A cryptic Riddle left by forces unknown placed on Reaper's grave predicts a major event in the future. What does it entail? What will happen? Why is it connected to Reaper?
CAUTION: This is a sequel, go read WOLVERINES! first to get the full gist of just what the hay is going on.
LAST TIME ON DRAGONBALL Z! Wait... Wrong story. Anyway, it seems that you guys haven't figured the little riddle out. Readers, I am disappoint. Anyway, I'll just let the princesses try and figure it out for you. I wrote the dang thing and I don't know if they are right or wrong... Take it away, girls!
Luna barged into Celestia's room, rousing her from her sleep. Celestia groggily wiped at her eyes, saying,
"Lu-Lu? What's wrong?"
Luna stood there, with a face full of confusion and concern. Her voice quavered a bit as she said,
"Celly, I found something on Reaper's grave. It was a message, from something, or someone."
She teleported a scroll from a nearby desk, etching in the riddle with a quill that she levitated with her magic. It read,
The villain lies slain, the family saved, the friends safe, but the one with two and four inside is lost.
Of the 13 of blood from his coming, and the longest of birth, the grass takes it's domain in the water above the billowing verdant sea.
The creature of four does not remember the two, but yet it will find itself drug back to you.
When night intersects the longest day, the lost will find its way, and in the coming of power, and in the chime of the hour, the two within the four will once again feel the bright of day.
The two will become four, and the four become six, but the two will leave and forever walk away.
Celestia looked at the riddle, seated on her flank next to her sister, pondering at what it meant. Suddenly, Celestia reached for a quill with her own magic. She scribbled under the first line, saying,
"We know that we, the six, and Nightmare were all killed, and Reaper died because of it. It would make sense to say that it was referencing that for the first line, making the one with two and four inside Reaper. This actually makes sense, Reaper is actually a pony, making him a bipedal that is actually a quadruped."
Luna said, with a bit of uncertainty,
"But there is always a margin of error, we cannot resolutely say that this is referring to Reaper."
Celestia responded with a calm tone,
"But, if we sit around and ponder the different aspects and possibilities, then we would accomplish nothing. For now, we base it off of Reaper."
Luna nodded, and began to tap on the second line. She said,
"And if this riddle is referring to Reaper, then the phrases 'of blood' and 'of birth' would be talking about us, you being the mother, giving birth to him, and I being his aunt, related by blood."
Celestia tilted her head, and said, with a hint of apprehension,
"If we are the subject to that line, then could it also be talking about the moon and the sun? If so, then would it be talking about the Summer Sun Celebration and the thirteenth full moon?"
Luna looked at her sister, tapping the quill to her teeth as she thought.
"You could be right. If I am not mistaken, I believe that the full moon is appearing the night before."
Celestia scribbled over the first half of the second line explaining what it meant. She looked at the other half with a dumbfounded expression. She said,
"The grass takes it's domain in the water over the billowing verdant sea? It seems to be a bit of a redundant sentence."
Luna looked at the line, and said in a agreeable tone,
"I agree with you, sister. Perhaps one of the monks will know, the blind always have a different way of perceiving things. For now, let's skip it for now. It says that the creature of the four will not remember the two. What would that mean?"
Celestia began to tear up, and said,
"Perhaps it is telling us that if we eventually found a way to revert Reaper back to his old self, he would totally forget what he did in his human form. But, would we even find a way to revert him? I had layered the enchantments on so thick and plentiful, it actually changed his cell and gene composure. That wouldn't be able to be reversed."
Luna rubbed Celestia's back. Once Celestia got her composure back, she turned their attention back onto the riddle with a clearing of her throat.
"It says that the lost, presumably Reaper will get back when the night intersects the longest day... So that means..."
Celestia's voice was lost in thought as she automatically filled in for her sister.
"An eclipse..."
Luna stared at the scroll covered in markings and scribblings, guessing at the magnitude of what is going to happen. The sun and the moon all affected magic in different ways, the sun charging magical spells that took on the dangerous and powerful energies, while the moon affected calmer aspects of magic that dealt with matters of the mind. To have them both at the height of their power and in the sky at the same time would give a boost of power to everything in the wide world of Equestria. Hopefully, it wouldn't cause anything to explode. Much. Celestia said,
"So this means that he will hopefully appear somehow in the eclipse, hopefully signaled by some kind of... green. I still don't get that verse. The rest of the line says that when he comes into his power he will turn back into a human, seeing that it said the two within the four."
Luna pointed at the last line, stating with a bit of confusion,
"But this says that the two inside of the four will go away forever after he turns to six."
Celestia's eyes raked over the second-to-last line, and stated with a bit of triumph,
"It also says that Reaper will come into power. I would think that it would effect the four becoming the six. Perhaps he will appear without wings or horn?"
Luna said, with a sense of finality,
"Then he will turn into a human for a time when he gets his powers back, then turn into a pony again."
Celestia hugged Luna, a smile plastered on her face, a real one, not those little things she had been forcing on her features in the royal court.
"Do you know what this means Lu-Lu? This means we have a chance of getting him back."
Luna and Celestia went to bed shortly thereafter, the excitement of being able to see Reaper alive again and the mental strain of perfectly timing the eclipse so that it wouldn't cause too much damage to things. When they woke up, Celestia called a close to the royal business for the day, stating it to be a crisis in the royal family. Nice little loophole when it did actually relate to that. The Royal Sisters bustled into the innermost rooms inside of the castle, going through the labyrinth that lead to the Temple of the Chronos. They were going to see the reader of the scroll. A quiet hallway lead to a large central chamber, filled with aging ponies bustling around and maintaining the statues, cleaning, or similar duties. One of them noticed the two princesses, bowed, and scuttled off deeper into the temple. Luna said,
"So is Simon the Herbalist still alive?"
Celestia nodded, and said,
"He is. I don't know how much longer, though, I can feel that he is going to go soon."
Luna had a little smile grace her features.
"Good, I always liked him, he always spoke to me as an equal. I liked to be able to open up to him and get a straight answer."
There was a slight lull in their conversation as they saw the same old stallion returning with an even older-looking earth pony stallion with milky-white globes for eyes. Celestia immediately recognized him, stepping forward to help close the gap. She called out to him,
"Hello, Simon! How have you been lately?"
The old pony shook his head with a little chuckle.
"How have I been lately? I'ts been five years and she greets me like that?"
Celestia stopped in front of Simon, a guilty frown on her muzzle. As Luna stepped forward, Simon's ear flicked in her direction.
"Is that... Luna? Are you finally back from the moon?"
