Shadow of Fury

Chapter 14

Around the Campfire

The group panted, looking around for their friend. "Fluttershy?" Rainbow called, worried.

""Shy? Where are ya?" Applejack joined in.

No response. No response save a hoarse, hacking laughter from behind the group. The ponies turned, to reveal a lone griffin soldier, left behind by his comrades, blood flowing from his nostrils.

"You stupid ponies! Your friend is long gone by now!"

Rainbow Dash suddenly appeared before him, roughly grabbing him by the neck. "What do you mean gone? Where is my friend!"

The griffin only laughed, which quickly devolved into a fit of coughing. "Why, the mistress took her of course!" he said in between coughs.

Rainbow growled, before punching the griffin hard in the face. The soldier collapsed in the dirt, knocked out cold. Her friends appeared behind her, taking him in. "Well, at least we have a hostage, too," Lightning piped up futilely. "That's something, right?"

But all knew that it was a hollow victory. Their opponents obviously cared little for the life of this expendable soldier, especially when they had three hostages of their own. A collective sigh ran through the group. Willus looked up at the sky. "It's getting late. We should make camp," he said.

"But what about Fluttershy?" Rarity asked.

"There's nothing we can do, at least not now," Shamrock replied. "We're more good to her if we have enough energy to save her in the future,"

Twilight bit her lip. "Everypony, I don't like it either, but Shamrock has a point. It'd probably be best if we just made camp for the night and started again in the morning,"

The ponies looked at each other, unsure. Finally, they set to work making camp.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

After about an hour's work, the group sat on logs surrounding a campfire. The soldier they had captured had been tied to the tree. The fire crackled and simmered in the darkness, and each of the group had their sleeping mats unrolled behind them. Applejack pulled out some apples from her bag, which were distributed to everyone in the group. Everyone except for Reaper, who silently fed on the emotions around him.

"So, anypony got a plan for when we finally find this guy?" Lightning asked absent-mindedly, chewing his apple.

Rainbow smacked her hooves together. "Personally, I wanna make him pay for taking Fluttershy! A good one-two will teach that creep to mess with us!"

Twilight put a hoof on Rainbow's shoulder, as if trying to calm her down. "We should probably let the Princess know, first, before we do anything,"

"Twilight," Rainbow groaned. "We don't have time for that! We gotta react on our own here!"

Reaper hissed. "React how? I saw how you performed today. Your combat was sloppy, it was almost embarassing. You wouldn't last five minutes in the changeling army!"

Rainbow growled, giving him a glare. "Yeah? I didn't see you do much!"

Reaper hissed back, but Willus piped up to prevent further argument. "Guys, stop!"

Reaper leaned back in his seat, straightening his top hat. "Regardless, I have decided that action is neccesarry to improve your combat potential," His horn glowed as his box levitated towards him. "This is my little box of mementos. Things I kept after I left the Hive. And I'm going to give some of these things to you,"

The ponies watched eagerly as Reaper opened the box, like fillies on Hearth's Warming Eve. "Let's see," he muttered to himself, as he pulled out the first item.

It was a long, thin, katana. "Reaper, where did you get that?" Applejack asked, it's steely glint reflecting off of her green eyes in the firelight. Reaper chuckled.

"Infiltration. I posed as a griffin general once, and he happened to own one of these things. Used by the ancient samurai ponies of the east, so I hear. Once they knew who I was, I figured it wouldn't hurt to take a little souvenier,"

He looked at Applejack. "This is a weapon that requires the utmost balance, precision, and skill to use effectively. Try as I might, I lack these qualities. But you, on the other hoof," he gestured at her lasso, which lay neatly folded at her side. "You should be able to use it effectively,"

He levitated the katana towards her, the hilt pointed towards her. Applejack eyed the foreign weapon awkwardly for a moment, before taking it in her mouth. She was surprised to find that it not only felt natural to hold it, but right. "Reaper, how am Ah s'posed to figure out how to use this?"

Reaper shrugged. "Figure it out," before rummaging through his chest once more. The ponies were distracted by Applejack's new weapon.

