Original Link:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1H6fH4FeTsXDD7xVNDZOiN3cJQ8tjxcBNjnn4rb5ALkc/edit

Tripudium Messōrum was over. The reapers all went back to where they came from and the keepers of harmony also started climbing down Death Rock Mountain to return to Ponyville. Like Obsidian promised, the antidotes lasted until the very end. The group was still too impressed by the day with the reapers, as well as their dance, to talk a lot. They had to sort their thoughts. Obsidian seemed to be even more silent than usual. For some reason he kept on staring at Fluttershy. She, though, did not seem to realize this until he started asking questions.

“Miss Fluttershy, what is the real reason you let me live with you?”

“W... what do you mean?" she simply replied.

“What caused you to let a dark creature like me stay with you?” he asked again.

“I just couldn’t stand the idea that you had no real home. I didn’t want you to live in Everfree Forest when you could have the chance to live in a warm, dry house,” the yellow mare explained.

“But there was more to it, was there not? You felt a kind of connection to me. Something deep and unexplainable. Maybe you would even go so far as to call it destiny?” the reaper continued asking.

Fluttershy became paralyzed for a moment, her face showing a shock filled expression. Was he hinting on... no... he couldn’t... he could not possibly know! Or could he? What if he knew? What would this mean? What would she do?

“What’s with those weird questions, Obsidian?” Applejack asked. The black stallion now turned his focus away from Fluttershy.

“Nevermind it,” he replied, then sunk in thoughts. Fluttershy was very nervous for the rest of the climb down now. She had no idea what was going on in that black stallion.

---

Going down the mountain was more dangerous than going up, so the group had to take its time. With their minds filled with all the impressions they gained tonight and having to pay attention where they stepped caused the group to stay silent. Especially Twilight tried to sort the thoughts that rushed through her mind.

She learned so much now. About Derpy Hooves. About the society of the reapers. About the red reaper and Malice. This all was so much to handle right now. It made her wonder how she could not have noticed any of that for such a long time.

The day Obsidian arrived in Ponyville changed everything. Their lives were no longer the same ever since. But was this a good or a bad thing? Twilight was not sure, but she started to understand why Princess Celestia recruited Obsidian as their bodyguard. He was familiar with what was going on in the shadows like no pony. Who would possibly be more suitable to reveal the true identity of Equestria to the six mares but him?

Twilight watched her friends walking in front of her. Pinkie Pie and Rarity were to her sides. Suddenly, Obsidian halted.

“What’s up, O?” Rainbow Dash asked.

The reaper did not reply instantly. He just made a gesture to tell the group to stay quiet, then listened carefully and looked around in search.

“Ladies, please wait here,” he replied and lifted into the air.

The black stallion must have noticed something. He flew around, searching. He was unable to find what caused him to get wary, though he knew something was nearby.

Twilight heard another pair of hooves clattering closely behind her. She turned around.

Two glowing red eyes were staring directly into hers. Before Twilight could realize what was going on, flashbacks started popping up in front of her vision again. They were much faster this time. Within seconds, the last four months rushed past her vision.

Then finally, she found the self-control to scream. All of her friends instantly turned around. A copycat of the purple mare with a bleeding, heart-shaped hole in the chest was standing right in front of Twilight, staring deep in her eyes.

Obsidian, too, heard the scream and turned around, charging towards the demoness. But she already got what she wanted.

She remained calm, gave the black stallion a malicious smile and teleported away. Obsidian hit the brakes hard and came to a full stop just in front of Twilight, who was shaking all over now.

“Twilight! Are you hurt? Did she do anything with you?” he asked while landing. She did not reply and just kept on shaking. Her mind was still overloaded. All of her friends surrounded the purple mare.

“Oh no! Twilight! What was that?” Pinkie Pie worried.

“T-t-that was her! Despair!” she shouted while slowly coming back to senses. Her friends gasped. How could this demon find them so far away from Canterlot?

“That is unusual,” Obsidian commented while checking on Twilight’s condition. “You seem completely unharmed. Despair did not even try to hurt you? And she can teleport...”

