Talon goes to Equestria to test the war they have planned for Earth.
Doomfist, one of the many members of the Talon council, has plans for new war that will make humanity stronger . But as with any project, it is crucial to put the experiment to the test by adding variables to the equation, as well as a test group and a sterile environment, and what better than a magical world filled with ponies that hasn't had a war in thousands of years. Rated Teen for language and violence. Overwatch cross over.
Inside the meeting room at Talon Headquarters, Doomfist was discussing his plans to start a new war with the other members. "...And thus, this shall strengthen humanity as a whole, for the better." he concluded, reaching the end of his highly detailed explanation. As he looked at the many faces of the members, only five of got his attention: Reaper, the undead experiment with an unquenchable thirst for the death of former Overwatch agents, sat there with a skeletal mask which concealed both his emotions and his disfigured face, Widowmaker, Talon's top sniper, and former wife of the deceased Gerard Lacroix, with a somewhat indifferent look, Moira, Talon's head genetisist, responsible for the extensive genetic alterations given to some of Talon's head operatives, Maximilien, a wealthy Omnic member of Talon's inner council, and Doomfist's main supporter, and Sombra, Talon's best hacker, and although her true motives were questionable, the services she supplied were what kept her from being given the boot. She sat there, using her miniature holo-screens, with a disinterested look on her face. "Are there any further questions?" asked Doomfist, to which only one person replied.
"While I do see what you plan to accomplish Akande, I think it would be best to find a place to test your war where no one will discover it." answered Maximillien.
"Well if you got any suggestions, I'm willing to listen, Maximillien, or anyone, in fact." responded Doomfist.
As if on cue, Sombra perked up to this and started flicking her holo-screens before finding what she was searching for. "Well, what have we here?" remarked Sombra, sounding somewhat intrigued.
"I assume you've found something, Sombra?" questioned Doomfist.
"Oh, not much, just found a side project that Winston may or may not have just completed." replied Sombra, with a minor playful tone in her voice.
"Well, what is it?" inquired Moira, injecting herself into the conversation upon hearing this information.
"Well, looking at the data I have, it's clearly a teleportation device. The strangest thing about it is that there doesn't seem to be a recall function, not even in the blueprints." replied Sombra, somewhat perplexed.
"So he's going of the chance that wherever someone's teleported to will have a way back? Typical. That monkey might be a scientist, but he's still just as stupid as his species." responded Moira with a sneer.
"Is there anything else you know about it, Sombra?" asked Maximillien.
Sombra skimmed through her holo-screens a couple times before answering. "It's on an armored truck convoy heading to Oasis, ETA: 3 hours." replied Sombra.
"We're going to Oasis. grab your gear." shouted Doomfist, as Maximilien called a dropship for Doomfist and the others.
Upon nearing the city of science, Doomfist had the the pilot land in the loading bay. "Sombra, how much longer until the convoy arrives?" Doomfist asked, becoming more and more impatient.
Sombra pulled up one of her holo-screens, staring at it. "Approximately 25 minutes." Sombra replied, before closing it with a flick of her wrist.
Doomfist pondered this information for a moment, before deciding on the course of action. "Moira, is it possible to program the teleporter to have a fail safe recall function?" inquired Doomfist.
"Theoretically, yes, but who knows how long that will take?" Moira responded.
"Exactly ten minutes, if you have the correct resources, and if you know what you're doing." replied Sombra, to which both Moira and Doomfist gave her a look that pretty much said, 'How do you know that?', to which Sombra merely sighed. "Hey, I helped build electronics before I joined." Sombra commented, before a thought crossed her mind. "Wait, could my translocaters be reprogramed to act as return mechanisms for the teleporter?" she asked, receiving a contemplative look from Moira.
"Hmm...what an interesting hypothesis. Let's see if it holds up." responded Moira, turning to begin the experiment, before another thought crossed her mind. "Wait, won't you need those?" questioned Moira, her tone sounding oddly genuine.
"Don't worry about it. I thought I might burn through them, so I brought extras." replied Sombra, somewhat nonchalantly.
"The convoy has arrived. Do you want me to slaughter them?" asked Reaper with a raspy voice through Doomfist's ear piece.
"Negative. Follow and moniter their position only. We don't want them to know we're here... yet." responded Doomfist, the inflections in his voice making his point clear to Reaper not to disobey his orders.
"Understood. I'll pass the information onto Widowmaker as well." replied Reaper, before an audible click was heard, followed by Widowmakers voice.
"You do realize that I was in the call already, and was just being silent, right?" responded a calm, but serious Widowmaker, eliciting a loud groan from Reaper.
"Just get the job done." muttered Reaper, before leaving the voice channel, with Widowmaker following shortly after.
"Alright, while they monitor the delivery crew, we need to get the translocaters modified." commented Doomfist.
"The only place here that has the tools we require is the Electronics lab." stated Moira, somehow managing to sound enthusiastic and bored at the same time.
"Then let's go. We have no time to waste." replied Doomfist, as the trio headed towards their destination.
Meanwhile, a few levels down, Reaper and Widowmaker where busy following the armed guards transporting the teleporter, carefully watching from the shadows. Soon, the guards moved the teleporter onto a cargo lift, pressing a few buttons, causing the lift to go up to the highest level. Seeing this, Widowmaker merely looked at Reaper, before speaking. "I'll take the stairs, you take the vents." she stated, before heading towards the stairwell. Reaper, having no other choice, ran over to the nearest vent, before turning himself into a black fog, slipping through the cracks in the vent grate.
Inside the Electronics Lab, Doomfist watched as Moira and Sombra fiddled with the translocaters. While seeing the two work was mildly amusing to him, it was starting to become apparent that he was becoming bored. In an attempt to alleviate it, he accessed the communication link again."What's the status on the teleporter?" he asked, meritting a response from Widowmaker.
"Target is in sight, the guards have stopped moving the payload. Do I assassinate them now?" asked Widowmaker.
"Have they turned it on yet?" questioned Doomfist, causing Widowmaker to peer through the scope of her sniper rifle.
"It appears that they haven't." responded Widowmaker, waiting for her instructions, whilst watching the guards.
"Then kill them without damaging the teleporter. We will be there shortly." replied Doomfist, before hanging up.
Widowmaker aimed her sniper rifle at one of the guards, before accessing the com link. "You heard him, right?" she asked.
"Yeah, yeah. Don't damage the damn monkeys toy." growled Reaper, as he erupted from a vent grate, blowing two of the guards heads clean off their shoulders with his shotguns, causing blood to spew everywhere. While Reaper was busy murdering the guards in front of him, he failed to notice the guards coming up behind him. Seeing this, Widowmaker quickly fired three consecutive shots, with each bullet finding it's home inside the remaining guard's foreheads.
Jumping from the rafters, Widowmaker landed next to Reaper. "That was... way too easy." stated Widowmaker, somewhat glumly.
"For once, I agree." replied Reaper, whilst snapping an unconscious guard's neck. "You'd think that there'd be more."
Just then, the doors flung open revealing Doomfist, Sombra, and Moira, the last of which was carrying a rather large briefcase. As they walked into the room, Moira set the briefcase on the ground next to the teleporter. "I assume you dealt with the guards?" inquired Doomfist, to which he received a silent nod from Reaper. "Good. Now for the next step." he stated, as he opened the briefcase to reveal twelve heavily modified versions of Sombra's translocaters. "Sombra, care to explain what will happen when we use these?" asked Doomfist.
Sombra shot him a dirty look, before kneeling to access the content of the briefcase. "What should happen is that once we put these on, when we go through the teleporter, it should remember the frequency these things use, allowing us to warp back to the location of the teleporter." explained Sombra, as she handed out a translocater to everyone, leaving the remaining seven in the breifcase, but turned them on before closing it.
