.
"I've heard stories about Shooting Star. Stories before word went around that he had "retired." Ponies say he was one of the strongest ponies in the guard." Shining explained. "He's a member of the Phoenix Four."
"Really?! The Phoenix Four?!" exclaimed Red Flame. "The most elite warriors in all of Rainum?!"
"Yep." Blue Fire replied. "There are only four members. The king, the queen, Shooting Star, myself, and…"
"And that's it, right?" asked Red Flame. "Only four members."
Blue Fire froze.
"You know how everypony says that the king and queen are immortal, right?" Blue Fire said very slowly.
"Yeah. " replied Red Flame. "They've been on the throne for more than a thousand years. And they have very strong powers."
"A while ago, I was browsing in the Royal Archives, and I stumbled across a legend that said that there was a fifth member about a thousand years ago."
"A fifth member?!" said Shining.
"Who was it?!" Red Flame asked.
Blue Fire paused.
"It was… their daughter."
"They have a daughter?!" shouted Shining, jumping out of her seat.
"Shh! The Reaper's sleeping!" Red Flame whispered, walking over to the table from the couch.
"They… they had a daughter?" whispered Shining. "But I thought Her Majesty was unable to have foals."
"It said that the king and queen found a filly wondering around the gardens, and decided to adopt her, as she didn't know where she was. But then something happened, and she died."
"Oh." Red Flame said quietly.
"There's more. The book also said that… she was around ten years old."
"Wait. So you're telling me that the now deceased daughter of the king and queen was around the Reaper's age when she was one of the most elite warriors in all of Rainum?!" exclaimed Shining.
"Well, when you say it like that, it seems pretty far-fetched." said Blue Fire.
"Wow, she joined the guard younger than you did, Blue Fire!" Red Flame gushed. "And I thought joining the army at 16 was an accomplishment…"
"Yeah." Blue Fire said blankly.
"Was there a picture of what she looked like?" Red Flame asked curiously.
"I didn't see any."
"Well, this is just a legend, right?" Shining asked skeptically. "I mean, she would have had to be stronger than or as strong as you, Blue Fire, and that's not an easy feat to accomplish."
"Yeah, just a legend…"
Blue Fire lay on his bed, looking at the stars through the skylight in his room. He was replaying what had happened at the concert in his mind.
"Tia's pretty awesome to have survived a member of the Phoenix Five…" Blue Fire thought. "Guess she's capable of defending herself."
Blue Fire chuckled.
"Still can't believe that I'm the strongest member, though... Well, I was."
Blue Fire glanced at his bandaged leg.
"Don't think I can ever go back with this thing bugging me."
Blue Fire closed his eyes.
"You think you're pretty clever, disguising your leg as injured."
Blue Fire's eyes shot open. He was standing in complete darkness.
"Long time, no see." The voice croaked.
"Not long enough." Blue Fire rebuked, sitting up.
"Is that any way to greet your f--"
"You are not my father, and you never will be!" Blue Fire spat.
"Oh, I wasn't going to say "father," oh no." a different voice coaxed, clearing its throat. "I was going to say "friend"…"
Blue Fire looked furiously around the darkness, but he saw nothing.
"What have you done with my father?!"
"Oh, now you call for daddy!" the voice jeered.
Blue Fire grit his teeth.
"I got you good, didn't I? Talking in your father's language? You actually thought he was still alive!" The voice snickered.
Blue Fire's eyes widened.
"He's long dead ever since he took off that pendant and gave it to you… But, really, I haven't seen you and your pathetic little brother since you were little colts, helplessly sitting in a little cell in the castle dungeons." The voice sneered.
Blue Fire froze.
"Yes, and as I remember it, there was not much color around. In fact you could say everything looked a little…"
The voice giggled.
"Monochrome."
Blue Fire went cold. His left leg twitched.
"H-how do you kn-now all this-s?" He stammered.
"Oh, well the question is, how could I not? After all, your father was the Head Judge for my father when he was instated as king, nearly 1,000 years ago, just as you are now, hm? Yes, very intriguing indeed… He was my best friend. He was the only one who would approach me other than my father and mother. Everypony else thought I was a monster." The voice sniffed. "But why wouldn't they, hm? A ten year old a part of the elite guard?"
