Revenge of Fury

Revenge of Fury

Chapter 1

So It Begins Again...

There was a knock on the door. Pinkie Pie opened it with a smile on her face. "Hi!" She chimed, chipper as ever.

Standing outside was Lyra. "Oh, hey Pinkie. Is Reaper here? I had an appointment scheduled for today,"

"Sorry, Lyra, but Reapy's still out of town!" Pinkie said. "I can reschedule your appointment for you, if you'd like!"

"Really? That'd be great," Lyra said.

Pinkie waved as Lyra left, before shutting the door. She sighed. Three days. It had been three days since Reaper the changeling had left. She didn't know where he went, or for how long. He simply said he had business to take care of out of town. He had instructed Sputnik to stay, but that didn't last on. The day after, the robot had already disappeared. That left Pinkie Pie alone in a big, empty house.

All alone. With nopony to talk to. Nopony to care about. Just her and the silence.

It was awful.

Today was Saturday, which meant she didn't have work to keep her busy. Everypony else seemed to be busy, though. She sighed again. Boredom really sucked. She hoped Reaper would come home soon. She missed him.

She certainly hadn't been without work though. Reaper had left with quite a few appointments already scheduled. Lyra was the fourth pony so far she had to turn away and reschedule. She looked at the book of appointments, contemplating if she really felt like rescheduling Lyra's right now. What could possibly be so important that Reaper would leave all of this work without an explanation? It just wasn't like him.

She sighed again, when suddenly there was another knock on the door. Suddenly, she felt excited. Was Reapy back? She rushed to the door.

Pinkie opened it, only to be greeted by Rarity. Pinkie sighed, disappointed. "Hello, Pinkie. Just wanted to check up on you," Rarity said.

Pinkie smiled. "Hey Rarity. I'm fine, thanks for checking,"

"May I come in?" Rarity asked. Pinkie nodded, letting her in before closing the door behind her.

"So how have you been?" Rarity asked.

Pinie shrugged. "I've been fine. I really miss Reapy, though," she said.

Rarity smiled. "Don't worry, I'm sure he'll be back soon," she said, before looking around the house.

Ever since Pinkie Pie had moved in with Reaper, there had been significant changes. Before she lived there, the house was fairly bland, with only the bare necessities. Once she got there, that had all changed. The house now lived and breathed with an energetic and warm atmosphere. Luckily for Reaper, Pinkie hadn't gone overboard with the color pink. As a matter of fact, Rarity was quite surprised by how well Pinkie had matched colors here. The walls were a light blue, and there where white window frames and doorframes. There were now a few pink and green vases in a few areas, each with flowers in them. Who would of guessed interior decorating was Pinkie's forte? Then again, nobody ever seemed quite able to pin the pink mare down, anyway.

"So, have you told anypony yet?" Rarity asked, breaking the brief silence.

Pinkie was confused. "Told anypony what?"

Rarity smiled. "Why, your feelings for Reaper, of course!" she said.

Pinkie blushed brightly. "Wha-what do you mean my feelings for Reapy?"

Rarity smiled again, rolling her eyes. "Pinkie, you haven't exactly been subtle. I picked up pretty quickly that you really cared about him,"

Pinkie shuffled awkwardly, not sure how to react. "Don't worry, dear, your secret's safe with me. But if you ever want to get anywhere, you're going to have to tell him," Rarity continued.

Pinkie nodded. "Thanks Rarity," she said.

Rarity placed a comforting hoof on her shoulder. "Don't worry Pinkie. I'm your friend, and friends are always there for one another," she said, before chuckling.

"Who knows? Maybe he feels the same way about you?"

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Lightning Hawk pushed the last cloud into place, before wiping the sweat from his brow. Another hard day's work complete. He looked out at the sky, stretching out over Ponyville. Ever since they had returned from their adventure, Lightning had enlisted as a weatherpony. After all, he had to pay the bills somehow.