"Gee, Applejack, I can totally see you as a samurai!" Rainbow Dash said.

"If you were a samurai, what would your samurai name be? Samurai Applejack?" Willus asked.

Applejack gave him a look. "Nah," she said flatly.

Reaper pulled out the next item. This was a burlap sack, evidently stuffed with something. Painted on the front was a feather with an explosion behind it. With a glow of his horn, he pulled out a quill from the bag. "These are fun. Explosive quills. They match the magical signature of whoever picks them up, so they can only be detonated by that pony. Once you have one, it's just a matter of pointing the right way,"

He threw the quill behind him, and it exploded with cyan magic about fifty yards away. The explosion was small, but the ponies could still feel its force. He tossed the bag to Willus. "Those are for you," he said.

Twilight, however still had questions. "Wait, why would anypony make quills that explode?"

Reaper rolled his eyes. "Isn't it obvious? When you have infiltrators in the field, they need something to get them out of sticky situations. Something that nopony would see coming,"

Twilight couldn't argue with the simplistic logic. "Why have I never heard of these?"

There was a scream, and all turned to see a now very charred Willus. "There was a problem with... premature detonation," Reaper said embarassedly. Willus glared at him.

Reaper now pulled out a jar filled with green, semi-clear liquid. "Ugh, why do I even have this?" he muttered, before shoving it back in.

"Wait, what was that!" Rarity asked.

Reaper shuddered. "If you're not a female changeling, you really don't want to know,"

All of the ponies gave him looks of disgust. Lightning's face turned green, and he ran into the bushes. The retching sound that followed was proof enough that his body couldn't take it.

Reaper smiled sheepishly. "Let's move on, shall we?"

He pulled out the next item, something the ponies were familiar with. "Night-vision goggles!" Pinkie pie exclaimed, excited. Reaper flinched at the sudden noise, but didn't lose his demeanor.

"Yes, Pinkie. Night-vision goggles,"

"Ooh! Ooh! Can I have them? Please? Pretty please?"

Reaper's face contorted with annoyance. "Fine! I was going to give them to you anyway,"

"Oh, thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" Pinkie said, grabbing the goggles and putting them on. Reaper scowled.

"Moving on,"

The next item he pulled out was a skintight, black suit. "This is a nice little gem. It's called a Morph Suit. Another souvenier from the griffins, something they cooked up to try and combat us changelings," he said.

"What does it do?" Rarity asked.

Reaper grinned. "I'll show you! Put it on,"

Rarity gave him a look. "That garrish thing? I wouldn't be caught dead in it!"

Reaper scowled. "Put it on. Now is not the time for this,"

Rarity sighed, before slipping into the suit. "Alright, now what?"

"Now, focus on somepony. Every single detail. Let's do... Fluttershy. Imagine every little detail about Fluttershy,"

"Okay," Rarity replied hesitantly, before closing her eyes and concentrating. Slowly but surely, she began to change. First, her white coat changed to a yellow beige. Then, her mane changed appearance, and she grew wings.

The ponies gasped as suddenly, Rarity was replaced with Fluttershy.

"What? What's everypony looking at?" Rarity asked.

Reaper grinned, pulling a mirror in front of her face. "Oh, my..."

"Truly something, isn't it? unfortunately, the suit is a one-time use. But we needed a Fluttershy suit, anyway,"

"What? Why?"

Reaper waved a hoof dismissively, returning to his chest. "I'll explain in the morning,"

Rarity was not satisfied, but didn't argue further. Reaper continued to rummage, before sighing. "Looks like there's nothing else. I'll let you know if I find anything else useful,"

The ponies nodded, Lightning barely recovering from earlier. "Anyways, Willus, there's something I've been meaning to ask you," Rainbow Dash said.

Willus smiled. "Go ahead!"

"That mare from earlier, the zebra. You seemed to recognize her. Who is she?"

Applejack's eyes widened, as she realized fully the trauma behind that particular mare. She gave Willus a look. "You don't have to-" she started to say.