"Why'd you make twelve to begin with?" questioned Reaper, as he fiddled with the straps of the device, barely managing to get them around his shoulder blades.
"First off, WE made them." responded Moira. "And secondly, Sombra suggested we make extra for two reasons. One, incase the first set malfunctions, so we have some sort of back up plan, and two, she made a fair argument that wherever we are warped to might have sentient species."
After getting her device secured tightly to her, Sombra walked over to the teleporter and turned it on. "Ready whenever you guys are." she said, as she motioned to the swirling blue vortex of energy.
"Maximilien. We are heading through the teleporter. Tell the retrieval team to pick it up, take it back to the dropship, remove any tracking devices and take it back to headquarters." Doomfist requested, as he picked up the briefcase with his left hand.
"Understood, Akande. Sending orders now." replied Maximillien. Upon hearing this, Doomfist entered the portal, with everyone else following shortly after.
Inside a cave on the frozen, snow covered peak of Mount Everhoof, Queen Chrysalis, the former ruler of the changelings, was laying in front of a dwindling fire, trying her best and struggling to keep warm. She sighed, for it seemed as though the world itself hated her very existence. First her plan to impersonate Princess Cadance, trick her lover Shining Armor into marrying her, and her invasion of Canterlot failed all because of his annoying, meddlesome sister, Twilight Sparkle, and her equally annoying friends. Then, to make matters worse, after she had kidnapped almost everypony in Equestria, her entire colony betrayed her, all because of Starlight Glimmer and her stupid idea that the changelings should share their love instead of leeching it from others. "Stupid Mane Six. If it weren't for your meddling, I'd be swimming in a sea of love right now, and I'd still be the Queen if it weren't for that bitch Starlight Glimmer and traitorous bastard Thorax." she yelled, her voice echoing off of the cave's walls. "All I wanted was to rule Equestria! IS THAT TOO MUCH TO ASK FOR?!" As if to answer her, a rather strong gust of cold wind entered the cave and extinguished her fire. She sighed once again, as she rested her head against the caves cold, stone floor. "It's over for me, isn't it?" Then, a loud noise was heard, causing her to jerk her head up, to see a ring of light appear before her. "Ugh! What is it now?!" she groaned, as five mysterious figures stepped out from the ring of light. With all five of them looking at her, Chrysalis, being somewhat protective of what very little she had left, growled a bit before speaking. "What is it that you five want?" Chrysalis growled, her words barely audible.
"Hello there. We are merely passing through, and would like directions to the nearest city." asked Doomfist, sounding somewhat kind.
"Tell me, do I look like I know directions to the nearest city to you? Now will you please leave?" responded Chrysalis, sounding very sour.
"Sombra, hold this for me." asked Doomfist, as he handed the briefcase to Sombra. Then, without even charging his gauntlet, Doomfist punched a one foot hole in the wall on his left. "Now, I ask again. We would like directions to nearest city." asked Doomfist, this time sounding very serious.
Chrysalis' eyes popped out of her head a little upon seeing how deep of a hole was made in the dense limestone wall, but the gesture was easily understood. "The nearest city is the Crystal Empire, but can I ask what business do you have there?" inquired Chrysalis, sounding very curious.
Looking at her for a second, Doomfist pondered telling her for moment. "Tell me, what is your name?" asked Doomfist.
"My name is Queen Chrysalis." responded Chrysalis. "What is yours?"
"Doomfist, and why do you want to know Chrysalis?" questioned Doomfist.
"Because, I have nothing else to live for. My entire colony has overthrown and abandoned me, and I want revenge against those who caused me to suffer. Besides, you're going to need a guide." stated Chrysalis.
Doomfist merely smirked in response. "Well then, lead the way, since you know so much more than us." stated Doomfist, as Chrysalis exited the cave, leading the group toward their destination.
After arriving at the cold outskirts of the Crystal Empire, Chrysalis led Doomfist and his group through the same tunnel she used to infiltrate the city before, with exit being inside of a rundown old house that had yet to be demolished. Upon entering the building, Chrysalis lured them over to a table. "So you're testing a war you have planned for your world here?" Chrysalis asked.
"That is correct." Doomfist answered, whilst setting the briefcase on the table.
"Okay, if you want to start a war here, you need to know a little bit about both Princess Cadance and Prince Shining Armor." Chrysalis stated, as she used her magic to levitate some chairs and stools over so Doomfist and the others could sit down.
"Just give us a brief description of the enemy." Doomfist responded.
"Cadance is known as the princess of love, with her magic indirectly influencing ponies feelings for one another. She's who I'd recommend you focus on for now. As for Shining Armor, on top of being prince, he is the captain of the royal guard, and anything that happens to his wife will possibly affect him greatly." Chrysalis replied, a semi-sinister grin appearing on her face.
"Are you trying to be scary, cause if so, it's not working." Sombra muttered, causing Chrysalis to glare at her.
"Got anything else you'd like to add?" Chrysalis asked, not the slightest bit amused by Sombra's humor.
"Didn't you say that her name was Cadance?" Sombra asked, whilst placing a translocater on the stool she was previously using.
"Yes, I did, what is your point?" Chrysalis replied, beginning to get fed up with Sombra's annoying personality.
"Well then, it's time I worked my magic. See you later." Sombra said, as she disappeared into thin air, with the front door opening and closing behind her, leaving Chrysalis staring at the spot Sombra once was, a weird look encompassing her face.
Chrysalis looked back at the remaining members of Talon, whom were all looking around as though nothing happened. "Well, aren't you going stop her?" Chrysalis asked, a minor look of panic plastered upon her face.
"We don't need to." replied Reaper, sounding somewhat glum and confident at the same time.
"But, she's going jeopardize everything!" Chrysalis argued, trying to get her point across.
"Chrysalis." Doomfist said, slamming his left fist on the table hard enough to knock the dust off and gain Chrysalis' attention. "Trust us. Sombra may be annoying, but she is reliable when it's comes to gathering information, and while this may not be her preferred method, she'll can still do it just as well. Until she returns, all we can do is wait." Doomfist stated, as he leaned back, his shoulders and neck against the wall.
Chrysalis, seeing Doomfist's point, decided that it would be best not to argue any further, Defeated, she rested her head on the table, waiting for Sombra to return.
As the sun rose in the Crystal Empire, so too did it's citizens. Even at the castle, as the majestic sunlight seeped through the windows and through the cracks between the curtains, the sleep enthralled family began to wake from their peaceful slumber. The first to awake was young Flurry Heart, whom lay in her crib, resting mere minutes ago. After looking around for her mommy and daddy, and not seeing either of them, she began to cry rather loudly, hoping one of them would come to check on her.
Meanwhile, in the next room over, Princess Cadance and her husband, Prince Shining Armor, awoke to the sound of Flurry Heart crying. Groaning as they got up, despite their bodies practically begging for five more minutes of rest, the two managed to wake up. Upon getting out of their lavish and comforting bed, they looked at each other for a few moments, before Shining Armor spoke. "I'll go check on her, so you can go back to bed if you want." said Shining Armor, yawning as he began to walk over to the door, but before he could even open it, a cornflower blue aura enveloped the knob. Seeing this, he turned around to see Cadance with her horn glowing and a bit of a smirk on her face.
"I think I should go check on her. After all, you've checked on her for five days now, and I think she might be missing her mommy." responded Cadance, as she walked over to Shining Armor, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek.
Shining Armor blushed a tiny bit when his wife's lips made contact. "Alright, I guess I'll go make breakfast." Shining Armor said defeatedly, as he headed to the kitchen.