Today was a wonderful cloudy day. The sky was grey, and the air had a nice, brisk breeze to it. The faint smell of rain told him that the southern division were already getting started with the night's shower. He smiled. This was life. No worries, no problems. Just enjoying the day, in a town he loved surrounded by the ponies he loved.

He took a deep breath, before he heard somepony calling his name. "Lightning! You done daydreaming?"

Lightning turned around to see Rainbow Dash, a few dozen yards away, pushing another cloud into position.

"Hey Rainbow," he replied. "Think we're almost done here?"

Rainbow Dash examined the cloud, making sure it was aligned perfectly. "Yeah, just about," she said.

"That's good," Lightning said, looking up at the sky. It was the afternoon. The sun would be going down soon.

Rainbow shrugged, flying closer to him. "Got any plans for tonight?" she asked.

Lightning nodded excitedly, grinning widely. "Yup! Gonna spend the night with Twilight. We're probably just going to hang out, but that's fine by me!"

Rainbow rolled her eyes. "Is it even physically possible for you two lovebirds to spend more than 24 hours without seeing each other?" she asked.

Lightning chuckled. "You say that like it's a bad thing," he said.

Rainbow huffed. "Come on, let's go back to headquarters. The sooner you checkout, the sooner you can get back to your kissy kissy, googoo stuff," she said.

As the pair flew back towards Cloudsdale and the WeatherHub, Lightning reflected on how life had changed for him ever since he got back. He was now in a relationship with Twilight Sparkle, the mare of his dreams. He had a job as a weatherpony. It was nothing glamorous, but it had its purpose, not to mention a few plusses here and there, like getting to stretch his wings regularly. And finally, there was no stress. Ever since they had saved the world, everything had been just fine. He loved it.

He sighed happily as they neared the building in which they both worked. He couldn't wait to get to Twilight. She'd be so happy to see him.

Absolutely nothing could ruin today.

*  *  *  *  * *  *  *  *  *  *

"Are you kidding me?!"

Derpy flinched as her boss yelled at her. "S-sorry, boss," she whimpered.

The mailcolt only glared at her. "Sorry? Sorry? Sorry doesn't cut it, Miss Hooves! This is the fourth package you've broken this week!"

Derpy continued to whimper. "I-I just don't know what went wrong," she said.

Her boss continued to scowl. "Oh, I know what went wrong! I hired you!" he shouted.

Shamrock watched silently from behind the counter. He stamped a package, before giving it to the pony in line. "Here you go," he said, distracted. Ever since their adventure had ended, he had gotten a job at the post office with Derpy. Unfortunately, the manager there was crabbier than Reaper without sleep. Shamrock really despised him. Had it not been for his calm demeanor, he would have lost it long ago.

"B-boss, I promise I'll do better next time!" Derpy pleaded.

But the mailcolt ignored her. "I've heard that before," he said sarcastically. "But not this time, Derpy!"

"Boss, what are you saying?"

And then he said it. The two words that made Derpy's world come crashing down.

"You're fired."

Derpy was shocked. She didn't know what to say. "But....But...."

"No buts. You may gather your things and go,"

Derpy's heart sank, as she fought back tears. She hung her head low, before grabbing her uniform and walking out the door. Shamrock watched her until she was gone. That's it. "Excuse me," he said to his client, before following Derpy outside.

He found her sitting, a small puddle of tears underneath her. "Derpy! Derpy!" he called.

Derpy looked up. "Oh hey, Shamrock," Derpy said sadly.

"You okay?"

Derpy sniffed. "Yeah I'm fine," she said, lying.

Shamrock gave her a look. "Are you really?" he asked.

Derpy sniffed again, before breaking out bawling. She hugged Shamrock fiercely, crushing his lungs.

"What am I gonna do? How will I pay the bills? How will I pay for Dinky's school? Shamrock, I'm doomed!"

Shamrock coughed, struggling to breathe as he patted her on the back. "It'll be okay, Derpy, I'm sure of it," he said.

Derpy looked at him, tears staining her eyes, and smiled. "You really think so? But how?"

"I'll help pay for your needs, that way you can just focus on finding a job,"

Derpy was shocked. "Shamrock! How could you do that? You really don't need to!"

