Chapter 1: The Silent Blade
As Luna's moon shines across the night sky, I listen to the cold wind whistling through the air. It’s always helped me calm my nerves and relax, I'd never tell anyone but even if I wasn’t… who I am I always enjoyed the night. It was quiet and peaceful and hardly noisy which helped me think better, helped me stay focused.
I look at the skull mask in my left hand and feel its metal beneath the fabric of my glove. This mask has been worn by countless legacies of unsung heroes... yet that’s how they’ve preferred it.
If the guards hates us, then so be it.
If the public despised us and demanded we burn at the stake, so be it.
As long as Equestria stayed safe it doesn’t truly matter.
And now, it is my turn to take up the mantle. As my father, my grandfather, my great-grandmother, and so many before me have.
I put on the mask, raise my hood, and leap off the roof I'd been sitting on, jumping across the rooftops with the skill and grace, swift enough not to be noticed, yet graceful enough not to make a sound. Just as dad had taught me.
I soon reach my destination, a mansion that took up about half of the block. I think that was a bit overkill... if my last target's home hadn't been TWICE as big...
After checking for guards I snuck in through the window on the second floor, silently dashing through the hallways, occasionally checking the rooms and ducking into the shadows to avoid being caught by any guards, or the occasional maid.
As I continued my search I heard a few voices, as I continue down the hall, I heard what appeared to be two stallions arguing.
"I don't care what those lazy bastards are complaining about! I want those damn beasts killed! Do understand how much their fur is worth?!" One of them screamed, presumably the owner of this mansion.
"W-w-well yes s-sir, it's just that their t-t-territory is too dangerous to traverse..." The other stallion stuttered out.
"Well then the answer is simple: CUT IT DOWN OR BURN IT!!" He screamed into his servants face, causing the quivering stallion to back away in fright. "IS THAT CLEAR?!"
"Y-yes sir! S-s-sorry to disturb you!" I heard him stutter. The moment you finish talking I heard him quickly making their way towards the door. Immediately I leapt behind one of statues aligning the hall. The servant opened the door–a skinny bright red pegasus with a orange mane–and scurried out, just as the door was about to close I darted in.
Apparently this guy really liked to collect trophies, the dead kind you hang on the wall. The room I was in was full of various animal heads from bears and lions to cockatrices and cragadiles. The problem with his trophies though happened when I saw a PARTICULAR animal being put on display. This bastard was gonna pay. I felt around in my suit before finding the smoke pellets I normally start my routine with. One of these days I’m going to get a belt for these types of things. I throw them from my spot of darkness and watched as the moron-a burly dark blue pegasus with a green mane, Faust above I’d be doing him a favor by doing this next part-tried to find the source of the sound before the smoke exploded and covered the room. Now… cue dramatic entrance.
“T-the hell is this?!” I hear him yell as I exit the smoke.
“Big Time…. you are hereby sentenced to death. If you wish to pray to Faust then you are looking at her and she has run out of mercy.” I say through the voice modifier in my mask. There are days when I just love technology and this looks like it’s going to be one of them.
“Yeah and what have I done to get that sentence hm? Celestia and her bitch of a sister Luna don’t seem to care about what I do so who are you to give me the sentence?!” He demanded. The stallion loves to sound like he’s in control and that he sounds as though he’s dealt with others before… the problem is The Reaper doesn’t care who you are. If you committed the crime then you WILL pay for it. The bigger the crime… the harsher the sentence.
To give him the impression of how little bucks I gave towards his big talk I whipped out my scythe and sliced the head off one of the trophies, sorry to whatever animal that was.
"Eight vital points…liver, lungs, larynx, jugular, spine, collar bone, kidney, and the heart, do any of you know what the difference between each of them is?" I asked as I slowly walked towards him, stabbing one of the animal statues in one of the areas I mentioned just to induce more fear as the stallions began to quiver, it slowly dawning on him how screwed he was.
"The difference is how quickly you DIE!!" I screamed, slicing another statue in half. I get the desired result as he backs away in fear, The poor idiot is practically crapping his pants-scratch that, he IS crapping his pants! This would be downright hilarious if it wasn't so pathetic... and disgusting. “Oh you gotta be kidding me….. ah screw it take off your damn pants.” I ordered him. I am going to kill him but I’m at least gonna let him have a SHRED of dignity. Killing him RIGHT AFTER he crapped himself is just…. let's just say I’ve had to get the stench out of my nose for DAYS after something like this happened.