Cadance giggled a tiny bit, before opening the door and heading to Flurry Heart's nursey, closing the door behind her. Unbeknownst to her, however, the door opened seemingly by itself, as an unseen perpetrator made their way over to the jewelry box on the left most side of the room. Carefully opening the top, a long golden chain with a silvery bell like ornament was pulled out, and was slowly stuffed into an invisible pocket. Then, as quickly as it happened, the jewelry box lid was closed, and soon after the bedroom door closed on it's own, as the invisible being made it's way to the nursery.
As Cadance entered Flurry Heart's nursery, her crying seemed to soften a bit upon seeing her mommy, and soon changed to cooing and incoherent foal babble as Cadance got closer. Cadance merely smiled as she picked up Flurry Heart with her magic, drawing her in for a loving hug. "How's my sweet little angel?" Cadance said as she nuzzled Flurry Heart with her face, hearing Flurry Heart laugh and giggle as she did.
As Flurry was pulled over her mother's shoulder, her giggling immediately stopped, and was replaced by an inquisitive look, with her saying a single word. "Lady." she said, pointing her hoof at the wall.
Cadance merely chuckled at this, not understanding what her daughter meant. "Yes, you are my little lady." Cadance said as she held the pride and joy that was Flurry Heart, who had now situated herself on her mothers back. Soon a low, but loud grumble was heard, with Cadance knowing what had made the noise and how to fix it. "Let's go get you some breakfast." she said, as she carried Flurry Heart to the dining hall.
After the two disembarked the nursery, Sombra's thermoptic camo turned off, revealing the intruder leaning against the wall. "Aw. Isn't that sweet. Only the baby can see me. Let's keep it that way...for now." Sombra mumbled to herself as she reactivated her thermoptic camo, and once more, vanished into nothingness.
As Cadance and her daughter entered the dining hall, they were greeted by Shining Armor, who was sitting at the table, next to a high chair, with a jar of foal food resting on the tray with a label that read, 'Mashed Peas'. To the right, a bottle of milk. Cadance meekly smiled, as she picked up Flurry Heart with her magic and set her in the high chair. Seeing this, Shining Armor used his magic to pick up a rather small wooden spoon, and scooped up a spoonful of the greenish mush, and offered it to Flurry Heart, who turned her nose up at the sight of it. However, Shining noticed this and offered a clever distraction. "Here comes the Canterlot Express. Choo Choo! Next stop, Flurry Heart Caverns!" he said in a high-pitched voice, which caused Flurry Heart to giggle and open her mouth for the, 'Train'. Seeing this, Shining Armor moved the spoon towards Flurry Heart's mouth, with the young alicorn gladly accepting the spoonful of stuff. Cadance smiled at the sight of this. Seeing her husband feeding their daughter, and having fun with it, was probably the most adorable thing in the world to her. She turned back to the small stack of chocolate chip pancakes that garnished her plate. Lifting a knife with her magic, Cadance began to cut the syrup glazed treat into little pieces. Levitating a fork, she grabbed a piece with the pronged utensil, and slowly took a bite, savoring the heavenly flavor that followed shortly after. Seeing the look his wife's face, Shining Armor could tell he got the pancakes just right. "Got anything scheduled for today?" he asked as he fed another spoonful of peas to Flurry Heart.
Cadance paused for a few seconds, thinking long and hard. "Not much really. Although the wedding between Morning Dew and Spider Web is today." she said, unaware that Sombra was in the room with them, listening to everything they were saying.
"About time they had it. When did they get together again? Five? Six months ago?" Shining asked, while feeding Flurry Heart another spoonful of peas.
"Four months ago, actually. " Cadance replied, taking another bite of her pancakes. "Besides, although I want to attend, I got things to do around the empire, anyway. Maybe if I get done with everything early, I can drop by as the wedding ends."
"Where are they getting married at exactly?" asked Shining, who had taken a break from feeding foal food to his daughter, whom was now suckling her bottle.
"Last I checked, the church on Diamond Avenue at four o'clock in the evening." responded Cadance, as she ate the last bite of her pancakes. Picking up a napkin with her magic, Cadance wiped her face with it, removing any crumbs or beads of syrup that tried to stowaway. Getting up from the table, Cadance grabbed her plate with her magic, headed to kitchen to go wash the dishes, with Shining Armor following shortly after, mumbling something about getting leftovers for his lunch.
Sombra, having gotten what she came for, was preparing to warp back to her translocater, when a blob of mashed peas flew past her head, hitting the wall behind her with an audible, 'Splat'. Turning her head to where the shot came from, she saw Flurry Heart still sitting in her high chair, with her horn glowing with a light yellow glow, her magic enveloping the wooden spoon that was previously being used to feed her, now being used as a miniature catapult. Sombra immediately realized what was about to happen, quickly started tapping the mechanism on her left arm, frantically trying to speed up the process, but to no avail. Flurry Heart, wasting no time at all, lobbed several shots at Sombra. Seeing the multiple green blobs of baby food hurtling towards her, Sombra began to duck and dodge, trying to avoid the mushy projectiles, and successfully dodged most of them. As the orbs of baby food hit the wall behind her, Sombra sighed in relief, but as she turned to face Flurry Heart, she received a face full of mashed peas, as a fit of giggles escaped from Flurry Heart. Growling, she reached for her machine pistol, only to be warped back to her translocater. Upon hearing the laughter coming from the dining room, Shining Armor and Cadence returned to see the pea-stained wall, both simultaneously sighing in exasperation. "I'll get the rag." Shining Armor said defeatedly, as he went to clean up the present his daughter had given them.
Meanwhile, back at the rundown building being used as Talon's base of operations, everyone was trying to pass the time while waiting on Sombra to return. Widowmaker was cleaning the barrel of her sniper rifle with a gun brush, Moira had set up a makeshift lab in one the upstairs bedrooms, Reaper was leaning with his back against the wall, arms crossed and lightly tapping his foot, Doomfist was stretching his muscles in the limited confines of the kitchen, and Chrysalis was sleeping with her head laying on the table, light wheezing coming from her mouth. Just then, the translocater began to beep and whirr, followed by a bright flash of light, revealing Sombra standing in the kitchen, with a not too happy look accompanying her mashed pea-covered face. She walked her way over to the still sleeping Chrysalis, and upon reaching her, pulled out her machine pistol, aimed it straight up, and fired the entire clip into the ceiling, startling Chrysalis enough to cause her to fall onto the floor. Struggling to get back up, Chrysalis looked at Sombra, with a glare encompassing her face. "What did you do that for?!" Chrysalis yelled at Sombra, causing everyone to look up from what they were doing.
"You know, when you hold the information, you hold all the cards, right?" Sombra asked as she reloaded her gun, sounding extremely condescending.
"What are you referring to?" Chrysalis questioned, seemingly agitated at being aburptly woken up.
"You knew that they had a daughter, but didn't bother telling any of us in advance. Why is that?" Sombra stated, whilst aiming her gun at Chrysalis' head, which caused everyone else to stare at the two, watching the scene unfold before them like a train wreck.
"I-I-I h-honestly f-f-forgot a-a-about her." Chrysalis stammered, the fear and panic rushing through her becoming more and more apparent as Sombra's gun inched closer and closer to her forehead.
"Come on. Do you really expect us, let alone me, to buy that?" Sombra asked, as she pressed the barrel of her gun into Chrysalis' forehead. "Now, let's try this again. Why didn't you say anything about Cadance and Shining Armor having a daughter?"
