The Reaper

by Blade Trail

Chapter 2: ...Makes You Smaller?

As Reaper sat by the the remains of last night’s campfire, he reflected on the previous day’s events and was forced to admit a rather uncomfortable fact: he was small. At first he had assumed that the animals that had surrounded him back at the temple were giants, perhaps the result of some twisted experiment like the one that had produced that damnable ape, Winston, but that didn’t explain why everything else was massive. The now ruined temple, the trees in the forest, the rocks on the path, even the bugs in the air - everything around him was far larger than it should be.

Then there was his own body. Reaper looked down at himself again, a small part of him hoping to see something different from the last dozen or so times he had checked, but it was no use. His limbs were still short and stubby, and his body was still disproportionately small compared to his head. A cool breeze blew past and nearly bowled him over, confirming that even his weight was much reduced.

But most disturbing of all, he didn’t feel hungry. There was no pain coursing through him, no aching need demanding that he kill and consume. He could still feel the darkness somewhere inside him, healing his wounds and allowing him to materialize his guns, but it felt...distant. Last night, for the first time in years, Reaper had actually slept. He hadn’t been tired, and he hadn’t felt like he needed to, but he had wanted to try it, and he succeeded. He had drifted into unconsciousness and nothing had happened. It was almost as if he was free, as if his mind was once again his own.

Yeah, don’t get those hopes up, Reyes’ voice said dryly. It’s never that easy.

“You’re scowling again,” Daring Do commented.

“I’m wearing a mask,” Reaper said indignantly.

“Your mask is scowling, then,” Daring said with a shrug.

Daring returned to checking her supplies as the small, white faced creature returned to its incoherent grumbling. After she had gotten them both out of the temple and into the safety of the nearby woods, she had peppered Reaper with a barrage of questions. All she had managed to get for her efforts, though, was a name, some threats, and a shot from those strange weapons Reaper could pull out of nowhere.

Remembering the shot, Daring rubbed her muzzle. It had hurt, but not by much, like getting hit by an angry foal. Reaper had clearly been perturbed by how little the attack had bothered her, and hadn’t said much of anything since. That, plus the fact that he had been examining himself and his surroundings non stop told Daring that Reaper’s current form wasn’t his true one. And in all likelihood, Reaper was just as clueless as her as to what had happened back in the temple.

“Hungry?” Daring asked Reaper as she finished her inventory and pulled out some bread from her saddlebags.

“No...” Reaper replied. His voice had a tinge of disbelief. “No, I’m not.”

Daring shrugged and broke off a piece of bread. “Suit yourself,” she said before popping the bread into her mouth. “We’ve got a long flight ahead of us, though, and I don’t want to hear any complaints about how much you’re starving because you skipped breakfast.”

“Trust me, I can handle a little hunger,” Reaper said.

She’d best hope it’s just a little, Reyes’ voice added in his head.

Reaper watched silently as Daring finished her bread. With the darkness still somehow sustaining him, he didn’t need to eat or sleep or even breathe. While last night had proven that he could sleep, he still didn’t need to. Nor did he need to breathe, as proven by the fact that he had successfully stopped breathing for five minutes earlier. He still did breathe, though, both out of habit and the need to use the air to speak. He figured that he probably couldn’t eat, but he had never tried. He could never bring himself to put food into his mouth while his entire body had screamed for blood. Now, though...but that was a problem for another time.

Reaper had bigger concerns than regular food. For one thing, he was casually conversing with a horse that could fly. Granted, he had seen enough in his long life that this was no longer surprising to him, but he knew that it was out of the ordinary. Said horse also seemed to have no knowledge or fear of him. Even in his current tiny form, Reaper was sure that he was still a highly recognizable figure. He had even introduced himself as “Reaper”. And yet the horse had not given any indication that she had recognized him as the international terrorist that he was. Even after he shot her, she showed neither fear nor contempt.

To Reaper, that left only two possibilities: either he was in some enclosed area hidden from the rest of the world where experiments on talking animals were taking place, or he was in another world altogether. The former made some sense. He could even rationalize that whoever was transforming these animals was also responsible for transforming him. That said, he was leaning towards the latter. It was the simpler explanation, and required less mental gymnastics. He only had to accept one bitter fact…

Winston’s theories were right. Alternate realities do exist, Reyes’ voice said, completing Reaper’s train of thought. And we owe him a year’s supply of peanut butter.

“Alright, ready or not, it’s time to go,” Daring said as she dusted herself off and rose to her hooves.

“You never told me where we’re going...or why,” Reaper said.

“You never asked. You never tried to leave, either,” Daring replied as she hefted her saddlebags. She approached Reaper and gently picked him up in her hooves.

How is she doing that? Reyes’ voice asked. Hooves shouldn’t be able to grasp things!

“Not the time,” Reaper mumbled to the voice.

Daring heard him. “I can understand that. All of this is new to you, isn’t it?”

Reaper grunted. It seemed that Daring Do, despite her ridiculous name, wasn’t stupid, and he wasn’t sure how to feel about that. On one hand, it was a good thing that his current mode of transportation and only source of information was competent. On the other hand, his previous experiences with smart animals were far from pleasant.

Let’s be honest here, for all the flak we gave him for being a genetically modified moon monkey, Winston wasn’t that bad. He was a bit of a dreamer, but he did good work. Most of the time, he was reasonable, too, Reyes’ voice said. We’re the bad guys, not him.

“Exactly,” Reaper said.

Daring nodded, once again thinking Reaper was talking to her. “I figured as much. You’re not much for asking questions, but the curious looks you give everything are a dead giveaway.”

Reaper was about to say something about his mask again when Reyes’ voice cut him off.

Can we not push that mask thing? We haven’t seen a mirror, but it’s probably our actual face in this form. We’re just going to have to get used to people, or animals, seeing our expressions again.

Knowing the voice was right, Reaper just sighed and dropped the subject. Daring took off at the same time and didn’t notice.

“I suppose I should be thankful for that,” Daring said as she flew. “I’d really rather not have to answer twenty million obvious questions. I’m an adventurer, not a lecturer. And I work alone, so I’m not interested in dragging you around with me either. That said, there are some questions I need answered before I let you go, but I doubt you’d be able to help me with them even if you wanted to. And I know you don’t want to.”

One night together, and she already knows us so well, Reyes’ voice commented. Reaper stayed silent.

Having heard nothing, Daring continued. “So I’m taking us to go see some ponies that could help us both, and maybe take you off my hooves while they’re at it. That’s the why. As for the where...if you’re as clueless as you seem, then the name won’t mean anything to you, but it’s a small village on the edge of a forest and not too far from the capital city.”

Reaper knew that she was probably right about the name, but he still wanted to know. “What’s it called?”

“It’s called Ponyville, Reaper. I’m taking us to Ponyville.”

Comments

[AnormalUnicornPony]

Ok. Now the size difference and lack of effect from weapon fires makes sense.

It doesn't. But in a good way.

[Kanna]

So he is like the cute spray for reaper.

I like reaper more when he is the real one.

[Hotel_Chicken]

Love itty-bitty Reaper so far.