“Is that unusual for a demon?” Applejack asked. Obsidian nodded.

“She was unable to teleport the first time I fought her. She must have gotten stronger. Twilight, did you see flashbacks again?”

“Y-yes! It was like I went through the last months backwards in super speed!” she replied shaky. Obsidian paused for a moment to think.

“Do you think she can see your memories?” he then questioned. The ponies glanced at him worriedly.

“I don’t know. But that would make sense,” the magical mare answered. Obsidian’s face became serious and he looked around again. He could no longer feel the presence of any demons. Despair must be far out of reach now.

“This demon has a plan. I have no explanation for how she could know we are here. It is urgent we return to Ponyville as fast as possible and notify Mistress Celestia,” he concluded. The group now had an a lot faster pace while getting back to the teleportation rune.

---

Obsidian sent the report as soon as he made sure all the keepers of harmony were safe. When he and Fluttershy returned to her cottage, it was already far too late to actually do anything anymore. So they ended the day, though Fluttershy could barely sleep. She was still nervous about the curious words of the reaper. Just what should she do if he really did find out about her secret?

After yet another not very restful night for Fluttershy, Obsidian had a talk with her on the next morning. He confronted her with what he discovered about the yellow mare. It was not what she thought at all, but it surprised her a lot still.

“... you really think I can do that?” Fluttershy asked.

“Nōn dubitō. You have enormous potential, Miss Fluttershy. If we practise together, you will learn to control it. You will realize that all your fears are without reason. You would gain the strength to not only protect yourself, but also all of your friends from next to any threat. There is even the possibility you would become stronger than me,” Obsidian responded.

“Stronger than you?! Oh my goodness. I really don’t know about that,” the yellow mare worried.

“We will see, Miss Fluttershy. Anyway, I need to talk to Twilight about this,” the reaper continued.

“Twilight? Why her?” the yellow mare asked.

“Before we can start anything, I not only need your approval, but also hers. She is my superior after all,” he explained.

“Oh... yes, I remember,” Fluttershy commented. Obsidian bowed down before her and walked over to the front door.

“I will see you later,” he spoke and left.

Fluttershy hung her head and gained a sad expression. No. This was absolutely not what she thought he would say.

While Obsidian discovered an extremely powerful aspect of her soul, he could not see the other things that were going on inside her. How could he? He was an emotionless reaper after all. How could he know... how could he care...

Angel saw Fluttershy’s sad face. He bounced over to her and tried to cheer her up. But it didn’t seem to work. Fluttershy petted him shortly and then started walking upstairs to her bedroom.

The white bunny did not understand what was going on right now. Obsidian said nothing that would hurt her. He can’t be the reason why she is so sad. Angel silently followed Fluttershy upstairs and watched over her.

---

“Hold still, Spike, or I will never get that bandage right!” Twilight said while trying to treat a large cut on the baby dragon’s right arm. “I still don’t understand how you managed to fall through that window and break it like that.”

Spike was shaking heavily. This situation was extremely stressing for him. One wrong word and he knew he would get punished more.

“I-I, eh... I...” he started, but was unable to continue. Twilight’s face became suspicious.

“Please don’t tell me you did that on purpose,” she asked.

“No! Of course not! Why would I do that?” he spoke out loudly.

“I’m worried about you, Spike! This is already the second time in just a few days that you got yourself injured badly while I was away!” she stated.

The baby dragon again was entirely confused by the controversial behavior of the purple mare. Did she really just say while she was away? He wondered what kind of tease that was supposed to be. Since Twilight did not hear a proper statement from him, she was about to speak up again. Then someone knocked at her door.

“We will talk about this later,” she stated while getting up. Spike used this moment to run upstairs and hide. The door opened by magic and Obsidian entered.

“Salvē,” he greeted.

“Hi, Obsidian,” the purple mare greeted back. The reaper closed the door behind him and looked around to make sure no one was listening.

“Is something wrong?” Twilight wondered. Judging the library was safe to talk about his discovery, Obsidian turned his focus to her.