“O-okay.” The soon to be dead stallion said as he took off his pants. He was doing so slowly and deliberately so he could have a few more seconds of life. Too bad the pants finally came off and I just gave him a glare that I honestly wished would’ve smited that bastard on the spot.
"Please I'm begging you! Please don't kill me!" He pleads pathetically, I swear bravado just flies out the window for these guy the moment they realize they've been cornered by someone that doesn't give a damn about their status. “W-Whatever they're paying you, I can give you double-no-TRIPLE!" He whimpered, desperately trying to buy his way out of the hole he'd dug himself into. I remain silent as I continue to approach him, my scythe dragging across the ground menacingly. "I'll give you more gold than you can count, enough jewels to buy an island! I'll even give you my wife!!"
...what?
I stop, contemplating what I just heard. Did this guy really just offer up his WIFE just to save his own skin?!
"Your wife?" I repeat, clenching my fist. "You're offering me your wife?"
His eyes widen with a hint of joy, thinking he'd found some way to get me to spare him. "Y-Y-YES! My wife is one of the most beautiful Pegasi you'll ever meet! You spare me, you can have her too! I can always get another!"
Behind my mask my left eye twitches. That's it, this fucker dies slowly! I try my best to keep my voice sounding as neutral as possible as I tell him “Okay… I’ll take the offer… and I’ll take one more thing.”
“What is it?! Anything I swear!” He tells me… and then I let slip a small growl.
“Your life.” And like that I swiftly sliced open the tendons of his legs. Not enough to where he couldn’t move… but if he tried to move his legs would feel like knives would be stabbing into him. Look at him… trying to crawl away. Fucking coward. I move quickly and stab him in the gut, causing some blood to squirt out a bit. I stab again hitting his liver.
"Your kind make me sick." I mutter as I slice off his left wing earning an agonized scream from him. "You have it all and yet it's never enough for you is it?" I slice off his right wing, he doesn't get a chance to scream again as I kick him across the room. His body slams against the wall, causing several of his trophies to fall on top of him. "You use every chance you get to bleed others dry, treating them as if they were born to make your life easier, I've seen dragons and griffins more charitable than you!!"
"Pl-Please..." He weakly chokes out. "M-Mercy..."
“Sorry…. all out of it." I cackle as I slam my scythe into his back, his screams have become music to my ears at this point. "But I do have a steaming hot plate of justice, with extra karma and irony on the side." I whispered sinisterly... wow did I really just say that? I need to lay off the Power Pony Comics... anyway, time to kill this fucker.
I rip my scythe out of his back before grabbing him by the scruff of his neck drag him over to one of the few trophies that didn't fall, the cragadile. I stuff him in with his head sticking out of the front before kicking it closed, relishing his cries of pain as the teeth pierced his skin. With one swift movement, I slice off his head, grabbing his hair before it falls.
And now for the visually ironic part...
"Excuse me, Big Time?" A maid asked from outside the room. She heard a rustling and figured he must have left a window open and panicked when a bird flew in. She knew first hand that he had a heavy fear of the outside world. So she slowly opened the door so that she wouldn’t continue to frighten him from his already severe phobia. It seemed strange to her that one of Equestria’s best hunters had a heavy fear of the outside world but then again perhaps that was how it took revenge on it.
“Sir I’m about to come in. Please do not freak out.” She said as she entered the room. What she saw at first shocked her with several statues being cut or knocked over. She knew Big Time was going to force her to fix them up somehow she just knew it. She was going to leave at that moment…. when she saw on the antlers of one his trophies was the head of her boss.
The maid's scream echoed throughout the mansion.
The next morning in Sugarcube Corner a group of friends gathered and were having a enjoyable time merely talking about their day….. but then one of their friends marched up with a sour look on her face. "Can ya'll believe this load of horseapples?!" Applejack shouted as she slammed the newspaper on the table in front of her friends. "Some maniac in a mask is running around Canterlot killing people!"
Twilight picked up the paper. "This is the fifth murder this month... the victim was a Pegasus noble named Big Time... apparently he was illegally hiring poachers to bring him the heads of rare and exotic animals..."
Fluttershy scowled at this. "Serves him right..." She mumbled to herself, however Pinkie heard her.
"Fluttershy, you're not seriously telling me support this, are you?!" Pinkie shouted, her face inches away from the shy Pegasus'.
Fluttershy's eyes widened. "What?! N-No! I'd never support something as brutal and cruel as that!" She defended herself before looking away with a slightly irritated look on her face. "It's just... a few species are in fact on the brink of extinction because of the hunters ponies like him had been hiring..."