The voice snickered.
"They also despised me because I was a Reaper. And a royal one, at that. The very creature who gave them life. They didn't feel right, being ruled by a little brat, hm? My crown was a constant reminder that I was above them."
"Y-you're the king's daughter…" Blue Fire said quietly.
The voice scoffed.
"Daughter?! How can he call me his daughter when he betrayed me?! Killed me?! Tortured me?!" The voice shouted angrily, her voice rising.
The voice sighed, scoffing again.
"He's a selfish fool." She said quietly between her teeth.
Blue Fire's hooves were glued to the ground.
"Oh dear, I've said too much."
The voice cleared her throat.
"I have a proposal for you."
Blue Fire remained silent.
"I want you to kill the other Reaper, take her pendant, and give it to me."
Blue Fire's heart began to race.
"W-why do you want it…?" Blue Fire asked quietly.
"Oh, I'm not going to tell you unless you do it first." The voice cooed slyly.
"…I won't do your bidding!"
"Tsk, tsk, tsk. Don't you realize, Blue Fire? The Cursed Midnight is drawing closer. If you wait, everypony will be on the hunt for her soul."
Blue Fire's heart nearly stopped. The 1,000th year was this year. The Cursed Midnight would be happening in a week. The night when the entire land of Rainum would be cursed, and nearly half of the population would be wiped out, unless...
"No…"
"Oh, yes. If you payed attention in history class, Blue Fire, you'll know that every 200 years, millions of ponies "mysteriously" fall under an incurable illness that eventually leads to death, and the only cure is…?"
"Reaper dust." Blue Fire whispered.
"Exactly. And it just so happens that every 200 years, a Reaper appears in Rainum. Convenient, isn't it?"
The voice giggled.
"But there's a catch. Only one pony gets cured. One pony, one Reaper."
Blue Fire was sweating now.
"And that pony could be you."
"W-what…?"
"You or somepony else you care about could very much fall under the sickness. If you don't kill her now, somepony else will."
"N-no."
The voice sighed.
"I was hoping you could help my, but I guess you've made your decision clear."
The voice stayed silent for a while.
"Do you know how the Cursed Midnight came to be, Blue Fire?" The voice said after a while. "How this horrible tragedy befell Rainum?"
The voice giggled again.
"It was me." The voice whispered, as if she was casually telling Blue Fire a secret. "Right before my precious father crushed my soul, I put a curse on Rainum so that half of the entire population would pay for mistreating me. They didn't fall under the illness, oh no, they suffered much worse consequences… It was their loved ones that would suffer for them. Those ponies… somepony that they loved fell ill… Cruel, isn't it? … But I really should give credit to my dear mother, whom my father loved more than me, whom my father would betray, kill, and torture his own daughter for. My mother fell under a rare illness that somepony falls under only once in a blue moon. My father, unable to find a cure, killed me, crushed my soul into dust, and cured my mother. "
Blue Fire was utterly shocked.
"Oh, you didn't know that you had to crush a Reaper's soul to obtain its dust?"
The voice scoffed.
"Just like every other wretched pony in the world of Rainum." She spat. "Yes, you have to crush a Reaper's soul to get the dust. Having your soul ground to pieces is a torturous experience, and I should know. My own father crushed mine."
The voice laughed bitterly.
"There are two ways to kill a Reaper. The most painful one is if they kill themselves. A Reaper inflicting harm on itself is almost as torturous as having your soul ground to dust. The second way is if you cut off a Reaper's wings and then kill it. Most ponies prefer the second one. Only a very select few can tolerate watching, much less, drive a Reaper to the point of suicide. Cutting off wings is much quicker, and less painful for the both of them." The voice said quietly. "However…"
Suddenly, a young filly appeared in front of him. She looked exactly like Tia, except her hair was little messier, her sweater was red instead of purple, and she had black, soulless eyes, which were shooting right through him. Her wings were spread out majestically beside her, her crown glowing in the darkness.
"You can see which way my father chose." She said, barely above a whisper.