“I was able to identify the source of miss Fluttershy’s power,” he stated.

“Really? Great! What is it?” Twilight asked in excitement. The black stallion took a moment to think how he was going to present this. It would be hard to believe for her, that was for sure.

“Let me ask you something first. Did you happen to notice any kind of connection between me and her?” he questioned. Twilight looked a bit baffled and started to think.

“Well... hm... you are both kind of calm. She also seems to trust you a lot. And from what you told me, she seems to be pretty interested in meditation and your duties.”

“There is more, Twilight. When I was first asked to stay in Ponyville, I would have denied every offer that came from a pony. But when I saw her the first time, the moment she offered me to stay in her cottage, I felt a kind of connection to her. She had something familiar about her that I only knew from reapers. As time passed, she drew my attention more and more. I showed her things I usually would never show a pony. I allowed her to come closer to me and spend more time with me than I usually would allow for anypony else. Then yesterday, during the dance, it all became clear. Did she behave strangely while we were dancing?” the black stallion continued.

“Hmm... yes. She seemed to be very fascinated by watching you all dance. She said she felt something, but could not tell what it is. What are you driving at, Obsidian?” Twilight responded.

“Twilight Sparkle. Miss Fluttershy and I felt the same thing during the dance. The affinity we both share: Darkness,” he responded calmly.

“What?!” the purple mare shouted. “Are we talking about the same Fluttershy? One of the shiest, calmest, most insecure and easiest to scare ponies in the history of Equestria?”

Obsidian's face became serious. He nodded, telling Twilight that he was not making jokes. Her expression changed from surprise and disbelieve to a neutral one.

“Okay, Obsidian. Then explain it to me. How can a pony that is so scared of the dark like she is have an affinity to darkness?” she requested from the black stallion.

“Exactly out of this reason. She never learned to face darkness, while she at the same time carried it around in her soul. She is afraid of using her inner darkness, worrying she might hurt anypony or lose control. Her entire insecurity, shyness and anxiety sprouts out of this. She tried to bury this connection inside her, but she will never succeed at it. Her soul is full of darkness. I have never met a pony before that had so much potential. She gives off a sensation that is otherwise only known from elder reapers. Twilight. In her current state, she is unstable. Having such a power and lacking control over it can easily make her fall victim to Maledictum Insania. On the other hoof, if you allow me to train her in the arts of darkness and self-control, she would be able to use this power effectively and become next to immune to the curse of madness. She might even be able to take on higher ranked demons all by herself, though she will be unable to defeat them without the reaper curse,” Obsidian explained.

“Wait, wait, wait! You don’t plan to turn her into a reaper, do you?” Twilight concerned. The black stallion shook his head.

“Of course not. Although I am convinced she would make an incredible reaper, maybe even the best in all of history just because of her kind personality, I would never place such a burden on her. It is not her destiny to serve in the shadows. She is meant to stay with you and the rest of the keepers of harmony. Besides, it would require the death of a reaper so she could become one. We certainly are not willing to sacrifice one of us just to create a better one of us. Twilight. Please allow me to teach miss Fluttershy the ways of darkness for her own good,” he explained.

Twilight thought about this for a moment. The safety of her friends surely was one of the biggest priorities to her. But training Fluttershy in controlling darkness? Whether she really had a strong connection to it or not, this just seemed strange. Obsidian appeared to be absolutely convinced he judged her right, so Twilight believed him. If it was true and the purple mare allowed him to train Fluttershy, she would change for sure. But she would also gain a lot. Maybe she would even be able to live happier with the ability to control what she was afraid of, not to mention she would be able to withstand Nightmare Moon’s curse much better. After all, Twilight still remembered what happened to Trixie and Moondancer. She would not be able to bear it if Fluttershy would end up the same way, especially like Moondancer.

“Did you talk to her about this?” Twilight wondered.

“Yes. She as well seemed unsure, but she would agree to it,” Obsidian responded. Twilight took herself a minute to make a decision. Then, she finally replied.