Luna had a warm smile, he remembered who she was, not to fade in the memory of an immensely old stallion. She said,
"I thought you said you couldn't know everything about an Alicorn, Simon."
Simon let out a short laugh, and said,
"But I have known you for a very long time, Luna. I know how you walk, and how you sound when you take a step. When one sense goes, the rest get much sharper, even if I am old."
Simon nodded at the stallion who was accompanying him as he said,
"Now, if you would be so kind as to join me with a bit of morning tea, and we can talk about whatever you've come here for over it."
Simon changed directions and headed farther into the sparse temple's depths, the Alicorn sisters trailing close behind. In the innermost chamber, there was a large banquet hall, Simon nestling himself on the largest seat at the head. A steaming cup of tea was brought, one for each of them currently sitting at the table. Simon groped for the cup, and his hooves picked it up with practiced skill once he found where it was. Taking a sip and placing the cup down, he said,
"Now, what do I have the pleasure of meeting with you again?"
Luna pulled out the riddle, and read it to him, beginning with the actual words, and ending with what they have figured out so far. A look of concentration crossed the stallion's wizened features. He said,
"I see. The verse that talks about the grass over the verdant sea? It's easy to figure out if you're blind. A verdant sky would be a forest canopy, and the sea of blue would be the sky. As for the grass taking the domain in the sky, I guess that a color, or a sign in the shade of green would take place."
Simon paused to take another sip from the tea he had, cleared his throat, and continued,
"And I would guess this would be your son the entire thing is talking about? Why else would you be fretting over the four becoming six?"
Celestia shook her head with a smile, and said,
"I wouldn't put it past you to figure out who it was about. Your perception is astounding, you even predicted when I was carrying him."
Simon nodded, and said,
"Could you tell me why he is dead?"
Celestia explained what had happened over the past few months, including what she had surmised from talking to the six when she was teleported to the sun. At the end of the story, Simon held his hooves under his chin, lids closed over sightless, cloudy eyes. He finally spoke up after he spent a good amount of time immobile. His voice was a bit more grave than per usual to his normally jaunty tone.
"Send him to me when he finds himself in crisis. I can set hims straight again."
Celestia knew that when he had a tone like that, he was completely sure of whatever he was talking about. The scroll of chronos not only blinded the reader, and gave them an immensely long life, but the ability to peer into the future at completely random times.
"We won't forget, Simon."
The wizened old pony shook his head lightly to ward off the sluggishness that came after scrying into the future, and said,
"Now, don't let me keep you down here, Princesses. I am sure that you have quite a bit of planning to do, concerning that eclipse. Go! I have said my piece and helped you."
Celestia and Luna got up after saying to their farewells to the old stallion, and went up to the private balcony behind the throne room to press out the creases in their plan of action.
--- --- ---
He was standing on the precipice of sea, the tides hungrily trying to lap his feet up with the eddying tides. Reaper looked around, and saw a barren landscape greet his eyes, he was alone. Sighing, Reaper gazed into the dark, frothing waters before him and pondered what to do. The sea crashed, never stopping with it's repetitive cadence. A breeze blew reaper's hair around as he stood there, not knowing what to do.
So he stood there,
And stood there...
Staring at the sea.
Reaper's ear twitched as he sensed that someone was there in this barren landscape with him, and his hands tightened into tight balls in instinct. He jumped backwards and at an angle of 180 degrees to get into a battle-ready stance. To his surprise, Reaper found himself staring at War and an unfamiliar figure. It had only purple pants, a cowl, boots, and gauntlets on his body. his head was actually a skull, eyes hidden under it's sockets. Reaper's stance slackened.
"War? Why are you here? I'm dead."
The one beside war spoke up with a dry voice that sounded like tombstones grinding together.
"I know you are dead, that's why I am here."
Reaper looked at the figure, and said,
"Then if you're death, then why are you here? I thought you already collected my soul."
War spoke up this time, his voice remaining the same as it always had,
"And that is why we are here, Reaper. We're here to see you through where you have found yourself. The brink of the abyss."
The sisters waited, and planned. Time passed, and it was almost time for the Summer Sun Celebration. They were holding it in Canterlot this year, and Celestia invited Twilight and her friends to come and be special guests to the gathering. When they gathered, Twilight could tell something was effecting Celestia, her smile was just a bit lowered, and she was a bit more flighty than usual. Being with Celestia for her entire life proved to show the slight discrepancies of her behavior. After a hour of almost unnoticeable awkwardness, Twilight brought it up.
"Princess? Can you tell me what is bothering you?"
Celestia's smile fell into a straight line, and she sighed. She said, with a bit of melancholy,
"Seems like I cannot hide anything from you, my student. I have certain... thoughts about what is going to happen in the following days. I am just worried about what will happen, if anything does."
Twilight's brain went into overdrive when she heard what her teacher said. Last time she acted like this was when Discord came back... And when Nightmare came back for the first time...
"Celestia, it isn't due to some other world-ending evil that could be released at any time again, it it?"
Twilight's brain automatically went back to Reaper, but she refrained bringing it up with the celestial Alicorn. Celestia's face suddenly sunk a bit lower, and then a genuine smile broke out on her face. Celestia said, with a chuckle,
"Of course not, Twilight. Why would you think that? I immediately told you with Discord, and I only paused to tell you about Nightmare Moon because friendship needs to be nurtured freely and without too much effort in a third party."
Twilight visibly relaxed as the danger of impending doom lifted itself from her shoulders. Twilight said, with a curious tone,
"Then what are you worrying about? This seems like a regular Summer Sun Celebration."
Celestia cocked an eye at Twilight, and said, with a bemused tone,
"You'll see, eventually. It would be very hard to miss."
Twilight didn't either to be worried, or to be confused. Celestia was the common joker, using a gag to break the tension of a regular royal meeting. But she wouldn't do that at a nationwide celebration, would she? Twilight glanced out the to the side of her sight, and saw Luna quietly snickering. This couldn't be any types of good. Twilight decided to just wait for whatever that is going to happen, happen. Celestia ushered the six towards an overlarge balcony where Celestia would be raising the sun after Luna would bring her moon down. Luna trotted over to a structure across from Celestia's sun-pedestal. It would circle the moon as it went below the horizon, and had graceful, flowing additions, to give everypony a good view of the grace that the moon. Whereas the sun's pedestal had erratic jutting protrusions. Celestia motioned for the six to stay where they were as she trotted over to her position. Making eye contact, the two sisters nodded, and Luna launched herself into the sky, floating in the air from the force of the moon. Celestia called out to Twilight, almost breaking out in chuckles,
"This is it, Twilight!"