Chrysalis' eyes darted around the room, desperately looking for a savior, but instead found none. Seeing no other option available, she decided to open up. "My...uh...My kind are shape shifters who feed off of love." she said as quickly as she possibly could, her eye lids closed tightly, expecting to be shot.
After a few moments had passed, Chrysalis opened of her eyes to see that Sombra was no longer pointing the gun at her head, but instead was whispering something into Doomfist's ear. Upon finishing, Doomfist spoke. "Chrysalis. If what you say is true, then prove it, that is unless you'd rather be squashed like the bug that you are." he growled, as he clasped his gauntlet encased right hand around his left fist.
Knowing what would happen if she refused, Chrysalis used her magic, her horn instantly glowing a very bright brilliant green, her entire body surrounded by greenish-blue flames, the mystical fire swirling around her as her body metamorphosed into a new form. When the flames receded, what stood before Doomfist was... himself. Raising an eyebrow, Doomfist moved towards Chrysalis for a better look. Upon closer inspection, it was revealed that the eyes of whoever Chrysalis turned into featured a minor light green tint to them. Done with his examination, Doomfist simply nodded his head in thought. "Do you like what you see?" Chrysalis asked in Doomfist's voice, sounding almost exactly like him.
"Flattery will get you nowhere with me." Doomfist stated rather dryly, as he turned towards Sombra. "What information did you manage to get?"
"There's going to be a wedding at the church on Diamond Avenue at four o'clock today that Princess Cadance won't be able to attend due to errands, if that helps." Sombra replied, having already cleaned the peas off of her face.
"Well, it looks as though I have a wedding to go to." stated Chrysalis, no longer looking like Doomfist, as she began to heading towards the door, but was stopped by Doomfist, who had placed his left hand on the back of her neck. Chrysalis turned and looked at him, receiving a stern look from him. "Hehe. Sorry. I meant we have a wedding to go to."
Meanwhile, Cadance was out and about on city streets, running todays errands. She had already gotten half of them done, and was on her way to the supermarket. After the morning events that had transpired, foal food and wall cleaner were added to the list of things to get at the store. Upon reaching her destination, Cadance walked right inside, only to find that the innards of the building had changed since she last came, that being before she and her family were kidnapped by Chrysalis and the changelings. She shuddered at the instance of that particular memory. While the changelings had since reformed, Chrysalis was still evil, still a threat, and still remained at large. Cadance sighed, sweeping the dark thought away like a dust under a rug. Continuing onward, she went towards where she remembered seeing the foal food last, only to find that it been replaced by the produce section. Confused, Cadance went straight towards one of the many ponies working there, and asked for help.
"You want me to do what?" asked Chrysalis, trying to understand what Doomfist had told her to do.
Everyone aside from Doomfist let out a collective groan of frustration, obviously irritated with Chrysalis. "We've went over this TWO times already, how the fuck do you not understand?!" Reaper groaned, with everyone else nodding their heads in agreement. "Look, didn't you say that your species were shapeshifters who prey upon other ponies emotions?
"Yes I did, but..." Chrysalis said, but got cut off by Reaper once more.
"Then you should know the definition of a 'Tactical Insertion'." Reaper retorted, getting a glare out of Chrysalis.
"Yes, but what does that have to do with what we're planning?" Chrysalis asked, causing Reaper to facepalm.
Groaning, Reaper muttered something under his breath that sounded like, 'You're just as bad as the damn ingrate.', before sighing. Moving his hand away from his mask, Reaper got up from the table, and walked to the vacant restroom to cool off. "Be ready to move when I come out." he stated, with a distinct lack of emotion, as he slammed the door shut.
Everyone looked at Chrysalis as soon as Reaper left the room, but only one person chose to speak. "Chrysalis, you said your colony abandoned you, correct?" Doomfist asked, receiving a mix between a groan and sigh from Chrysalis.
"If you think it's because of me not understanding things, you're sadly mistaken. They abandoned me because of some stupid bitch named Starlight Glimmer thought that we should share our love instead of stealing it from others." Chrysalis sighed, as a small amount of tears welled up in her eyes. "I disagreed with that thought whole-heartedly, but my subjects sided with her, and cast me out, even after all that I did for them." she said with a sniffle.
Doomfist looked at Chrysalis for a few moments before sighing. "Chrysalis, you said earlier that your species feeds on love, correct?" he asked, to which she silently nodded. "How about I make a proposition for you. You join Talon, help me test my plan, and in return, you can have all the love from our world."
As soon as Doomfist said those words, Chrysalis instantly perked up. "What do I have to do?" she asked, almost in a rabid manner, like a person who had been told there was a way to cure cancer.
Doomfist just merely handed her an ear comm link. "Put this in your ear first, and I'll inform you on your way to the wedding."
"Widowmaker, are you in position?" asked Reaper through his comm link, a slight moan following shortly afterwards.
"Yes, I am in position." Widowmaker replied, before sighing. "I did not join this organization just to be the lookout."
"Well your going have to deal with it for a bit until we get done with our little operation." Chrysalis said into her comm link.
"You know, it'd be a shame if something happened to you during this operation. It'd be a real pity." Widowmaker replied in a very calm voice.
"Ha ha ha! You just try it, eight-eyes. I'll crush you underneath my hooves like the spider you are." retorted Chrysalis, not fazed at all by Widowmaker's thinly veiled threat.
"ENOUGH! Chrysalis, have you infiltrated the church and done what I asked of you?" Reaper asked with a sinister tone in his already raspy voice.
"Ugh, yes, Reaper. I'm already inside the church and I've already enchanted the doors and windows to slam shut on your command." Chrysalis said with a little bit of zest in her voice.
"Good, and where are you going to be in the building when I give the signal?" Reaper asked with a groan.
"Ugh, in the balcony, near the back left corner, where no one but you can see me, I know." Chrysalis responded, as she began to get annoyed by Reaper's antics.
"And what was the signal?" Reaper asked, igniting a growl from Chrysalis.
"When you turn to look at me, I know I know." Chrysalis angrily whispered, trying not to get exposed. As she said that, Chrysalis peeked over the balcony railing to see the priest standing in front of the podium, alongside the soon to be husband and wife. "They're about to start the wedding sermon. You better hurry."
"Get into position. Let me know when they ask for objections." Reaper said as he positioned himself in front of the wooden church doors.
"As we gather here on this glorious day, for the wedding between Morning Dew and Spider Web, allowed by Princess Mi Amore Cadenza herself, who sadly could not be here today." said Reverend Holy Cross, a Earth Pony stallion with a mahogany brown coat, as he turned towards Morning Dew. "Do you, Morning Dew, take Spider Web to be your lawful wedded wife?" he asked.
"I do." Morning Dew, a Unicorn stallion with a sunset orange coat and yellow mane, answered whilst nodding his head.
"Do you, Spider Web, take Morning Dew as your faithful husband?"
"I do." Spider Web, a Earth pony mare with a white coat and silver mane replied, looking into her future husband's cerulean eyes.
"Anyone who has any qualms against the marriage between these two, speak now or forever hold your peace." Reverend Holy Cross asked aloud for everypony to hear.
Just then, the heavy oak doors were kicked in, the resulting boom echoing throughout the church. As everypony turned to look at what caused the commotion, a tall figure draped in a black cloak slowly entered the building."I object." it said in a raspy voice as it walked, the sound of its footsteps reverbed across the floor as it came closer.
Startled, but undaunted, Reverend Holy Cross gazed upon the being that inched towards him. "Who, or what are you?"
"I...am Reaper." It said as it's head looked up, revealing a creepy bone white mask adorning it's face.
"For what reason did you object, Mr. Reaper?" Holy Cross asked, still a tiny bit frightened.