"No, no, no, it's okay. After all, what are friends for?" Shamrock asked.

Derpy hugged him tightly again. "Oh, thank you so much, Shamrock!" she said.

Shamrock choked, but smiled. "No problem, Derpy,"

Derpy let go, as the pair looked into each other's eyes for a moment.

"Well, I guess I should get going," Derpy said.

"Yeah," Shamrock agreed, suddenly feeling awkward.

"See you around!" Derpy said, before taking to the air and flying away.

"You too!" Shamrock called after her, watching her fly away.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Willus was bored. And when an ex-psychopath is bored, nothing good can come of it. Terrence sat on a perch, chirping occasionally. Willus twiddled a pencil with his magic. What a slow day.

Willus was alerted by a bell ringing, signaling that the front door of his bookstore had been opened. He looked up, to see Fluttershy trying to get the bell to stop ringing. "Oh, hi Willus. I'm sorry if that was too loud," she said.

"No, it's not a problem, Fluttersy," he replied. "How have you been?"

"Oh, I've been fine," Fluttershy said quietly. "I brought that birdseed you needed,"

Terrence perked up at the word "Birdseed." He chirped loudly, demanding attention. Fluttershy smiled and hovered over to him. "And how are you doing today, Mr. Terrence? You want some birdseed? Who's a cute little birdy? Yes you are! Yes you are!"

Willus was amused by watching Fluttershy treat Terrence as though he were her own child. What a funny mare. "Thanks, Fluttershy. You know, you really didn't have to come all the way over here just to deliver it. I could have gotten it myself,"

"Oh, it's no trouble at all, Willus, really!" Fluttershy responded, feeding Terrence a bit of birdseed. "Besides, I always love checking up on critters that don't live with me anymore!"

Willus smiled.

As Terrence finished eating, he hopped away, to wander the bookstore. Whenever the bird was bored, he would simply hop around, not really in search of anything, just entertaining himself with the sensation of movement. Fluttershy and Willus watched him until he disappeared behind a bookshelf.

"So, how have things been for you?" Fluttershy asked.

Willus shrugged. "Ok. Everything's been kinda boring, lately. Business as usual, nothing exciting," he said, picking up an apple from the small basket he had for sale and taking a bite out of it.

"How are things with Applejack?"

Willus thought that was an odd question. "Good, I suppose. Is there a reason they shouldn't be?" he asked.

Fluttershy suddenly shrunk back. "No, no reason," she said.

Willus eyed her suspiciously, but didn't say anymore. "Anyways, do you know if there are any plans for the week?" he asked. "Like, is everypony gonna get together for lunch or something?"

Fluttershy shrugged. "I dunno. Twilight usually does all that organization stuff. But I haven't heard from her all day,"

Willus nodded. "Can you believe that Lightning and Twilight actually got together?" he asked.

Fluttershy nodded, too. "I know, right? Who would've thought?"

"I wonder what their relationship name would be. Lightlight?"

"No. Maybe.....Twining?"

The two looked at each other for a moment, then laughed. "Nah, they don't work for that at all," Willus said.

"Yeah," Fluttershy agreed. "I wonder what they're up to right now?"

Willus shrugged. "Well, it's about 3 O'clock. Lightning is probably finishing up work, and I'm sure Twilight's just getting worried about something that's not really important," he said.

Fluttershy chuckled. "Yeah, she does have a tendency to do that,"

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *   *

Twilight paced through the library, worried. She flipped through books, tossing them behind her when they proved unsatisfactory. "Oh, how could this happen?" she muttered to herself.

She was interrupted by a loud knocking at her door. She opened it with her magic, not looking up from the book she was reading. Applejack walked in. "Hey Twilight. You wanted to see me?"

Twilight flipped through the book, before groaning. "Useless!" she exclaimed. She tossed the book behind her just like the rest, almost hitting Applejack.

"Hello to you, too," Applejack muttered, dodging the book.

Twilight groaned again, before turning to Applejack. "I'm sorry, AJ, but I'm just really stressed right now," she said.