"No, no, they deserve to know," Willus said. And then he began to tell his life story.

Everypony there was blown away as he explained everything. Morticia. The book store. The asylum. His escape. Everything. Nopony could believe their ears. "Wow, Willus, that's horrible!" Rarity said.

Willus shrugged. "It's okay. At least it let me meet all of you!"

The ponies smiled. Reaper frowned. Lightning cleared his throat. "Well, if we're gonna start telling stories..."

And then he told his life story, too. And when he was finished, Shamrock piped up. "I guess I have to, too, now, huh?" Derpy smiled at him.

"Go ahead. It's okay," And then he told his story. The reactions were wide and varied, but everypony couldn't help but sympathize with him. All eyes expectantly turned to Reaper.

Reaper was not paying attention. He was looking at something he had found in his box of mementos. He had pulled it out so he could get a better look at it. "How did this get here?" he mumbled to himself.

"What is it?" Twilight asked.

"Nothing!" he said surprisedly, trying to hide it. It didn't work. Twilight pulled the object from his grasp with her magic, and the rest crowded around it to get a look.

It was a picture, frame and everything. The picture showed Queen Chrysalis in the center, smiling. Next to her was a younger, similar looking, female changeling. On the other side of the Queen stood a young, male drone, dressed in ceremonial armor. "Reaper, what is this?"

Reaper frowned, clearly uncomfortable. "It doesn't matter,"

"I think it does matter! Is that the queen? Reaper, we need explanations. Now,"

Reaper squirmed like a turtle flipped on its back. "Fine," he finally said.

"All you need to know is that back at the hive, I held a position of very high power. I was high general, meaning I was in charge of all military departments, and-"

"Ha!" Rainbow Dash interrupted. "I bet you were the guy who decided trashing Canterlot was a good idea!"

Reaper hissed, his face filled with anger and pain. "As if! That was a fool's gamble, and she knew it! Why didn't she listen to me? When had I ever been wrong? Why, if I had my way-" Reaper suddenly stopped, noticing the awkward stares he was getting.

"Rest assured, that was the past. Chryssie can rot for all I care,"

The ponies all stared at him awkwardly for a moment, before looking down at the picture again. Even Rainbow Dash felt a little bad. Why wouldn't he open up? "Hey Reaper," Rainbow said. "You never told us about this other mare. Who is she?"

Reaper took the picture back with his magic, before throwing it into the fire. The flames crackled and popped, eagerly enveloping their new fuel. "Someling who used to care," Reaper said grimly.

Awkward silence resounded after that. After a while, Lightning Hawk cleared his throat, ending the silence. "So, anyways, now what?" he asked.

Applejack shrugged. "We should probably start gettin' to bed, now. We better be well and rested if we're gonna set out again tomorrow morning,"

"Yeah, especially now that we have something else to worry about, now," Twilight added, gesturing to the captured griffin with her head.

"What if they come back during the night?" Rarity asked.

"I'll take first watch," Reaper said, not really paying attention.

"Then we better get to sleep. Good night, everypony," Twilight said, before settling down in her mat. In a few moments, all of the ponies were asleep, leaving one lovesick changeling alone with the fire and his thoughts.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Deep in the bowels of Mount Molten, Morticia sat staring into a boiling cauldron. Noxious fumes fillled the room she was in, but she didn't care. She was too preoccupied with her own thoughts. As she expected, Ironfeathers had been infuriated by his daughter's failure. He would probably kill her soon, she reasoned. It wasn't as if blood relation had stopped him before. However, he had been delighted to see her capture of the one called Fluttershy. With this leverage, dealing with the elements would be much easier.

But that wasn't what worried her. What worried her was the sudden, inexplicable recurrence of Willus. Hadn't she dealt with him long ago? Morticia thought back, remembering the events that lead up to where she was now.

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

One hundred and ninety-eight years ago, Morticia was a young, successful zebra witch. Deep in the heart of her homeland, she became well-known in her village for the apparent miracles she was able to work on the sick and wounded. Truly, her knowledge of magic was seemingly limitless. Key word being seemingly.