And launched herself into the sky herself when Luna's horn flashed with a silver glow. A bright glow flashed out as the sun broke the horizon line. The moon stayed where is was. As the Sun slowly creeped up into the sky, the moon simply did not budge. Rarity nudged Twilight's shoulder with a forehoof as she asked,
"Twilight? Just what exactly are the princesses doing?"
Light's danced under Twilight's eyes as she saw the sun get steadily closer to the moon. Twilight was frantically searching in her vast knowledge database for what was happening. For all of her knowledge, Twilight, for once, came up blank. The sun continued to advance. As the sun began to get closer to the moon, all of the unicorns in the patio around the castle and the two on the balcony began to feel something tingling, something affecting their magic. A few inches more, and their horns began to involuntarily glow. Twilight felt something pulling immensely on her horn, and her magic. As she struggled to grasp what was happening, her mind got a sudden calm in the storm, and remembered what was so important about the celestial bodies. Rarity was freaking out, eyes desperately trying to lock onto her horn.
"Twilight! Twilight! TWILIGHT! What is happening to my horn?"
Twilight stared up into the sky with a blank face.
"They... Effect Magic..."
Twilight didn't move as she said, much louder,
"The celestial bodies, they effect magic! They are getting closer together, so it's creating a massive influx of magic!"
The sun began to intersect the moon. Rainbow's and Fluttershy's wings fluffed out, and RD fell out of the sky like a rock. Before she could squeak out in indignation, the glow from every unicorn horn began to glow at an even brighter light.
The sun was halfway behind the moon. The overglow from some unicorns began to shed off of their horns, floating in little balls to congregate in the air. Soon, balls of energy began to float up into the sky from across the entirety of Equestria.
The sun had eclipsed. Many things happened all at once. The princesses fell out of the sky, and when they fell, so did every earth pony in attendance of the Summer Sun Celebration. The last of the unicorn energy blasted up into the air, and a large orb collected just above the balcony from all of the unicorn magics. Twilight, Fluttershy, RD, and Rarity were all flung onto the floor to join the earth ponies as the multi-colored ball burst mid-air, unicorn magics dissipating into the sky. As the six recovered, they got up to see two smiling princesses standing over them. Almost immediately, Twilight said,
"Princesses, what was that?"
Celestia explained,
"As you already know what the sun and moon do to magic when they are out. Being up in the air, and together, not only do they effect the magic, but they are magnified almost ten-fold by each other."
Twilight began to say something, but she was interrupted by even more explosions. Little balls of green light could be seen floating over the various small towns that dotted the equestrian landscape, randomly detonating as they got to critical mass. Twilight and the six all jumped and tottered around as the last of the green sheets blasted into the air.
--- --- ---
A large, black coated draftpony stallion walks calmly along a dirt road, humming a tune under his breath. As he made his way down the road, a particularly large explosion rocks the area, and a tree begins to fall onto the path, leaving the stallion no room to go. As the tree continues to fall, he looks up at the tree with a defeated expression, and says rather flatly,
"Dammit."
Before it smashed into his body.
--- --- ---
As the six regained their senses from the last explosion, Applejack asked the princesses,
"Now, Princesses, why did ah collapse? All ah felt fer a second was me being lightheaded, and then I passed out."
RD ruffled her feathers for a second, and launched into the air once more.
"Yeah! and why did I fall out of the sky? It was like my wings couldn't keep me airborne anymore."
Celestia said,
"As well with effecting unicorn magic, the celestial bodies effects natural magic."
Luna picked up after her sister, and said with a scholarly tone,
"Natural magics are the specialties of a pony. For a Pegasus, their wings are imbuned with a special type of magic to allow them to fly. Earth ponies have a special connection with the earth, they can make it nurture and grow things better than any other pony, and it gives them superior strength and stamina. Unicorn magic the the ability to craft the magics flowing through them, creating magic spells."
RD continued floating, and said,
"So that explains why I fell out of the sky, the eclipse messed up everypony's natural magic!"
Celestia smiled at the usually brash Pegasus, and said,
"You catch on very quickly, Rainbow."
RD just rubbed the back of her head with a hoof as she floated there, blushing. Celestia turned to Twilight, and said,
"Believe it or not, that wasn't actually what I was worried about, me and Luna have been planning this for over two months now. What I was thinking about will probably happen in a few days, If I am correct."
Twilight was still confused, trying to see if this was one of Celestia's many jokes, or if she was completely being serious. However, it was still amazing to see something that has only been theorized for the past few centuries. The rest of the long day had been spent with Celestia and Luna, only a few times had a small wave of depression passed over their thoughts when they would see something that would remind them of Reaper. They said their goodbyes at the end of the carnival, after Luna brought up her moon to end the day. Twilight went home with a few notes from Celestia, and a letter to open once she got home. The six had a happy time going back to Ponyville in a chariot, and Twilight went home to find Spike asleep with a happy grin on his face. She chuckled under her breath as she went up the stairs into her room. She lazily opened the sealed mail in her bed, trying to relax with some 'light reading' before she went to sleep. Reading it, Twilight's eyes widened a bit.
My Faithful Student,
I have reasons for the eclipse. I believe that it could bring Reaper back to us. We received a message that could prophesize him coming back. If you meet anypony that could be him, or him as a human, contact me immediately. If not, then we are grasping for straws.
HRH,
Princess Celestia
Twilight went to sleep dreaming of Reaper coming back, or just meeting him one last time to thank him for all he had done for everyone in Equestria.
Alright guys, as with the last story, the updates will range from weekly to day-to-day. I predict that my posting frequency will be around every other day. Also, if you want to say something to me and you forget to say it in one post, please edit that one post under edit.
A figure stirred on a riverbank, groaning and twitching as it got up. It was a stallion. He wandered over to the riverside, gazing at his reflection. It was greeted by a burnt orange mane and eyes with a black coat. He huffed a few strands of his hair our of his face, and surveyed the area. There was a large tree across the road that winded behind him, so there was only one way to go: forward. But where was forward?
The stallion looked into the waters again and looked at himself. His hoof went up to touch his face.
"Who am I?"
He couldn't remember anything about who he was, or what he was doing on the road. It wasn't until a probing hoof reached up to the top of his head, and bumped a sore spot. The stallion didn't flinch, but concluded that he probably had amnesia. He scanned the sky, and saw that it was the morning, the sun peeking out from the horizon. The stallion looked around, trying to discern where he was. He was greeted by rolling hills, and the fain smell of apples.
