Shadow of Fury

Chapter 3

I Don't Believe We've Met Before

The silence that followed the death of the ursa major was quite possibly the most awkward silence Reaper ever had the displeasure of being part of. As all the ponies stared at the changeling, they began to ask questions mentally. Who was this guy? Where did he come from? Is this the same changeling who lives here? It's hard to tell without the hat.

Reaper never thought he would see the day where he would be happy to see Sputnik, but so it was. The little robot came running up to his master, running through the small crowd of ponies. When he finally reached Reaper, he doubled over, panting dramatically. Then he perked up in a perfect contradiction, and said, "Hi boss!"

"Yes, hello," Reaper replied in an annoyed voice.

"I got your hat!" Sputnik said before shoving his hand in his mouth and pulling out a top hat, in perfect condition. He handed it to Reaper. Once Reaper put it on, there was a noticable chorus of "Ooohhh"s, as the ponies finally realized who he was.

"Now then," he said, "Which one of you came up with the idea to fight an ursa major alone?"

All hooves pointed at Lightning, who shrank away in guilt.

"Good, good. You have my sincerest thanks," Reaper said to the golden pegasus, who was now very confused.

"Thanks? Why?"

"Because if you hadn't attacked the creature in a fool-hardy attempt, and then convinced others to help you, then that thing would still be rampaging through town square."

This did not help Lightning's confusion. It was Shamrock who helped him out.

"What he's trying to say, Lightning, is that he wouldn't have been able to put the final nail in the coffin, so to speak, if we hadn't weakened it ourselves," Shamrock explained.

Fluttershy and Rarity arrived then, followed by a large crowd of ponies.

"We saw the ursa collapse," Fluttershy explained. "Is everypony okay?"

"Everypony's fine, Fluttershy," Twilight answered, "But we wouldn't have been able to stop that monster if it wasn't for these four," she continued, pointing at Shamrock, Lightning, Willus, and Reaper. Sputnik waved.

"Well then," Pinkie suddenly piped, "Do you know what this calls for?"

The four colts looked at each other, then shook their heads.

"A PARTY!"

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

Ponyville would remember this party as the biggest Pinkie Party since yesterday. The four colts, along with the mane 6, were provided with medals in honor of their bravery. All of them were promptly eaten by Sputnik, much to everypony's chagrin.The party was at Sugarcube Corner, and everypony was there to celebrate the heroes who had defeated the monster. All four of the colts seemed to have somepony who wanted to talk to them. Although everypony knew they lived in Ponyville, nopony actually knew them in the fullest sense of the term.

Willus was enjoying the return of his sanity. Well, at least part of his sanity. He wasn't hallucinating, and he was able to socialize well enough. At least, he was pretty sure it was well enough. he had never been particularl social, before or after he became insane. Now that he was suddenly thrown into this group of ponies who all seemed to think fondly of him, he wasn't quite sure how to react. So he decided to just wing it. And that seemed to be working. He watched the ponies dancing. Was that what sane ponies did? Well, if he was going to integrate himself back into society, he might as well follow the leader. Willus walked up to the dance floor and began to dance.

Meanwhile, Shamrock was having a truly bizarre time. Fighting the ursa had left him drained of energy, so he consented to just watching the ponies dance rather than join in. He stood by the bowl of punch, drinking from his cup. Suddenly the mare called Raibow Dash wlaked up to him. "Hey," she said, "why aren't you joining the party?"

Shamrock was silent for a few moments, as he thought of an answer that wouldn't sound a little mean.

"I'm not dancing," he started slowly, "because I am tired. Although the lucky charm spell is relatively easy to cast on another pony, casting it on mysel requires tremendous energy. During the battle, I cast it on myself to stay safe, and now I am all worn out. It's not that I don't to dance, you see, it's just that I can't dance.

Rainbow nodded. "I understand, " she said. "Sometimes, after a hardcore workout, I feel the same. And Pinkie's parties, awesome as they are, can really take it out of you."