"Because..." Reaper said as he did a complete 180° turn, looking towards the balcony as he pulled out his Hellfire Shotguns from his cloak. "You're all going to be dead!" he yelled at the doors and windows slammed shut on there own, as a black fog began to billow out from below him, he started to shoot everypony, screaming at the top of his lungs, 'DIE! DIE! DIE!'. And just like that, it finished just as quickly as it happened. As the black fog dissapated, revealing only Reaper standing there, bloody mangled corpses surrounding him.
As Chysalis came down from the balcony, her eyes were wide upon seeing the aftermath of the carnage. After building up her courage, she carefully walked her way over to Reaper, trying not to step in any of the growing puddles of blood. As she approached him, she merely looked at him before speaking. "Okay, now what do we do?" she asked, still stunned by the spectacle that lay before her.
"Now? Now we just wait for Princess Cadance to show up." Reaper said before, accessing his comm link. "Widowmaker. Alert us when Cadance is at the church doors. Do not engage, we need her alive for what we are about to do."
"What makes you so sure that she'll come?" Chrysalis asked out of curiosity.
"Call it a hunch." Reaper responded.
As Cadance approached the doors of the church, she was excitedly hoping to see a new life started at her magic's loving caress. However, as she opened the doors, what greeted her eyes was a sight not of love, but one of despair. Her heart sank and eyes watered as she surveyed the destruction. Pools of crimson blood glazed the floors. Bodies, once full of life, now empty husks void of it. As she walked closer, Cadance heard somepony crying near her. Looking around for the source of the noise, she saw a middle aged unicorn mare, curled up in a ball on the floor, blood staining her lemon yellow fur. Rushing over, Cadance stopped mere inches from her. "Are you alright?" Cadance asked, trying and hoping to console the lone survivor as best she could.
"Princess C-Cadance, thank Celestia your here!" said the blood soaked mare, hugging Cadance as tears pouring from her eyes. "A-A dark figure c-calling itself R-Reaper entered the church, o-o-objecting the marriage. He k-killed everypony here. I only survived because I hid underneath the benches." she explained whilst sobbing. Suddenly, she began to scream, causing Cadance to quickly turn around, coming face to face with the dark being himself. Looking at him, Cadance couldn't help but shudder, almost like she was staring at the jaws of death itself. It soon began to cackle as it pulled two rather blunt objects from its cloak.
"Well...looks like I missed two. Oh well, nothing a couple shells won't easily fix." Reaper stated, with a rather sinister tone in his voice, as he aimed his Hellfire shotguns at his two new victims. "Any last words, you two?" he asked with a cackle.
Cadance, realizing she had to do something and fast, decided to try and stall for time so she could charge up a spell. "Why did you do this?" Cadance said as she motioned to the corpses that littered the ground, trying not to cry upon seeing the blood-stained faces.
"I'm going to assume that you're Princess Cadance, then?" Reaper asked, his voice extremely gravely, to which Cadance merely nodded. "I have my reasons, but you don't need to know those. All you need to know is that their souls now power mine."
As it spoke, Cadance could only sense one emotion coming from the figure; pure hatred. From the choice of words being said, to the utter malice radiating from it's voice, it practically screamed darkness incarnate. As Cadance's horn finished charging up, she let loose a beam of magical energy at the shadowy fiend, closing her eyes from the strain of continuously pumping magic through her horn. As she opened her eyes, however, she was flabbergasted to see Reaper not only still standing in front of her, but with a GIANT hole in its chest as well. It looked directly at her... and began to slowly clap, almost in a condescending fashion. "Heh...not bad." it said as it clutched its hands against chest in a joking manner, before moving them away to reveal, much to Cadance's horror, the gaping hole in his body was regenerating tissue at an alarmingly fast rate. "Was that all you're capable of doing? If that's the case, then things are looking very grim for you." it said as it pointed the blunt objects at her. "This is the end...for you." it said before a loud humming noise filled the air, causing Reaper to put his right hand up to the side of head. "What is it?!" he said aloud, still looking at Cadance. "Look, I'm in the middle of something right now...fine, I'll be there." he said, as he moved his hand away. Looking at Cadance, he growled a bit before speaking. "I'll deal with you later." he said with a sneer, before turning into a cloud of black smoke, escaping through the open church doors and down a drainage grate.
Cadance let out a sigh of relief, before turning to the still cowering unicorn. "It's alright now. It's gone now... whatever it was." she said, trying to convince her to get up off the quite literally bloody floor.
The unicorn opened her eyes a little, before standing up, shaking all the while doing so. "T-thank you, Princess Cadance for saving me." she said with a slight bow.
"Oh, you don't need to thank me. I was just in the right place at the right time, Mrs..." Cadance started to say before stopping, realizing she never got the mares name.
"Crystal Whistles. And I hope I'm not being rude when I ask this but I don't have a place to stay, mostly cause I was here for the *sniff* wedding of my cousin, Morning Dew, and he *sniff* promised me that after his *sniffle* marriage, he'd find me somewhere to stay until the train returns." Crystal said, trying hard not to burst into tears.
Cadance looked back at the church, before closing her eyes and sighing. "Alright. You can stay with me until then." she said with an apologetic look adorning her face.
"Thank you... I really appreciate your hospitality. I promise not to overstay my welcome." Crystal Whistles replied, seemingly grateful at being offered a chance to live with Princess Cadance.
Cadance merely sighed, as she headed back to the castle, with Crystal Whistles following not to far behind. Meanwhile, from the bell tower of the church, Widowmaker watched in silence through the scope of her sniper rifle as the duo left. "Widowmaker! What's your status?" loudly chimed a very grouchy Reaper through her comm link.
"The target is leaving the area, with the bait in tow." Widowmaker calmly responded, still spying from her makeshift sniper perch.
"Good. Return to base so we can report our results to Doomfist." Reaper said, awaiting Widow's usual compliant response.
"Actually, you report back for me. Tell him I'm doing some close monitoring on the target, and that I'll return once I'm finished." Widowmaker responded, catching Reaper completely by surprise.
"Whatever. It's your own fault if you get yelled at." Reaper responded, sounding as disinterested as he possibly could. Hearing this, Widowmaker aimed the grappling hook at a nearby rooftop, firing it into the shiny shingles, and launched herself through the air, the silouhette of her body blending in with the colors of the evening sky as she pursued after Princess Cadance.
Upon arriving at the castle, Cadance immediately showed Crystal to her room, which Crystal was happy to have. "I can't thank you enough for this, Princess Cadance." Crystal said for probably the tenth time today.
"It's fine. I understand that you're going through a lot right now, so the least I can do is offer you a place to sleep." Cadance replied with a yawn, her body telling her it was ready for bed.
Crystal merely nodded her head in understanding. Seeing this, Cadance left the room, and headed to the dining room.
As Cadance entered the dining room, she was greeted by her husband, Shining Armor, who looked extremely tuckered out. "Have a rough day at work today, honey?" she asked, genuinely curious.
"Yeah. It was mostly just the new recruits not knowing what to do, but it was still frustrating to deal with." Shining replied, before turning toward his wife. "How was the wedding?" he asked, unaware of the events that had transpired. Upon hearing those words, Cadance instantly began to cry. "What's wrong? Was it something I said?" he asked.
"Their dead!" Cadance wailed, pulling Shining Armor into an embrace, almost crushing him in the process. "It c-came into the church, and m-m-massacred them a-all!"
"Who did? Who would do such a thing?" Shining asked, genuinely interested in who had caused his wife such grief.
"It c-called itself R-Reaper. The only emotion I could feel coming from it was pure h-hatred. I blasted it with as much magic as I could, and it shrugged it off like it was nothing. O-only one pony survived the attack, because she hid underneath the benchs." Cadance replied, tears still running down her face.