Wait, apples?
He swung his large muzzle around, trying to catch a whiff of the elusive smell. The small tidbits led the stallion's eyes to a farm in the countryside, the path he was standing on currently winding it's way in a rough direction towards it. Around the farm was a massive apple farm. Deciding that it would be best to meet somepony soon, the stallion set off down the dusty path. Considering that he didn't actually have a pack, or provisions, he guessed that he wasn't very far from his home.
Hopefully, he was heading home.
--- --- ---
Twilight woke up, and decided to gather the six around to tell them about the news. A few hours after sunrise, everypony was gathered in the Library to see what Twilight was going to say. Twilight entered the sitting room with a giant grin on her face, making everyone at ease from any concerns they might of had. Twilight said,
"Girls, we have something big on our hooves."
--- --- ---
The stallion reached a crossroads between going to the farm he saw before, and a town just down the way, so the stallion went into the town, more ponies means more chances at being recognized. As he walked by a sign that said 'Ponyville', The black stallion felt the eyes of the numerous mares that lined the street rake over his large body. More disturbingly, he saw some of the stallions check him out. And not to size him up for a fight.
--- --- ---
Applejack was the first one to talk after the news.
"Welll, that's just fahn with me, sugarcube! Even if there is a low chance of it to actually work, ah think that it's good enough to just hope."
Rarity nodded along with the farmpony.
"You are quite right, darling. I think that even if we just got one day with him, we would all be just a bit happier."
Pinkie Pie practically exploded with energy as she bounced around the library.
"And if he does come-oh I hope he does- then I can throw a 'yay you saved everyone in equestria' party for him, and he would be happy, and we would be happy because he wasn't dead anymore, and he would be happy because he wouldn't be dead anymore-"
Pinkie Pie stopped suddenly, and said,
"There's a newpony in town. My pinkie sense hasn't lied to me yet!"
She suddenly zipped away through the doorway and went into the town. As the door slammed shut behind her, Twilight shrugged her actions off as Pinkie Pie just being Pinkie Pie. Deciding that Pinkie's departure was a good time as any to disband the meeting. Twilight said,
"Well, that's all I wanted to tell you. Thanks for coming by."
--- --- ---
The black coated stallion neared a fountain in the middle of the town, water merrily bubbling out of the faucets and falling in a main area. He looked into his reflection and looked at his straight, wild-worn hair. It didn't have any styling to it, it just limply hung to the side, like they wore them back in the primal age. Whipping the burnt orange strands that fell into his eyes, he saw in the reflection a shockingly Pink pony standing next to him, a giant smile stretching the features of her face. She drew in a mighty gasp of air, and shrieked before blasting off away from him. He cocked an eyebrow up and muttered under his breath,
"Well, at least I like that reaction better..."
She didn't take to time to ogle him before she zipped off to wherever she was going. Even if she was exceedingly creepy, the stallion was a bit more comfortable with her seemingly platonic actions. He huffed into his hair, and turned to try and talk to some of the ponies to see if he lived here, or, possibly, a place to sleep.
--- --- ---
Pinkie Pie exploded into Twilight's library, shooting out a stream of seemingly unending questions as she did,
"Hey twilight, I just saw that new pony, it was a Stallion! He's really big and tall-I wonder if he's bigger than big-mac! Hey Twilight, you hear of a new pony coming to live here? Would you know where that certain pony would live, would ya? Would ya?"
Twilight blinked once, letting her now-delayed hearing catch up from the verbal onslaught from the pink party pony. Once she got the full implications of what Pinkie said, she replied with,
"Actually no, I don't remember hearing about any new ponies from either Mayor Mare, or from regular gossip. So, I can't say where he would be living. Sorry, Pinkie."
Pinkie's smile went from face-shattering to muscle-straining as she said,
"Then how could I figure out where he lives? Or what's his name?"
Twilight didn't even think twice about Pinkie not thinking of the most obvious answer.
"Well Pinkie, for a start, you could talk to him. It would be much easier to get those answers from the pony himself."
Pinkie let out a long, drawn-out,
"OOOOooooohhhhhh..."
Before rocketing off out of the Library again. Twilight shook her head as she went back to cataloging the Library.
--- --- ---
The black stallion wandered down a random walkway. His ears perked up at the sound of many ponies walking around, the talk between a buyer and a seller, and the smell of freshly cooked food. His stomach growled explosively, letting the black stallion know about its displeasure of being left empty. He halfheartedly walked into the square where the market was situated. As he walked about the perimeter of it, he was whistled over by a kindly looking earth pony mare standing behind an apple stand. When he meekly walked up to the stand, the earth pony said,
"Now, ah know ah see a new pony in town when I see one. Whut's yer name, partner?"
The stallion cringed, he didn't even think about who he was, or what he had been doing before he had lost his memory. He said,
"I actually don't know. Last thing I remember is seeing a tree fall onto me."
The earth pony smiled, and walked around the stand, slapping him on the withers as she said,
"Don' worry none, sugarcube. Ah think ah have somepony in mind who can help you with yer problem."
The stallion cocked an eyebrow, and asked
"And who would that be?"
The farm pony said,
"Ah'm surprised that you don't remember her name... Or maybe its cuz yew have amnesia."
The mare smiled sheepishly up at the black draftpony.
"Oh well, lets just get goin'."
The stallion said,
"Wait, what about your stand? I wouldn't want to make you lose any sales today."
The farmpony brought her two front hooves up to her lips, and blew. After the sharp whistle, a large red draftpony arrived and sat behind the counter. The Farmpony teased him by saying,
"Hey Big Mac! We've got a pony that might pass yew in the size department!"
Big Mac swiveled his head and looked the black stallion up and down. All he said in reply was,
"Eeeeyup."
As they walked away in the same direction that he came in, the farm mare introduced herself,
"Looks like ah fergot to introduce mahself. Mah name's Applejack."
The stallion nodded, and said,
"Nice to meet you, Applejack."
The rest of the trip to the Library was spent in silence, the stallion not having the initiative to start a converstion and Applejack not thinking of anything to say to an amnesiac. When they arrived at the Library, Applejack walked through the door, and shouted,
"Hey, Twilight! Ah need yew to come here fer a second!"
There was a little yelp, and the thumping of something heavy followed by a door swinging open in the hallway above the stairs. Twilight said,
"Applejack! Could you knock before coming in, please? You almost made me flatten Spike."
Applejack looked genuinely sorry for what happened, but said, while motioning with her hoof towards the black draftpony standing next to her.