"Really?" Shamrock was surprised.

"Oh yeah," she continued. "I remember this one time a party lasted throughout the entire night nonstop. Everypony was so tired in the morning they couldn't even make it out the front door."

Shamrock chuckled.

"So anyway," Rainbow said, "the mayor was recruiting some ponies to help rebuild town hall. I'm in charge of the process, and I saw how strong you were while we were fighting that thing, so I was just wondering-"

"You want me to help rebuild town hall,"

"Yeah! That,"

Shamrock smiled. "I'll be there tomorrow morning,"

Rainbow said her thanks and left. Shamrock turned to the dance floor. Willus was there now. He seemed to be dancing, or at least trying. All of the other ponies had gotten off the floor and were looking at him awkwardly. He was reall bad. Shamrock considered going up to him and telling him that. "Nah," he decided. There were some things that were better left unsaid.

During all this, Lightning Hawk was having the time of his life. All the ponies he talked to seemed nice, the dancing was fun(at least until Willus showed up), and the food was great. He couldn't come up with a better way to introduce himself to the town. Presently, he was wandering through the crowds, trying to find something to do. He noticed a game being played nearby. That looked promising. As he walked towards the game, he accidently bumped into somepony, tripped, and fell. "Oh my!" he heard the voice of a mare say.

When Lightning looked up he saw the face of the unicorn named Twilight Sparkle. "Are you okay?" she asked worriedly. "I'm so sorry! I should have been watching where I was going!"

Lightning stood up, and noticed for the first time how this mare truly looked. And he couldn't help but feel that she was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. Her mane seemed to glow from the way the light appeared behind it. The soft aura from her coat accentuated this, and her eyes, for lack of a better word sparkled. Lightning was absolutely dumbstruck, and simply stood staring at her.

"Uhh, hello?"

Lightning snapped out of his trance, babbling incoherent nonsense. Twilight chuckled. "Hey, I'm sorry about what I said during the fight, if that's what's bothering you," she said.

Lightning nodded. He tried to find his voice, but it seemed to have flown away and left him to rot. All he was able to force out was "It's okay."

Twilight felt a little awkward now. "So.....you're new here right? How do you like Ponyville?"

"It's nice," Lightning said. "I came here just trying to make some friends, nothing else," 'Stupid, Stupid!' he thought. 'Now there's no way she'll go for me.' Yet, despite his better judgement, he continued to talk. "I don't have anywhere to stay yet, but I'm just gonna build a cloud house."

"You know, you should stop by the library sometime. I own the place, and I could check out a few books for you on housebuilding."

"That'd be nice," Lightning forced out. He was amazed he had made it this far into the conversation without soiling himself.

"You should come over tomorrow, and I'll give them to you then,"

"Okay,"

Twilight raised an eyebrow. "You know, Lightning, you seem like a pretty nice guy."

"I know," he said. "It's a bit of a problem."

Twilight laughed, before walking away. Lightning Hawk exhaled, never realizing he had been holding his breath in the first place.

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

Reaper had never been more bored than he was right then. He stood alone in a corner, watching the ponies, "party," as they called it. Back at the hive, there were no parties, only formal celebrations. He came to the conclusion that these, "parties," must be very similar to the formal celebrations, only without the formal part. He had long since lost track of Sputnik. The little robot had gone off to have fun, or rather, "Make a chair outta cheese," as he said. While the ponies were intially creeped out by Sputnik's skeletal head and the general idea of an undead cat-bot, his charmingl stupid personality combined with his frequent "recon missions,"(which were really just Sputnik getting supplies) resulted in the ponies being used to him by now.

Reaper looke around. In one area of the room, the one called Willus Word seemed to be attempting to dance. He was most certainly not doing a good job of it. In another, Shamrock stood alone, drinking from a cup fruit punch. That certainly wouldn't bring any amusement to Reaper. He turned his head again, and saw something that genuinely bothered him. Standing there, across the room, talking to the mare named Rarity, was the pink pony who had orchestrated this whole party. She seemed to be having a good time. What was her name? Pinkie Pie? Something like that. Her presence wasn't what bothered Reaper. It was what happened next that bothered him.