“Alright. You can train her, but only under one condition.”

Obsidian bowed down before the purple mare.

“Yes, my lady?”

“I order you to ensure Fluttershy will not become a reaper. Whatever it takes, you must prevent this from happening. Do not fail me,” she insisted.

“As you command,” Obsidian replied.

---

While Twilight found out about Fluttershy’s source of power, Angel found out an entirely different secret of hers. She sat on the floor in her bedroom, staring at a small object in front of her: a gift for Obsidian Shards.

It was very symbolic for her and she planned to give it to him for quite a while now. But she was just too afraid of what might happen then, since she knew Obsidian had no feelings for anypony. What if he didn’t like it? What if he said no? That would be just awful! Too awful for her to handle, too awful for her to risk.

She was stuck in a situation where she was powerless. Neither could she go back to the way things used to be, nor could she advance. She hated being beaten by the way things are and after what happened this morning, Fluttershy was sure her last chances had passed.

Tears filled her eyes. Angel was right by her side the whole time. He finally understood and felt incredibly sorry for her misery. He gently placed a paw on her, causing Fluttershy to look at him. She carefully picked the white bunny up and embraced him.

“Oh, Angel. What should I do?” she wondered, starting to cry.

Usually, Angel would guide her and help her through anything that was too difficult for her. But this time, he as well did not know what to do. The situation was very hopeless.

The sound of the opening front door was to be heard, warning both of them that Obsidian had returned. Fluttershy quickly hid the gift in a small cupboard and hoped he would just go back to his room as usual. That, though, was not the case. Fast hoof steps were to be heard on the stairs that lead up to her bedroom. Obsidian must have heard her cry, alarming him. Fluttershy quickly wiped the tears out of her eyes and tried hard to make a happy face. Then the black stallion rushed in.

“Miss Fluttershy, are you alright?” he asked as soon as he entered.

“Um... yes. I’m fine,” she replied lowly.

Obsidian stood there, looking at the yellow Pegasus mare with his expressionless face. He knew her just too good by now to fall for such an obvious lie. He heard her and he saw that she had tear trails. Something was bothering her.

“It is my duty to ensure your security. Physically and mentally. Please share with me what is weighting on you,” he requested.

Though Fluttershy remained silent. She just looked down to the ground, unable to say anything. She so wanted to just shout out what was going on inside her. But she couldn’t. The words were chained inside her and she feared the situation that would be created out of freeing them. Silence filled the cottage for a moment as Fluttershy, Obsidian and Angel just stood there, none of them doing anything to break the inconvenient situation. It was the reaper who finally concluded that pressuring Fluttershy like this was pointless and turned around again.

“Please forgive my curiosity. Twilight Sparkle approved of the training. I suggest you gather your strength for the rest of the day. We will start tomorrow. Bene dormī,” he spoke and slowly headed back to the bedroom door.

The yellow mare lifted her head again and stared at the reaper. If only she could say anything. If only she had a solution.

Angel’s head turned from her to Obsidian and back several times. Now that he understood, he felt bad as well. He, too, particularly caused this situation to become so difficult for Fluttershy by rejecting the black stallion so much. Angel knew, if nothing happened, this would go on forever. He could not let this happen! He could not take this!

The white bunny hopped next to Obsidian, patting on one of his hind legs in the last moment before he went out of the door. Fluttershy was very surprised by the bunny’s behavior. This was the first actual time he interacted with the reaper.

Obsidian stopped and turned around, looking at Angel. The white bunny then focused Fluttershy and made a gesture, asking for forgiveness for his following action. He very quickly bounced to the cupboard in which her gift was hidden and opened it before Fluttershy could stop him.

Inside the cupboard was a small gemstone. A piece of pitch black obsidian, cut in a heart shape and framed in silver with silver wings. It had a stick pin on the back, so he could wear it on his cloak.

Fluttershy was shocked and felt deeply humiliated Angel exposed this very personal secret to the black stallion. She ran over to the cupboard, placed Angel aside of it and shut the door again. She remained facing the cupboard for a moment, afraid of turning around and seeing the reaper’s reaction. But she ultimately had to admit she had no other choice anyway.