Upon hearing those words from Cadance, Shining Armor instantly felt sorry for his wife. Putting his hooves around her, he pulled her in close to him, gently hugging her. "I promise, no matter what it takes, I will find and bring this fiend to justice." Shining whispered into his wifes ear, in an attempt to console her.
"Thank you, h-honey." Cadance answered, still somewhat shaken everything that had happened, as she got up from the table, along with Shining Armor, as they both headed to their bedroom. Meanwhile, a dark, slender figure watched them from outside the window, unbeknownst to them, watching with seven red soul-piercing eyes.
As Cadance lay in bed that night, she began to toss and turn in her sleep, as her breathing became more and more rapid. Finally she awoke with a start, still breathing heavily as she sat up in bed. "Have a nightmare?" Shining asked, sounding extremely groggy.
"Yes...unfortunately." Cadance replied, rubbing the back of her neck with her hoof.
"Well, since I'm awake, tell me about it." Shining said as he sat up, proping himself up against the headboard.
"Okay. I was in the throne room. Everyone around me is dead, and I'm crying on the floor, kneeling over you and Flurry, and that Reaper thing is standing in front of me, laughing and taunting me. Behind it stand five other beings, all cloaked in darkness. I can't see their faces or tell who they are, but I can feel their emotions." Cadance explained, shivering as she recollected what happened in her nightmare.
"What emotions did you sense?" Shining Armor asked, a yawn escaping him as he did.
"From the Reaper, I sensed a very twisted version of joy." Cadance said with a shudder. "As for the others, I couldn't really tell. Most of them were hard to decipher and the rest were drowned out to the point of being unintelligible. The only other emotion I sensed was sadness, but it was very muffled, almost like it was... unnaturally silenced."
Shining nodded his head, closing his eyes in concentration. "Perhaps you could use your magic to unsilence them." he said with a yawn before getting ready to go back to sleep.
"How will I know who it is?" Cadance asked, only to be greeted with a light snore from Shining. Sighing, she decided to head back to sleep, and think about the silenced silouhette of sadness tomorrow, as she rested head on her pillow, her eyelids slowly closing, allowing her to drift off into a peaceful slumber.
The next morning, Cadance practically struggled to get out of bed, due the lack of sleep she received. Groaning as she rolled out of bed, Cadance slowly meandered her way to Flurry Heart's nursery, her joints popping along the way. As she walked down the crystalline corridor of her castle, she noticed that Flurry wasn't crying like usual, but paid no attention to it, thinking that she was still asleep. As she entered the nursery, Cadance walked over to Flurry's crib to wake her. "Come on, Flurry. It's time to wake up." Cadance said in a motherly tone, pulling away the blanket that enveloped her sleeping daughter. However, as she lifted up the blanket, Cadance's face turned from one of tranquility, to one of extreme panic, for what she saw in place of her daughter was a pillow. Panic now coursing through her, Cadance began to hyperventilate, out of fear and worry that the Reaper had taken her sweet little foal away in the night. Cadance, now in full 'Mother Panic Attack' mode, came rushing out of the nursery, with a pink trail following close behind her as she ran into every single room, searching for her missing daughter.
After searching every room, and coming up empty hoofed, Cadance made a mad dash to the dining room, to alert Shining that their foal had been stolen. "Shining. Flurry's been...huh?", was all she managed to get out before seeing Flurry sitting in her highchair, being fed her breakfast by Shining Armor. Feeling a wave of tranquility wash over her, Cadance let out a sigh of relief at the fact that her daughter had not been taken away by the Reaper. Grabbing a chair with her magic, Cadance pulled it out from the dining room table, scooting it over towards her husband, sitting down right next to him.
"Okay. What's got you worked up?" Shining asked as he gave Flurry her bottle.
"I was worried about Flurry. I didn't see her in her crib when I got up and I panicked and thought she got foalnapped." Cadance responded, biting her lip a little as she did.
"You thought that the Reaper had taken her, didn't you?" Shining asked, to which Cadance merely nodded. "Well, I'll be damned to Tartarus if it lays a hoof on my daughter." Shining said with a tone of voice full of valor and honor. "I'll be having most of the Royal guard search every inch of the empire over the next few days for the Reaper."
Cadance sighed with relief upon hearing those words, as she knew that with Shining spearheading the search, it would only be a matter of time before the Reaper being was apprehended, but soon remembered how it escaped the first time. "Shining , there's something I need to tell you about the Reaper." Cadance said with a small amount of hesitation in her voice.
"What do you need to tell me?" Shining asked with gusto in his voice.
"Three things actually. First, the Reaper has two weapons, but I don't know what they do exactly." Cadance said, to which Shining nooded his head in understanding. "Secondly, it has the power turn into a thick black smoke to escape."
"So your saying that it has powers similar to King Sombra?" Shining asked, receiving a nod from Cadance. "Okay, what's the third?"
"You know how I told you that only one pony managed to survive?" Cadance said, reminding her husband of the events that happened yesterday.
As if on cue, Crystal Whistles came into the dining room, yawning as she entered. "Good morning, Princess Cadance. Good morning, Prince Shining Armor. How are you both doing?" Crystal asked in a happy tone, having improved slightly from sobbing mess she had been yesterday.
"Shining, this is Crystal Whistles. She's going to be staying with us untill the train returns." Cadance said with about as much enthusiasm as she could muster.
Shining Armor just looked at Cadance for a moment with an awkward look, slowly processing what his wife had just said to him. He looked at Crystal, then back at Cadance. "I take it she's the survivor you mentioned?" he asked Cadance, to which she merely nodded. Seeing this, Shining turned to look at Crystal. "I'm sorry for what you had go through. I hope you enjoy your stay here."
"Thank you, Prince Shining Armor. I promise to not overstay my welcome." Crystal responded, bowing her head slightly.
"That's very thoughtful of you, Crystal. There's some pancakes on the stove in the kitchen, if you want any." Shining replied, before going back to feeding Flurry. Hearing this, Crystal went to go get herself some breakfast.
Cadance looked at Shining with an expression of gratitude, to which he just nodded. "Sorry. I would have told you last night, but I still recovering from the wedding." Cadance answered in a hushed tone.
"It's fine. Just tell me first next time." Shining replied, not even bothering to look up at Cadance.
Just then, Crystal came trotting back into the dinning room, carrying two plates of pancakes within her magic's grasp. Upon reaching the table, she set both stacks of pancakes on the table , before sitting down next to Cadance. "Alright, Time to dig into these delicious-looking pancakes." Crystal said while licking her lips. Picking up a knife and fork with her lime green magic, Crystal began to chop up her pancakes into little pieces, in an almost animalistic fashion. Lifting a small chunk towards her mouth, Crystal bit into the pancake's golden-brown flesh, chewing it up a good bit before swallowing. "Mmm! These are really good, Prince Shining Armor. Did you make these?" Crystal commented, taking anoter bite of her pancakes as she did.
"Why thank you, Crystal, and yes I did." Shining replied, his pride being inflated a little by Crystal's compliment.
"They're just like..." Crystal started to say, before tears began to form in her eyes. "I'll be right back...I just...need to use the little fillies room."Crystal said as she got up from the table and left.
"I'll see if I can get her to calm down." Cadance said, getting up to follow Crystal, leavinng Shining alone with Flurry.
"Well, looks like it's just you and me, Flurry." Shining said with a small sigh.
Unbeknownst to Shining, he and Flurry were not alone. For a top the crystal chandelier that dangled above them, lurked Widowmaker, peering at them from above. "Ah....such a thing of beauty, this family is." said Widowmaker in a rather hushed voice, not wanting to give away her position. "Just being here makes me feel things I haven't felt in years."