She turned and looked at Reaper, and then she smiled. That smile. It was so BIG! It didn't even seem physically possible. He would have to remember to check his books on pony anatomy to check if it was. The pink pony waved at him, and Rarity looked at him confusedly. She only shrugged. Reaper shook his head, as if to regain his focus, and continued looking around the room. Then he saw one of the most amusing things of the day. There stood Lightning Hawk, evidently trying to talk to Twilight Sparkle. Key word being try. Reaper was a changeling, and due to this he could sense the emotions coming off of the two. Twilight's emotions were purely platonic, but from Lightning he detected that emotion so precious to his kind, the emotion that sustains them like nothing else. From Lightning he detected love. Reaper smiled wickedly. This would be fun indeed.

Lightning Hawk watched Twilight walk away, when he suddenly felt the presence of another being. He turned to be face-to-face with the changeling in a top hat, Reaper. The changeling had a sly, knowing look on his face. "So," he started slowly, "you and the unicorn, huh? From the brief amount of time that I have known you, I would have guessed the cowpony."

Lightning was confused. "What do you mean, 'me and the unicorn?'"

"Oh, you know exactly what I mean."

"No, I don't!"

Reaper chuckled mischievously. "My, my. Even when I know the truth you deny it."

"What are you trying to say?" Lightning was getting visibly frustrated now. Reaper sighed contentedly.

"I could go on forever, but I think I'll be merciful this time and get to the point." His next words would finalize everything Lightning thought he was feeling.

"You love Twilight Sparkle."

For a moment, there was silence, as Lightning realized the changeling was right.

When he finally spoke, his voice was annoyed. "So what if I do?"

Reaper chuckled some more in satisfaction. "Acceptance is the first step to victory. Remember that, Lightning Hawk."

And with that he walked away.

While that bit of amusement and psychological bullying had been fun, Reaper found himself bored again quickly. But fate would not allow that. Reaper, who was staring at a bit of wall in boredom, suddenly yelped when he heard a voice. "Hi!"

Reaper jumped in the air in shock, before turning to the source of the voice. It was the pink pony from before, Pinkie Pie. She appeared to be confused. "Uhh, Mr. Changeling? Where did you go?"

"What are you talking about? I'm right here!" He said in an annoyed tone.

The pony perked up. "You can turn invisible? That's so cool! If Dashie were here, she would say that made you 20% cooler!"

Reaper was confused. 'Invisible? I'm not invis-' Reaper looked down at his hooves only to discover they weren't there. "Great," he muttered. "It happened again." His horn glowed and Reaper reapeared in front of Pinkie.

"Sorry about that. I just turn invisible whenever I get startled. Involuntary reflex," He said.

Pinkie didn't stop smiling. "So you're a changeling right? I was wondering-"

"Let me guess. You want me to turn into you."

Pinkie let out a dramatic gasp. "How did you know?"

Reaper rolled his eyes. "Because that's all you ponies ever want. When I first came here, everypony would come up to me at random times asking to see my impression of them. It wasn't so bad at first, but it got annoying really fast."

Pinkie's smile never wavered. "Oh, I understand. What's your name?"

"What?"

"Your name. What is it?"

Reaper was shocked. Few, if any, ponies had actually bothered to ask him his name. Why did it matter so much to this pony? "It's Reaper," He said cautiously.

The effect was catastrophic. "Omigosh like the Grim Reaper? That's so cool! I beat when ponies first meet you they're all like 'Ahh, it's the grim Reaper!' but then they actually meet you and they're all like 'hey, this Reaper guy is pretty awesome!' and then-"

Reaper shoved his hoof into Pinkie's mouth to shut her up. He could still hear mumbling. He sighed. "Are you done?" he asked.