One day, the forty-year old mare got in an accident. A tree fell over, crushing her nearly to death. She barely escaped with her life. She had helped everypony who needed her, but when the time came that she herself needed help, nopony could. It took two years for her to recover. Once she did, she became increasingly paranoid. Everything became a threat in her eyes, and she began the search for immortality.

Reminded too frequently of her ordeal from the still-present pain and scars, she searched feverishly for an answer. And one day she found one, albeit from an odd source.

She had found an artifact in th jungle near her village. The strange statuette radiated with dark magic, a force most were either wise or oblivious enough to know not to mess with. Morticia was very wise, but that didn't stop her. No, instead she activated the artifact, although to this day she didn't know how. From the artifact came a strange being.

He never revealed his name to her. Nor did he even take a physical form. But he did promise her one thing - eternal life. And in return, all he asked for was for the mare to return the favor later. It was an amazing deal. Morticia took the offer without hesitation.

For the next 197 years, she traveled, living out her now unnaturally long life. She became even more acquainted with the dark arts of black magic, and eventually she met Willus. She had liked Willus, to be perfectly honest. He had seemed like a fine colt. But one day, after his birthday party, her master had returned. He said that the time was drawing near, and her service would be necessarry. To begin, Willus would have to be driven insane. She had hesitated at first, but in the end, she did the job.

After that was accomplished, her next goal was to gather an army. This was easy. With a simple potion, she was able to drug an entire village of diamond dogs into working for her. The process was simple, only a matter of slipping a mind-control potion into their water supply. After she had assumed direct control, she began to experiment.

It didn't take long for her to make the first diamond hulk. Unfortunately, the transformation process resulted in most of her test subjects suffering from a severe case of death. It took a while for a diamond hulk to actually live beyond a day, and even longer to get past a week. Eventually, she got to a more workable lifespan. It was then she made her next appointment.

She met with Lord Ironfeathers. He was an egotistical psychopath if ever there was one. However, Morticia's master had deemed him and his operation important to the plan, so she didn't ask too many questions. She didn't have to see him too much, only checking on him occasionally. Until the plan started to accelerate, that is.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

And that was how Morticia had gotten to where she was. Was she guilty for what she did to Willus? Was she guilty for any of the things she did? Of course not. Right? No. She had a job to do. She could not allow such delusions to cloud her judgement. Morticia got up, and walked to the pen where she kept the diamond hulks. More pairs of eyes than she could count opened, glowing yellow, at the sound of her hoofsteps.

Morticia grinned wickedly.

*  * *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Reaper sat, staring into the fire. He sighed. Stupid ponies. He stared, when he suddenly was alerted by movement in the corner of his eyes. He quickly turned to face the intruder, only to be disappointed by the fact that it was only Pinkie. The mare had gotten out of her sleeping mat, and was now moving towards him. "Can't sleep?" he asked.

Pinkie nodded. "You know, all that sugar you eat is probably the reason," he continued.

Pinkie smiled, sitting down next to Reaper and joining him in gazing into the fire. "Reapy, why are you so scared to tell us about your past?" Pinkie asked.

Reaper tensed, but didn't react. Pinkie could sense that Reaper wasn't going to open up. She sighed. "You know, just because your past wasn't happy doesn't mean your future can't be," she said.

Reaper and Pinkie looked at each other. As they did, Reaper began to think. What was with this mare? Why did she care? Ever since she had met him, all she had tried to do was make him happy. Why? What did it matter to her if he was happy? Why did she care? In fact, she was the only being who had ever really cared about him. At least, the only one since....

Reaper realized that whether he liked it or not, Pinkie mattered to him. And he smiled.

If it were anypony else, Pinkie would have exploded with happiness. But it was late, and she didn't want to wake her friends. So she just smiled back warmly. Reaper's smile was fleeting though. "Well, I suppose I will go to sleep now. You take over the watch, it's best if you put those goggles to good use," he said.

As Reaper lay down to sleep, he felt happier than he had in a very long time.