"What's on your mind, sugarcube?" Applejack asked, picking up the book that head been thrown at her. She read the cover. A Mare's Guide to Relationships - Unicorn Edition. Applejack smiled, chuckling inwardly. Twilight always knew just what book to read for the given situation.

Twilight sat down, groaning. "Applejack, what I'm about to tell you is incredibly important. You have to promise that you won't tell anypony - especially Lightning," she said.

Applejack raised an eyebrow. "Ah guess, but why me? Why not tells Rainbow, or Rarity, or somepony?"

"Applejack, you were the first pony I met when I came to Ponyville. Well, technically Pinkie was, but that doesn't really count since she just kinda saw me and gasped really loudly and then left. But my point is that I know that I can trust you with this, and more importantly, I know that you're the only one of us who can keep it secret. Right Applejack? Promise me you won't tell anypony,"

"Well, yeah sure, but what is it?"

"Say the words, Applejack. Say the words!"

Applejack rolled her eyes. "Ah promise, Twilight, not to tell anypony about this big bad secret you're about to tell me. There, happy?"

Twilight nodded, as Applejack took a seat opposite her. Twilight took a deep breath, as she got ready to speak. "Are you absolutely positive you won't tell anypony?"

"Yes, Twilight,"

Twilight sighed. "Okay, here I go," she said.

Applejack leaned forward in anticipation.

"Actually, maybe I should just wait a bit. I might be wrong and -"

"For Celestia's sake, Twilight, just tell me!"

Twilight Sparkle flinched at the outburst. "Fine, fine," she said. Applejack rolled her eyes.

Then she said it.

"Applejack...I'm....I'm.....I'm pregnant,"

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Reaper sat in the branches of a tree, looking up at the night sky. The moon hung poetically over the scrubby desert, illuminating what little vegetation there was. Beautiful. Simply beautiful.

He had left Ponyville a few days ago. He had brought only what he could fit in a small bag, which was a box of matches, a map, a book on psychology, the black sword he had won from the battle with Ironfeathers(which he had appropriately named "Regicide"), and one other thing. A very special book. When he had first found Sputnik, he had found him with the journal of a pony named Sickle Star. He had never really read it, but ever since the discovery of Sputnik's true power, he decided to give it a look. Who knew what secrets were contained within?

And that's precisely what kept him from reading. He feared what he may find in that book. Perhaps he was not ready - perhaps the world was not ready. For this reason, he didn't dare read it.

In regards to sustenance, Reaper had more than enough. Changelings were capable of storing the emotions they fed on in a sort of bubble around them. It was invisible, and could only be detected by other changelings. Ponyville was overflowing with emotions. Reaper taking a few to feed on during his journey was not a problem.

He sighed. He had given Sputnik very specific instructions. He could only hope that the robot came through. For a moment, he wondered how all the ponies were doing back home. He wondered if he would ever see them again. He banished the thought from his mind almost immediately. He had a mission. He couldn't allow for anything to get in the way.

He smiled. He had a plan. Oh, how sweet it would be to finally get his revenge. 3 months. It had been 3 months since his exile from the Changeling Hive. Chryssie had it coming. He grinned as he dreamt up horrible things.

And then he remembered Phasmi. The smile left his face immediately. He slipped into a melancholy mood as he remembered their happier days. What was he going to do when he finally saw her again? Suddenly, anger overtook him. She deserved nothing less than her mother. He would spare her no mercy.

Suddenly, he heard a noise, in the distance.

Voices.

Changeling voices.

He hovered down from his spot in the tree, his wings buzzing softly as he descended. He cloaked, creeping up towards the source of the noise. Then he saw them, two changeling guards. They were talking to each other, while walking towards a large plateau. Reaper recognized that plateau anywhere. He had found it. After all this time he had finally found it.

The Changeling Hive.

Reaper grinned, ignoring the conversation of the two guards. He failed to notice the sound of hoofsteps behind him. Suddenly, there was an explosion of pain in the back of his head, and everything went black.