Pinkie nodded, and Reaper pulled out his hoof. "Your hoof tastes like cheese! Maybe that's why it has so many holes."

Reaper facehoofed.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Willus was dancing when the cowpony walked up to him. "Umm, beg yer pardon?" She said. Willus turned to look at her. "Yes?"

Applejack felt awkward. "Look, Ah don't know how to say this, partner, but,"

Willus continued to look at her expectantly.

Applejack sighed. "Yer dancin's terrible. And everypony would appreciate it if ya got off the floor."

Willus blinked. "Okay then. That was unexpected. But alright,"

And with that Willus walked awkwardly to the side. Applejack followed.

"Sorry about that," Willus said. "I was jut trying to do what all the sane ponies do,"

"It's alright, Ahm sure you were just doin what you thought was best,"

There was a moment of silence. "Applejack," Willus began slowly, "Can you help me with something?"

"Sure, partner. What is it?"

Willus sighed. "I just got out of a really long, really difficult stage of my life. As you may or may not know, I used to be crazy. Insane. Psychopathic. Cuckoo!"

"Ah get it,"

"Oh, right, sorry. My point is, I'm not exactly sure what a 'sane' pony is expected to do. I mean, how am I supposed to behave? I haven't had a practical thought for as long as I can remember!"

Applejack raised a hoof in a motion for silence. "Don't worry, Willus. If anypony know practical, it's yours truly! Just come on over to the farm tomorrow, and Ah can set ya to work!"

Willus smiled. "Sure, Applejack. I'd like that."

Applejack patted him on the back. "That's the spirit!"

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Reaper was certain that this pony's goal in life was to annoy him to death. She hadn't shut up for what felt like the last five hours, but was only forty-five minutes. And no matter what he did, there didn't seem to be any way to stop it. Finally, after all the irrational things Reaper had heard in the last forty-five minutes, one in particular made him lose it.

"Say, you wouldn't mind if i called you Reapy, would you?"

"THAT'S IT! YES, I WOULD MIND!" Reaper shouted at the top of his lungs.

For the first time, Pinkie visibly shrank back in surprise. The brief hesitation didn't last. "But Reapy," she said, "It's so much catchier than your actual name! And besides, ponies might be scared of you at first with a name like that."

Reaper grit his teeth in frustration. "You look stressed, Reapy. You should come over to Sugarcube Corner sometime!"

Reaper gave up. "Sure, why not? It can't be any worse than it is right now. SPUTNIK?"

The little robot appeared seemingly out of nowhere. He was wearing eyeliner and lipstick, and had a chocolate stain on his left cheek. "Yes, my master?"

Reaper looked at the robot's strange appearance awkwardly. "What happened to you?"

"Crazy party, boss!"

Pinkie grinned in pride.

"Whatever. Make a note! I will be in Sugarcube Corner two days from now!"

Reaper turned, and saw Lightning, Willus, and Shamrock joining together in a corner of the room. He walked off to join them.

"Butter....face....Corner! There," Sputnik said, looking at what he wrote. He shrugged. "Mmm, I'm sure master will figure it out," Sputnik then ate the notebook he was writing in. Pinkie giggled.

Reaper walked up to the trio. "What are we talking about?" he said, interrupting their conversation.

"We were just planning for a day for us to get together," Shamrock said.

"And?"

Lightning was still a little shaken. "We all have things planned, so we don't know when we can do this."

"Do not fret, Lightning," said Willus. "I am sure things will work themselves out somehow,"

They all agreed on that. The four colts turned to walk out the door. As they all left on their own seperate ways, Reaper chuckled to himself. 'Yes,' he thought, 'they will make fine friends. And they will certainly do all that I need them to.' Sputnik walked up behind Reaper, just as his master began to laugh. Maniacally laugh. The robot joined in. The pair laughed this way all the way home. It wasn't until they were actually inside that they stopped. When they did, Sputnik spoke.

"Why were we laughing?"