"Hey Twi', here's the newpony in town. He says that he can't remember anythin', so could yew do some of yer fancy magic to see if he has amnesia?"
Twilight took in the large, worried looking stallion standing before her, and said,
"I don't think it would be problem, give me a moment."
She looked him over once again, and she said,
"Now, if you could just stay still for a second, that would help a lot."
The stallion nodded, and stood stock-still as Twilight's horn lit up and his head got that same glow that the unicorn's horn had. After a few seconds of feeling lightheaded, the magic shut off, and Twilight's horn died down. She said,
"Yeah, you definitely have amnesia. Seeing that you don't know where you came from, the only thing to do now is to just help you get a regular life going until your memories eventually come back. Right now, you need a name."
Right then a Pink ball of energy blasted in through an open window. The large stallion's ears flicked over to the rapidly approaching mare, but was too late to get out of the way. Before he knew it, the stallion was on his back with a loud thud, and a babble of words in his ears.
"Hey there Mr. Mystery Stallion! What's your name!? My name's Pinkie Pie! Where do you live? Do you like cupcakes? Where did you live before you came here? What's up with your cutie mark? How'd you get it?"
The big black stallion blinked and just got out,
"What."
Before the pink pony on top of him was pulled off by Twilight. Getting up from the floor, Applejack explained everything to Pinkie. Pinkie's face went sad for a moment, and she said,
"Oh no! I wouldn't ever want to forget all of my friends completely! I know so many, I would feel so alone!" Her face perked up as realization dawned on her face. "I know what we can do! We can throw you a party! We can have streamers and balloons and hats and cake! But... what would we call you?"
The stallion stood with a sad expression when Pinkie asked the last question. Pinkie saw the expression, and walked over to him to hug him about the shoulders. She said,
"Don't worry. We'll help you get your memory back. All we need to do is see what your good at, and then have you do it! Maybe that'll get you remembering who you are."
Twilight walked over to the side of the big stallion, looking at his cutie mark with curiosity. She said,
WARNING: this chapter contains graphic images of innocents being killed. These innocents are american, and as such, If you are offended by it, skip the flashbacks or just the entire chapter.
Reaper continued staring at the dead, dark depths flowing before him. He turned around, and said,
"You're here to help me, huh? What for?"
Death said, his voice expressionless,
"We are here to help you with the trials forced upon you by the strict tenants of death. One must first find inner peace and equality before they can move on."
Reaper said, voice full of tiredness and apathy,
"Then what do I need to do? I am so tired..."
War said apologetically,
"The path to equality is paved to the cause of death. I guess that you know what this entails."
Reaper put his face in his hands. He moaned out,
"I already killed her seven times. Seven FUCKING times. Now you want me to end her an eighth?"
War walked up to reaper, and put a hand on his shoulder.
"I know what it's like. You have personally gotten yourself through multiple wars, and you finally gave up your life to save a world that you didn't even live on for a year. You're tired, but you need to get through this to finally rest."
Reaper just looked up from his hands. An unhealthy pallor seemed to drain any sign of health or stamina from both him and his surroundings. As the last of his color dropped away from his face, a black miasma rolled into a small basin just a few feet away from the shore. As the mist faded away into the air, it revealed a large, pitch-black mare laughing manically into the featureless sky. As she recovered, she said,
"I will make death too good for you, Reaper! Come, pay for what you have done to me!"
"...Fuck."
As Reaper sunk down into a fighting position, he looked down at his body. the only things he had on were a pair of combat boots and army pants tucked into them. He called out to War, saying,
"War! Where is my armor!"
War said with a flat tone,
"It's gone. Left with your body of flesh."
Reaper just groaned and launched himself at the large figure of Nightmare Moon. They both hit the ground a few feet away, with Reaper having a firm headlock on the Alicorn. One arm was wrapped around the throat just under the jaw, and the other hand was wrapped around her horn. He was getting smashed behind the head from Nightmare's wings and her horn began to glow. Reaper growled out,
"I'll be having NONE of that..."
And his grip on Nightmare's horn tightened, knocking her focus out of whack as he stood up and threw her away from him. She recovered quickly, and shot off a darkened eldritch blast straight at his heart. Reaper began to move his hands up towards his chest to deflect it, but it had already pierced his chest before his hand could even get up to it. Reaper stared at the gaping wound as he fell over, just saying,
"What..."
As he thudded against the ground of the underworld dreamscape, his mind was transported to a memory.
--- --- ---
He was standing in a helicopter with three other Juggernauts. Over the radiocom, Reaper shouted in Russian,
"So does everyone know why we are here!?"
The three all grunted in affirmation. He said,
"Good! Now, we know that Makarov IS here. Be careful of ambushes and the mercs. They probably have explosives and high-caliber weapons. We may be almost untouchable for most weapons, but explosives and high-caliber gunfire will take you down eventually. Alright, let's make sure that this terrorist won't be able to hurt Russia!"
The Helicopter landed, and the four all filed out of it. they were in a clearing in a forest, a path though the trees leading to their mark. Reaper closed the door and pounded on the side, telling the chopper to take off. He called out again, saying,
"There are four other squads, all with four Juggernauts. We are the spearhead. We get to take the bastard out. Move out."
The four moved out, Reaper taking point as they advanced through the forest path. When they got to the treeline, there was a large house standing alone inside of the dense forest. Reaper checked all of the directions of a possible ambush, and told the group to advance. He contacted the other groups when they got to a car.
"This is spearhead, reporting in. Squads, callback."
He waited a moment as one after another, the squads reported back.
"This is demolitions, reporting. Sweep squad, reporting. Lab Rats, reporting. This is assault squad, reporting in."
Reaper motioned for the group around him to stop. He said to the other groups,
"Alright we're all here. Demo, Assault, get in and clear. We will go in once demo gets the flattener charges in. Sweep and lab rat goes in once we get the groceries. Go."
A Juggernaut turned to Reaper, and said,
"Crimson! We need to get in as soon as Assault gets in! They're starting to evac!"
Reaper swore under his breath as he stood up. Jeeps were beginning to ride out into the forest. He said,
"Crossmarks, good job. New plans, men. Rush the base, leave no man alive."
Reaper let out a war cry and rushed the front door, putting his LMG to his shoulder and releasing a controlled burst as a merc stepped into the doorway toting a Barret sniper rifle. He ran into the living room, spraying in a wide arc to catch a few mercs unaware to the sudden attack. Ten more were in the room as he took cover behind a counter top near the edge of the sparse room. The rest of the squad filed into the room as he blind-fired at where he guessed where the gunshots were fired from. He heard a few gratifying yells and meaty thumps as three fell to the bullets. He called out to his teammates, saying,
"I'll lay down some suppressing fire, throw flashbangs!"