"That doesn't mean the guy deserved to be executed so brutally." Rainbow snapped, getting her old friends attention. "If anything he should've been brought in for more questioning, then thrown in a cell. Killing him just makes finding out if anyone else was working with him that much harder." The cyan Pegasus blinked when she realized everyone seemed to have their eyes on her. "What?! Capturing the target alive for questioning is standard procedure for the Wonderbolts and the Royal Guard! Of course I'd know about that sort of thing!"
"It's not that simple…" Twilight stated as she picked up the paper. "According to this article they've only just now found out that he was part of all this illegal stuff. Apparently when investigating his mansion they managed to find the proof they needed... as well as put away a few nobles and Guards who were bribed into keeping their mouths shut..."
Rarity scoffed. "The elite of Canterlot may seem completely pure and noble, but there are always rumors of a good chunk of them having a rotten secret." She proclaimed as she took a sip of her tea. "And it looks like one of many has been exposed..."
"Be that as it may, that doesn't mean the Reaper should be taking the law into their own hands like this..." Twilight said, only to notice that her friends were giving her odd looks.
"And how exactly do you know their name?" Pinkie asked.
A bead of sweat rolled down her forehead before she calmed herself. "It's on the paper right here." She stated, pointing to a section of the page:
'Many rumors state that the following assassinations were the work of the infamous "Reaper", an individual known in the past for hunting down and murdering corrupt nobles.'
“So wait. This vigilante's shown up before?” Applejack asked as she looked at the name. “And what’s up with the name ‘Reaper’?”
“From eye-witness reports that’s what the pony looks like and has taken a liking to that name.” Pinkie stated as she took the paper back.
"Sounds like something out of a serial killer movie..." Rainbow said as she snatched Pinkie’s cider mug when she wasn't looking and chugged it down in one gulp.
"HEY!"
"Oh like you haven't chugged down three times your bodyweight in this stuff!" Rainbow retorted as she wiped the foam off her lips. "Try saving some for those of us who barely get any."
"She's got a point, sugarcube." Applejack added, only to notice the irritated look on Rarity's face. She followed her line of sight and realized she was glaring directly at Canterlot.
"I always wanted to be like them…" Rarity mused to herself. "The the cream of the crop, the type of pony everypony should know, one of the elites... and now with each passing day I find out how rotten they really are..."
“Um Rares yer talkin’ to yourself again.” AJ said as she nudged her. "Somethin' bothering ya?"
“Hm? Oh sorry darling. Just got lost in my thoughts for a bit.” She said before turning her attention to Fluttershy, who seemed to have engaged in a small conversation with Pinkie Pie.
"I mean, I understand that their fur is really soft, but that no reason to hunt them down..." Fluttershy continued as Pinkie casually munched on a twizzler.
"Well, as... informative as this conversation was, Fluttershy and I should get going. We'd hate to miss our daily spa treatments. And I'm going to be meeting with a… client this afternoon and I'd rather not be late." She said before getting up and fishing her wallet out of her bag and placing 10 bits on the table. "Come along, Fluttershy.
The shy Pegasus nodded and said goodbye to her friends before rushing after the fashionista.
Applejack sighed as she got up. "Ah'd better get back to the farm, Applebloom's due home soon..."
"Same here." Rainbow added as she stretched her wings. "I promised Scootaloo that I'd help her learn some new flying techniques after school..."
"In that case, would you mind watching Spike too? His wings are starting to grow and he could learn a thing of two by watching..." Twilight said. 'At least that's what he told me when he wanted to hang out with Scootaloo...' She mentally added before continuing. "…and I've got a few things to take care of around the library tonight..."
“Alright everypony! See ya later!” Pinkie said as she hopped back into the kitchen. Applejack exited first and headed on out. Rainbow left next followed by Twilight.
As I leap across the rooftops of Canterlot, I shoot a glance at Ponyville from afar, thinking back to my friend's opinions of me...
Some of them hated what I did, some of them supported it... sort of...
But that didn't matter, what did was making sure my next target was dealt with.
As I landed on the roof, I watch as a cloaked Unicorn mare made her way down the alley... before leaping down and following her into the shadows...
I am the Reaper, and no one escapes my wrath.
Author's Note
I actually forgot to put this in when I first published this but step right up everyone step right up! Take a guess to who might be The Reaper! Is it:
1.) Twilight
2.) Rainbow
3.) Applejack
4.) Rarity
5.) Pinkie
6.) Fluttershy
Who could it be? What would their reasoning be? Well keep on reading to find out!