Just then, Cadance came back into the dining room. "Crystal won't come out of the bathroom, despite me talking to her." she said with a sigh. Sitting down at table, she began to slowly chip away at the stack of pancakes in front of her. "She honestly didn't deserve any of this."
"What do you mean?" Shining asked, unaware of what Cadance was referring to.
"Her cousin was killed by a psychotic masked murderer and she's traumatized by it. Nopony deserves that, not even an enemy." Cadance said inbetween a bite of pancakes. "Besides everypony deserves a second chance."
Hearing this, Widowmaker began to feel a twinge of guilt, seeing that she was helping Talon in destroying yet another family. Before she could do anything, however, her earpiece began to vibrate. "This is Widowmaker, au rapport." she said as quietly as possible.
"How are you feeling this morning, Lacroix?" asked Moira in a somewhat monotone voice.
"Never felt more alive." Widowmaker responded, with a major lack of emotion in her voice.
"Good to know. How's your little excursion coming along?" Moira asked.
"I assume Reaper told you last night?" Widowmaker questioned, sounding somewhat curious.
"Of course he did. Why would he not? And before you ask, Doomfist did not care in slightest, although he does want some quality information from you upon your return." Moira said as though she was reading from a script.
"Is that all you called for?" Widowmaker asked, knowing that there must be another reason Moira was calling her.
"I have something for you. I'll tell you more when you return to base." Moira responded, before ending the call.
Widowmaker sighed a little, before looking below her to see that Cadance and the rest of the family had already left the dining room. "Adieu, for now." she said as she shot her grappling wire through the hole she cut in the ceiling before being yanked out the building by it.
Upon returning to the old dilapidated hovel Talon had commandeered as a temporary base, Widowmaker slowly made her way to the upstairs bedroom that Moira turned into a makeshift laboratory. "How did your little trip go?" Reaper asked with a slight moan.
"It isn't over yet." Widowmaker said with almost no emotion. As she turned to continue up the stairs, a thought crossed her mind. "Before I forget, you'd better watch out, faucheuse. I overheard from Prince Shining Armor himself that he is having the entire Royal Guard go on a hunt to bring you in."
"Ha! I invite them to try." Reaper responded, cackling under his breath as he went to the kitchen.
As Widowmaker approached the bedroom door, her thoughts of doubt returned once more. She stood still in front of the door, so emersed in these deep thoughts, she didn't notice that Moira had already opened the bedroom door. "Well? Are you just going to stand there?" Moira asked, bringing Widowmaker back to reality.
"Sorry. I was just thinking about something and got lost in thought." Widowmaker responded as she went into the bedroom.
"Let's try not to make a habit of this, Lacroix." Moira stated as she followed Widowmaker. Upon re-entering the room, Moira then gestured the bed, wanting Widowmaker to take a seat as she moved towards the desk that was now filled to the brim with test tubes and beakers.
As Widowmaker sat down, she asked Moira what had been on her mind the entire time. "What is it that you need of me?" She asked in rather calm voice.
"I just need you to test something for me." Moira responded, as she grabbed a vial of dark green liquid. "This is something that I have been working on for quite a while. This chemical causes those who ingest it to have a few...unpleasant dreams." she said as she handed the vial to Widowmaker.
Widowmaker looked at the vial for a moment, easily understanding what Moira was asking of her. "Who and when?"
"Who else but Princess Cadance." Moira answered with almost no emotion in her voice, nearly rivaling Widowmaker's own. "All you have to do is insert the vial into your Venom Mine Deployer." Widowmaker nodded, before heading out with the vial in her hand.
The rest of the day was rather uneventful for Cadance, despite her constant worry and fear of the Reaper. It seemed as though fate was giving her a break from him for now. "Shining. Can you have some of the guards patrol the castle tonight?" Cadance asked her husband, clearly still worried about the Reaper.
"Is this because of the Reaper, sweetie?" Shining asked, to which he received a meek nod from Cadance. "I figured that you might ask me that. Don't worry, I'll be having some of the guards patrol the castle tonight, just incase something does come in the night."
Cadance sighed with relief upon hearing those words. Knowing that the guards would be on duty gave Cadance a small, but reassuring amount of hope that both she and her family would be safe from the Reaper, at least for tonight. "Thank you, Honey." Cadance said as she nuzzled into Shining.
As the day slowly shifted to night, with Princess Celestia's sun leaving it's afternoon position in the sky to make way for Princess Luna's beloved moon, being a signal to all that it was time to go to sleep. As Cadance finished tucking Flurry in for the night, her mind began to wander, thinking about the shadowy silouhette from her dream. "I wonder what happened to cause it's emotions to be silenced?" Cadance pondered to herself aloud as she walked to her bedroom. As she opened the door, she noticed that Shining had already fallen asleep, possibly from waiting on her to return. Cadance giggled a bit as she slowly got into bed, being very careful to not wake her husband as she pulled the covers onto her body. As she got comfortable, Cadance noticed the lamp sitting on the bedroom dresser was still on. Using her magic, Cadance grabbed the lamp chain, and gave it a rather swift pull, causing lamp to stop its production of light with a click, finally allowing her to drift off to sleep.
Widowmaker watched from outside as the light from the bedroom finally ceased, signalling that Cadance had finally decided to hit the hay, causing Widowmaker to chuckle a little. "It appears that the performance is about to begin." she said as she fired her grappling hook into the roof, pulling her up to where she needed to be. Upon getting on top of the very crystaline roof, Widowmaker did one final check before entering through the hole she carved in the roof earlier. As Widowmaker rested herself a top crystal chandelier, she quickly discovered that Cadance decided to have a few of her guards patrol the castle for the night. "Génial, and here I thought this would be easy." Widowmaker said to herself as she quietly rappeled down from the chandelier, careful as to not alert the guard she was sneaking up on. When she got close enough to him, Widow quickly wrapped her grapple hook cable around the pegasus' throat, choking him slowly as his face turned from light orange to blue. "Shh." Widowmaker whispered softly into his ear as he struggled against her. With one final gasp for air, the stallion's body finally collapsed, falling to floor with a heavy thud, with Widowmaker merely heading to the next closest guard, and began to repeat the process again, as she slowly made her to Cadance's bedroom.
A few more dead guards later, Widowmaker finally made to the bedroom. Lightly turning the knob, Widowmaker began to open the door as quietly as she could, not wanting to wake up Cadance or her husband. Upon getting the door open just enough, Widowmaker squeezed through the gap into the bedroom. Making her way over towards Cadance, Widowmaker inserted the vial into the Venom Mine Deployer on her wrist, replacing the normally purple liquid with a dark green concoction. Clicking a button the deployer, it ejected the spider-shaped mine onto the nightstand next to Cadance. Upon sensing Cadance via it's built in motion sensor, the mine began to whirr a tiny bit before it expelled a misty, green vapor onto the still sleeping Cadance. Seeing that her work was done, Widowmaker began to head to the door. "Sweet dreams, Princess Cadance." Widowmaker said as she walked away.
Meanwhile, inside of Cadance's dreams, things slowly began to take a dark turn. Unbeknownest to her, her subconscience was beginning to become affected, as the spray slowly changed her pleasant dream into a nightmare. "I'm gonna get you, Flurry!" Cadance yelled at the top of her lungs as she chased her rambunctious daughter around the castle, Flurry giggling all the while her mother got closer and closer to her with each passing moment, until Cadance finally caught Flurry in her forehooves. "Gotcha!" Cadance exclaimed, followed by a tired sigh.