He got up on his knees, and fired a wall of bullets at where the mercs were taking cover. the little cylindrical objects tinked into the next room where they were standing, and Reaper ducked under cover as he waited for the flashbangs to go off. He popped back up after the grenades did their work. The mercenaries fell from their cover. It was like shooting fish in a barrel. He called out to the squad,
"Condition check!"
They replied with an all clear. Sweeping and securing the house were the remaining two squads's job. Reaper flicked his two hands towards the stairs. Makarov and his inner circle should be there in the upper floor. Reaper took point again as they made their way up the staircase and to the only locked door. Putting a breach charge on the door, Reaper put up his three fingers and counted down to one, activating the charge. Quickly whipping around the corner, Reaper checked down his sights into the room to find stacks of C4 lining the room with nothing but a picture of Makarov sitting on the pile. Reaper turned around and pushed his squadmates down the stairs, screaming,
"GET THE FUCK OUT OF THE BUILDING! GO! GO! GO!"
They all went tumbling down to the bottom floor as Reaper grabbed them all and began to carry them out of the building. He felt the house shake from a different explosion, and a voice screamed out,
"DEMO SQUAD AMBUSHED I'M THE LAST ONE LEFT, I DON'T KNOW-"
He was silenced and soon thereafter another explosion rocked the other side and Reaper heard another voice scream out,
"SWEEP AND LAB SQUADS AMBUSHED! HOW DID THEY GET THOSE C4 THERE?! WE ARE NOT GETTING ROUTED!"
Reaper doggedly kept on dragging his near-unconscious group out of the house as an explosion rocked the second floor, propelling them out of the door. When he landed, bullets began whizzing through the smoke, landing precariously near his position. He got his LMG from it's sling wrapped around his body and began squeezing rounds downrange. Two of the three Juggernauts got up from where they were lying down. He called out to the two,
"Blackwing, White Phosphorus, we're surrounded, and we are the last ones left of the attacking forces! We NEED to stay alive, get to cover and get damn Crossmarks off his ass!"
Blackwing grabbed Crossmarks by the back of the collar and drug him to the car where they were originally waiting by. Reaper shot wildly around in the slowly settling smoke to try and cover his teammates's movements. Reaper slid over the hood and landed next to WP. He shouted at him,
"Get some of those homebrew firebombs you were boasting about earlier and get them around the perimeter! I want to see those bastards burn."
Taking out a grenade, he pulled the pin and haphazardly threw it into the dust. He tried the radiocom again.
"THIS IS SPEARHEAD! WE ARE ONE INJURED! STATUS REPORT!"
There was static.
"I REPEAT, STATUS. REPORT!"
Even more static.
Reaper cursed and sent a message to HQ with his nanobots.
HEAD QUARTERS INQUIRY: IS MISSION SUCCESSFUL?
FIELD REPORT: NEGATIVE. TEAMS 2-5 TERMINATED. TAKING HEAVY FIRE. UNIT 22364 INJURED.
He called out to Blackwing as he shot at the now-visible mercs that were slowly closing in on their position.
"How is Crossmarks!?"
Blackwing popped up beside him and shot at his own targets.
"Bastard took a splinter to the spine! If we can't get him to HQ soon, they'll have to deactivate the poor bastard."
Reaper shot another round, catching an enemy between the eyes. Suddenly, a blazing wall of flames sprung up from the ground, catching the rest of the advancing enemies in a conflagration. Reaper smirked under his helmet, and said,
"Burn, you bastards."
The three Juggernauts sunk down behind the car as assessed their wounds. Blackwing had gotten winged and WP had a small hole to the side. Both very small injuries. They all put their attentions to their fallen comrade. Blackwing took off Crossmarks's helmet to reveal piercing blue eyes and dirty blond short cropped hair. His face was contorted into a grimace as a small pool of blood gathered around him. He looked down, and Crossmarks's face drained of all color. He said,
"Oh... That can't be good."
Reaper just ruffled Crossmarks's hair. He shook his head, and stood up as Blackwing took out his medical kit to work his medical magic. He noticed movement in the bushes behind them. He lifted his LMG at the ruffles and called out the callsign. After all, it could be lab rat or sweep company.
"MISSION CODE!"
The rustling stopped for a second, then renewed moving at a faster pace. Reaper figured that they heard him but couldn't discern what he said, or couldn't respond.
"MISSION CODE!"
A kevlar-clad figure emerged from the fringe of the forest. He kept the iron sights trained on it's forehead. White Phosphorus got up and looked over at the figure. He said with a bit of confusion,
"I don't remember anyone with those markings..."
Reaper knew that it was a bad sign. He called out again,
"MISSION. CODE!"
He muttered under his breath,
"Say brown bear, damn it. Brown bear..."
The figure reached behind it and brought out a desert eagle.WP shouldered his LMG and shouted,
"NOT FRIENDLY, NOT FRIENDLY!"
A shot rang out.
WP was laying on the ground, a hole in his helmet. Reaper didn't even flinch as he pumped his entire clip into the enemy juggernaut's helmet. It stumbled and shot another round, narrowly missing Reaper. He heard a thunk and a thud, looking behind him to see Blackwing slumped on the ground, the round catching him in the heart. Reaper cracked, and walked towards the now prostrate form of the other Juggernaut. He picked it up and ripped off it's helmet. It was a man, staring defiantly into Reaper's gloomy visage of a faceplate. Reaper took the juggernaut and broke his back by smashing him on his knee. Reaper lay the enemy's head next to the still raging fire, allowing the heat and eventual spread to take care of his enemy.
Reaper walked back to Cross, who was lying dejectedly and gazing at his two dead friends. Reaper sat heavily next to the stricken Juggernaut, and helped Cross up to a sitting position and using himself as a crutch for him. Cross said,
"They're dead, Crimson. I can't believe it. I feel like I'm going to join them soon."
Reaper brought Cross into a hug, and said,
"No, Cross. If you think that, you'll actually die. Evac is on the way, last another half an hour."
Cross just sobbed a bit and said,
"No Crimson, I'm going to die. I can't feel my legs anymore, and I'm loosing too much blood."
Reaper just stared off into the leafy horizon, not wanting to accept the fact that Makarov had robbed him of an entire company of Juggernauts. After a minuet of silence, Cross spoke up again.
"Crimson, you don't take off your suit when we get to HQ. Ever. Could you take off your helmet so I could see your face?"