"Oh did you now?" asked a rather raspy voice, causing Cadance to look around for the source of the creepy voice. Not seeing where it came from, Cadance decided go back to playing with Flurry. However, as she looked down, she saw that she held the ball of pink fluff that was her daughter Flurry Heart, had been replaced with a foal-sized Reaper. Revolted by this, Cadance dropped the tiny Reaper. As Reaper hit the floor, his body morphed into a dark haze upon impact, with the black smoke allowing him to reform mere feet away from Princess Cadance. "What's the matter? You look like you've seen a ghost." Reaper said with a groan as he inched closer to Cadance.
"Stay back, I'm warning you!" Cadance screamed, quickly scooting away from Reaper, before bumping into a wall.
"Oh, now don't tell me you're afraid of Ol' Reaper!" Reaper said with a cackle as he loomed over the crumpled and cowering Cadance. "But I'm not the only thing you fear, now am I?" he asked as he morphed into near-perfect clone of Nightmare Moon. "What's wrong, Princess Cadance? Are you afraid I'll make the nightmares last eternal?" Nightmare Moon shouted, as his form changed once again, this time into King Sombra. "Or perhaps you're afraid of the darkness that'll swallow you and your kingdom if you fail?" King Sombra taunted, before turning back into Reaper once more. "But now, let's see what happens when those fears...combine." Reaper said with a groan as he transformed into a mass of black smoke, and slowly, a new body began to metamorphose within the veil of black smoke, before the dark haze began to clear, revealing something that left Cadance horrified. The cryptid that now stood before her was a disturbing bipedal amalgamation, the sheer height of it easily towered over her, adorned with a black cloak and white skeletal mask, dark blue wings tipped with black crystals, a blood-red horn that curved upward similar to King Sombra's, body armor that looked like an even mixture of the combined trio's attires, and metallic busts of Nightmare Moon and King Sombra's heads that rested upon Reaper's shoulders. The abomination groaned a bit before pulling two Hellfire Shotguns out from under its cloak. "Now...your reckoning draws near!" Reaper bellowed as he charged at Cadance. Seeing the monstrosity heading towards her, Cadance quickly dove to the left, with Reaper slamming into the wall, just barely missing her. While the monster regained it's bearings, Cadance used this valuable moment to try and escape to the castle's doors. Seeing this, Reaper extended his new wings, and flew over Cadance, landing directly in front of her. "You won't escape me that easily." Reaper said as he aimed a shotgun at Cadance. Cadance, not wanting to die, did what any normal pony would do in a situation like this...and shot a large bolt of magic into Reaper's face, blinding him just long enough to run a short distance away from the titanic-sized terrorist. Snarling, Reaper aimed a shotgun at the chandelier that hung in the middle of the room, and severed the cable connecting it to the ceiling with a single shot, causing the dainty decoration to come crashing down on top of Cadance, pinning her to the ground. As Cadance struggled against the chandelier that now trapped her, Reaper slowly walked over to her, and kneeled next to her. "I said I'd deal with you later, and this time, I'll finish the job!" he whispered in her ear, as he pointed a shotgun at her head. However, before he could begin to carry out the dark deed, a loud *Shink* was heard, followed by the sound of Reaper gasping for air. As Cadance opened her eyes, she saw Reaper... with a giant cobalt broadsword going through his chest. As he now struggled to breathe, Reaper toppled over, hitting the floor with an audible *thud*,as a puddle of blood began to form around him.
Wanting to see who had saved her from Reaper ravenous wrath, Cadance instinctively tried to stand up... only to painfully remember that she was still stuck under the chandelier. Soon after, a cobalt blue aura enveloped the chandelier that trapped Cadance, and lifted it off of her. With the chandelier no longer constricting her, Cadance could finally see her savior "Aunt Luna! Thank you for saving me from this awful nightmare." Cadance gushed.
"Save thy thanks for later, dear niece. This was no ordinary nightmare." Princess Luna said a worried look on her face.
"What do you mean, Aunt Luna?" Cadance asked, slightly afraid of what Luna was implying.
"We have seen enough dreams to be able to tell the difference between normal nightmares and potion-induced nightmares." Princess Luna stated about as blunt as a rock to the head.
"Aunt Luna. You have to wake me up." Cadance said, her voice full of fear and urgency.
"We understand why thou would asketh that of us, but the risks are too great." Luna stated.
"Aunt Luna. There is a murderous beast in my castle, and I'm scared it's going to hurt Flurry, or worse, kill her. I would never forgive myself if I let that happen to her. That's why I'm asking you to wake me from within my dreams. I'm more than willing to do anything to protect my sweet little foal. " Cadance pleaded.
Weighing her options, and seeing her niece's point, Luna finally gave in. "We understandeth." Luna said, as her horn's cobalt glow enveloped Cadance.
It took a few moments, but Cadance's eyes finally shot open upon being released from the thralls of sleep, thanks to Luna. Looking over at Shining, whose slow-but-steady breathing signfied that he still asleep. Trying not to wake her husband, Cadance slowly got out of bed, and tippy-hoofed across the room towards the bedroom door, opening it with care. As she ventured into the dark hallway, her hooves touched something heavy. Glancing down at what her hooves had touched, she was shocked to see a dead guard. Not wanting to alert the intruder, Cadance bit her tongue and swallowed the scream that was welling up in her throat as she made her way to the nursery. As she neared the door, Cadance heard a soft and oddly feminine voice coming from inside the room. Slowly opening the door, Cadance came face to face with... a rather slender biped, looming over Flurry's crib, staring at the sleeping tyke. "Oh, Gerard." Widowmaker mumbled to herself, unaware that Cadance was behind her. " Why'd you have to leave me so soon, Gerard? We always talked about having children. You were always so enthusiastic about it. We tried really hard, too. It was truly a shame that Talon had to interfere." Widowmaker lamented, her voice dripping with grief.
Widowmaker's words hit Cadance like a hammer, causing her to gasp with shock upon hearing them. "It's you!" she whispered a little bit too loud, causing Widowmaker to spin around, aiming her rifle at Cadance.
"How are you awake?!" Widowmaker angrily whispered, before lightly chuckling." No matter. You'll be asleep again soon enough."
"Wait." Cadance said, causing Widowmaker to raise an eyebrow. "Before that happens, I want to give you back something you lost first."
"Oh yeah... and what's that,princesse?" asked Widowmaker.
As soon as she said that, Cadance's magic wrapped itself around Widowmaker, trapping her in a field of energy. Widowmaker tried to scream, but upon opening her mouth, a tendril of blueish magic made it's way down her throat. A few moments later, the magic aura that held Widowmaker vanished, causing her to fall onto the floor. Coughing a little bit, Widowmaker tried to get up. However, upon standing up, she felt something...peculiar. Putting a hand to her chest, she found that her heartbeat had sped up a tiny bit. "What... did you... do?" Widowmaker asked, unsure of what Princess Cadance had done to her.
"I gave you back your emotions." Cadance stated ever so politely.
Widowmaker looked at Cadance for a bit, before feeling a huge wave of emotions she hadn't felt in years wash over her, followed by a surge of dark thoughts. " You don't know what you just did." Widowmaker whispered as tears ran down her face.
"I don't understand. I just helped you." Cadance said with a look of confusion on her face.
"How kind of you, but in doing so you just signed my death warrant!" Widowmaker snapped back.
Just then, Flurry whined a tiny bit, causing both Cadance and Widowmaker to look at the sleeping foal, before looking back at each other. "Let's talk about this in the dinning room." Cadance quietly suggested, not wanting to wake Flurry.
"...Fine." Widowmaker replied, as she reluctantly followed Cadance to the dinning room.