Reaper huffed and sent an inquiry to HQ.
FIELD DEMAND TO HQ: ALLOW THE REMOVAL OF UNIT 00001's HELMET.
HQ INQUIRY: STATE REASON
FIELD: DYING WISHES OF A COMRADE
HQ APPROVAL
Reaper reached up and placed his hands on his helmet. He removed it with extreme care and sureness. When he removed it fully, he looked down at Cross's astonished face. He said,
"So what they said was true..."
Reaper nodded and closed his eyes. Placing a hand on Cross's forehead, he hummed a familiar tune. As he got to the last verse, he felt Cross's lungs fill up one long shuddering breath, and then fall silent. He got out a detonator that was in his pocket and flipped open the top. When he got to the last note of the song, he pressed down on the button. The demo squad did their job with placing the explosives before they died, and the house practically vaporized from the force of the blast. Reaper got up and placed Cross's body on the ground, hands resting on his chest. He placed the bodies of WP and Blackwing in the same position flanking Cross's body. He sent a field report to HQ.
REPORT: TOTAL DEVASTATION. 100% CASUALTY RATE FOR BOTH SIDES EXCLUDING UNIT 00001. SEND BOMBING RUN AND TELL THE HELICOPTER TO LAND AT UNIT 00001'S CO-ORDINATES
Another shot rung out, missing Reaper completely. He turned to see one of Makarov's inner circle limping towards him with a Desert Eagle in hand. A wicked smile carved it's way on Reaper's perverted features as he reached behind him to grab his blade. Throwing his combat knife, he struck the mercenary on the elbow, making the arm limp and immobile. As he ran towards the helpless man, an image flashed up in the corner of his sight.
HQ INQUIRY: PLAN OF ACTION?
FIELD RESPONSE: INTERROGATION.
--- --- ---
Reaper got up from the ground, clutching at where a rather large hole was progressively getting smaller. He looked down at the now smoking scar and mentally pondered,
"Well, that was faster than the time when I..."
He remembered doing something with someone... But who? He couldn't remember places, names, or faces. Just being somewhere after the incident in Washington D.C. It wasn't good for Reaper to not remember. He turned to War and shouted,
"I can't remember! Why can't I remember?"
Nightmare stood glowering at Reaper as War said, apologetically,
"In the afterlife, you cannot actually die. So if you suffer a mortal wound, your memories are slowly removed from you."
Reaper growled under his breath and turned back to Nightmare. He would need to fight much more carefully, he didn't have... whatever he had when he could remember. He got in close to the large pony standing before him and swung out with his fist, connecting to Nightmare's jaw. She brought her head back and reared upon her back legs, flailing her hooves out powerfully. One blow struck Reaper under his jaw and sent his head snapping back. He kicked Nightmare away from him and spat out a few teeth, tasting the all-too familiar tang of blood. The difference was that it was his own this time. Spitting away more crimson fluid, Reaper launched himself at Nightmare, and latching onto the side of her neck, he allowed his teeth to sink into the supple flesh and release Nightmare's own supply of blood. With a roar of rage, Nightmare flung Reaper away from her neck and pierced him through the chest with a bolt of black energy.
Reaper lay there, pain spreading through his body. He slowly got back up on his feet, arms and leg muscles clenching and spasming under his skin, and dark energy bolts traveling their way down Reaper's appendages. Reaper forced his legs to keep on moving, to kill the large pony he saw that threatened him. A particularly large shock echoed across Reaper's body, causing him to cry out and slump to the floor. Nightmare turned around with a look of puzzlement as she saw the dilapidated body of Reaper still moving. She shouted out,
"Why aren't you dead yet? WHY WON'T YOU DIE?"
Reaper's head shot up, and his bloodshot eyes bore into Nightmare's. He slowly got up as Nightmare increased the voltage coursing through his body, and took one step towards her... And then another... and another. Nightmare increased the voltage so much it looked like Reaper was wearing a coat of lightning. He flinched and took a stumbling step towards Nightmare. Reaper fell to his knees as Nightmare stalked towards him. She placed her horn on his breast, and pierced his heart in a swift stab. Again, Reaper was thrown into the abyss of his mind.
--- --- ---
This time, they were on a bomber plane. Reaper looked at his squadmates, and called out to them.
"Beaker! Carnax! O'Brian!"
Reaper never really understood the last name. They were all Russian and O'Brian hadn't even been to Ireland before. They all walked over to the door that Reaper was standing by and saluted. Reaper said,
"Now we all know why we are here: to invade America. We found an American soldier in Makarov's inner circle on an attack on an airport. The only ones we can hold responsible is america, and the rest of the world agrees. We had a copy of their defence systems, and disabled them, so now we can invade without the danger of being shot out of the sky. Now HQ has given us the orders to eliminate every single American that we can find. This includes civilians, army, older people, you name it, we are to kill. Alright boys, let's go club us some helpless Americans."
The red light over the door flashed yellow, warning the passengers to get ready for the drop. Reaper got on a specially made parachute and continued explaining,
"We are going to be on the front until we win this war. We breached their defenses, so we have the jump on America. Don't be expecting any army until about a week."
The light turned green, and the door shot open. Reaper motioned the three other squadmembers out and jumped after them. Wind whistled around him as they descended towards the American soil. Beaker called out,
"Chutes out!"
And Reaper slowed down conciderably, staring down at where they were going to land. Right in the middle of a cul-de-sac. They all landed, and Reaper snapped back the loading bar on the side of his LMG. Everyone was inside of their houses. Reaper went barreling into the first door he saw, ripping it off of it's hinges and causing a man in his twenties to investigate. The sound of a thud was the only thing that followed. Reaper went further inside of the house and did a quick sweep to find it clear. He shouted over the radiocom,
"Breach and clear the houses separately. I will have no excessive violence." Reaper paused and smirked under his helmet, "To the civilians."
The squad branched out, breaching and clearing the entire neighborhood. At the edge of a large housing complex, the squad met up. Reaper took out a map of the United States and laid it on the floor. He pointed at a little square of land in the middle of a few larger plots.
"We landed here, Washington D.C. You know what that means, boys. We get to go say hello to the American President" Reaper took out another map of Washington D.C. and put his finger on a street not too far away from the white house. "We are the closest of forces to the white house, so we go there first. If we run there fast enough, we can hit that, hold it for the main army forces, and continue on a swath through the east coast."
Reaper gathered up all of his map supplies and shoved them in a compartment on his suit. Pointing north, he shouted,
"Double time!"
And the group took off at a breakneck speed. Two hours later, they arrived at the white house, FBI, police, and secret service trying in vain to hold the front door. Reaper called out to the rest of the team,
"All they've got are M9's! Don't even bother finding cover."
Reaper leveled his LMG and fired a few spurts of bullets, catching a few of the crowd entrenched at the front door. Reaper continued walking forward, trying to get into hand-to-hand combat range. They were all concentrating their fire on Reaper as his squadmates all cut them down with rapid bursts of ammo. They were all cut down by the time that Reaper was at the front door.
"Good morning, Mr. President!"
Reaper called out in English when he burst through the doors and into a lobby filled with more secret service. Reaper choke slammed the one straight in front of him over the counter where twelve more were waiting. Reaper vaulted over with his knife out, and a few flashes of light from the steel later, there was a heap of bodies lying on the ground. Reaper signaled for his group to spread out, filing into the various hallways and side rooms. Reaper headed to the oval office, where hopefully the president was still in. Reaper didn't even fire a shot as he went down the congested hallways filled with enemies, the light gunfire barely even effecting him through the suit. He burst inside of the oval office, and found the President sitting calmly at his desk, signing document laid down in on his desk. When the President looked up, he fell out of his chair and backed up to the wall behind him. Reaper called out in English, again,
"Come're, cupcake..."
And grabbed the President by the collar. The President looked at Reaper with terror in his eyes as he dangled there helplessly. He stuttered out,
"Wh-ho are you? Why is the Russian army invading?"
Reaper just swung his arm back to cave-in the President's skull, but was interrupted by an explosion rocking the white house, powerful enough to knock Reaper off of his balance. He dropped the President and the President scuttled off to an evacuation zone. Reaper called out on the com,
"Status report, why was there an explosion?"
O'Brian responded, saying in a slightly shaky voice,
" They tried to kill me by blowing an entire floor. How is the situation with the President?"
Reaper swung his head side to side to try and see if the President was actually there. Unfortunately for him, he wasn't. Swearing, Reaper responded,
"Negative. The explosion gave him time to escape."
Another explosion.
"Damn! They really are trying to bring this down around our heads! Crimson, could you get up here and help me?"
Reaper shook his head at O'Brian's predicament and turned towards the door. The paper contained a few steps for the army to take, homeland security, and contacting Makarov. Reaper slammed his fist down on the paper when he read the last line explaining what else the packet contained, and he flung it from the desk. Kicking the door open into the hallway that leads into the lobby, Reaper stomped out into a large ascending staircase to the top floor. He Kicked the door open to a firefight between a few MP and O'Brian in a largely empty room with scorch marks licking the walls behind O'Brian. Reaper rushed the closest trooper and smashed him into a wall, killing him with his own pistol by shooting him in the head. Turning around, Reaper popped the remaining four MP with the same pistol and killing them. O Brian just jogged up to Reaper as he field stripped the pistol in his hands. Thumping him on the back, O'Brian said,
"Good to see that you continuously come to save my ass from trouble."
Reaper laughed and said,
"Don't count on it happening all the time, I gotta go save Beaker's ass from time to time, too."
O'Brian just got out a green flare and walked towards the door that the MP's were protecting. Striding out onto the balcony there, O' Brian set the flare on the ground when he ignited it. Reaper looked up into the sky and saw hundreds of Russian planes flying overhead. Reaper leaned on the guardrail of the balcony and said,
"Looks like we will be heading out soon enough. We will hold this point until those paratroopers land and take control of the white house, and then we'll spread out and do more of our objective."
O'Brian just stood there and watched the skies. He spoke up after a while as flares erupted beneath them. He said,
"Is what we are doing right?"
Reaper just watched the skies.
"It's what they deserve."
Parachutes erupted above tiny black specks descending from the sky.
--- --- ---
The army had moved in, and the Juggernaut HQ sent out a detachment named Eastern Base. Reaper and his team cut a bloody swath towards the american mainland to get control of the Midwest. As the days turned into weeks, Reaper's close quarters style of fighting had earned him a coat of blood from the army forces he and his squad had hurtled through. The army had begun to regard him as 'Reaper' or 'The Reaper' instead of his own codename, Crimson. It seemed to stick, and his squadmates started calling him reaper as a joke. They were breaking through a military blockade to touch base and refuel.
"AMMO LOW! GET UNDER COVER!"
There was a bridge between Reaper and his squad to get to no-man's-land and eventually Washington. The army had blockaded it with two APC's and a Humvee. All three of their guns were operational. Reaper screamed out,
"YOU DON'T WANT TO GET HIT FOR LONG BY ONE OF THOSE THINGS, TRY AND FIND A WAY TO TAKE OUT THAT GUNNER!"
The squad took cover behind a large concrete block put on the roadside. Reaper checked his last few bullets in his box mag. He had twenty-seven bullets, and he liked to conserve. Yelling at his comrades, Reaper ordered out,
"GET EXPLOSIVES AND SMOKEBOMBS! WE NEED TO GET OUT OF THEIR SIGHTS!"
Pulling out his own canister of portable smoke, Reaper waited for his comrades to procure their own. Reaper put up his fingers, counting down from three to zero, pulling his pin and throwing the grenade at the bridge blockade. Three more followed the first and carpeted the bridge with grey smoke. Gathering the Semtex procured by his team, Reaper rushed at the now blind mechanized defense. Shooting the gunner of the Humvee, Reaper pulled the armyman's body out of the car and slapped a pound of Semtex each on the APC's. Turning the key and revving the engine, Reaper rode out of the range of the blast, swerved the car, and activated the explosives. His teammates climbed into the car, and Reaper drove off over the blackened and battered bridge. Sending forward a message to HQ about a friendly Humvee approaching, Reaper gunned it towards Washington.
Reaper had gotten to base, and was getting a check-up. He was suspended in a vat of water, tubes connected to the ports riddling his body, and he had a re-breather on. A thin man in a medical lab coat walked up to the tube, noting that Reaper was taking to the cocktail of drugs injected into him well. Reaper's eyes flashed open and bored into the doctor standing before him. The doctor cleared his throat and asked,
"How do you feel about your duties?"
Reaper stretched his neck as a monitor connected by neural receptors to his forehead beeped and typed out a sentence.
"The wonderful sound and display of flesh ripping, music to my ears... music I hate yet can't get enough of. Bullets flying through the air, whistling in the wind and hitting their target perfectly. A symphony of death and despair."
--- --- ---
Reaper sat up and shook his head against the prevailing feeling of nausea. Looking in front of him, Reaper saw a very annoyed and confused looking American Armywoman covered in black clothes.