Obsidian’s eyes were wide open. He understood this was a gift, meant for him. He understood it had symbolic value. This caught him completely unprepared.

“You... have feelings for me, miss Fluttershy?” he questioned, very hesitatingly.

The yellow mare did not respond. Her gaze dropped to the floor anew and tears filled her eyes again. This was so embarrassing for her. She didn’t know what to say or do. Should she apologize? Should she beg him to not get mad, even though he most likely would not anyway? Or should she even run away? No, that would be the worst idea. She just could not do anything right now.

Obsidian slowly walked over to the yellow mare. Each step he approached made her heart beat faster. She was very nervous, wondering what he was about to do. This question was soon answered as the reaper simply sat down next to her.

He didn’t look at her. Instead he stared at the floor, using his dark magic to let the heart pin fly through the room and land just in front of his eyes. He figured the very least he could do was showing appreciation for the gift by examining it carefully.

“Did you craft this yourself?” he asked carefully.

Fluttershy slowly shook her head and started to blush.

“It still is a wonderful piece of art. Very well made,” he stated, causing the yellow mare to blush more.

Obsidian Shards was 348 years old. In all the 348 years he had been living so far, such a situation never occurred before. Ever since he became a reaper, all the memories Obsidian had with ponies were only negative. They always hated him, wished him away or threw things after him. Never before had a pony actually liked him. So, the reaper did not know what to do.

In his mind, he was going through possible scenarios, developing out of the current one, depending on his actions. What might happen if he denied her? What would happen if he agreed? Would either decision endanger his mission? And how would the other keepers of harmony react? He needed to make sure he did not make any mistakes now.

Obsidian turned his focus to Fluttershy. She still was staring at the floor, blushing and with tears in her eyes. Without moving her head, she gave him a quick glance, then looked back to the ground.

“Please... say it,” he asked of her gently. Fluttershy twitched a little bit in shock from the request.

“Tell me what you think about me. Face to face,“ he asked anew.

Fluttershy did not move. Her eyes were glued to the bit of floor in front of her. The words were trapped inside her. It was as if they were trying to climb up an enormous wall, from the bottom of her heart, all the way up to her lips. Over several attempts, they tried to get up, but fell down again after just a few steps.

Obsidian noticed she wanted to let him know, but it was too difficult for her like this. It really needed to be face to face. So, he slowly placed his right front hoof under her chin and gently turned her head to his. The reaper looked her into the eyes, trying his best to look as gentle as he could with his left eye being entirely black and his right eye being blind, dead and thoroughly red. Fluttershy looked back into his eyes. Seeing his face helped her, making it a lot easier for the words to leave her lips.

“I love you,” she spoke.

As soon as she realized what she just said, Fluttershy looked away in embarrassment and turned bright red.

Now, Obsidian had a clear answer. His expression became thoughtful. For some reason, his eyes wandered over to Angel. The white bunny looked very worried.

This made an important aspect come to the reaper’s mind. Fluttershy was the most sensitive and most protected member of the keepers of harmony. If the black stallion denied her and broke her heart, he would lose the trust of the entire group, making his mission impossible to complete. He already acted a lot and made too many sacrifices to abandon his mission now. Completing it had higher priority than anything else, even his own life. If necessary, he would act this additional role as the partner of the keeper of kindness.

Obsidian made his decision.

He placed both of his front hooves on Fluttershy’s shoulders, causing her to turn back to him. Then he slowly brought his own face closer and closer to hers. With each inch, Fluttershy started shaking more and more, her pupils shrinking to small dots and her ears dropping in fear. It was not entirely clear to her what he was about to do, but having him so close to her excited her so much, it scared her.

Obsidian kept on proceeding, until his lips finally met hers. The yellow mare’s eyes went wide open and her pupils grew big again, sparkling with tears. This being her very first kiss, she somehow managed to blush even more. Her shock and fear quickly vanished and she closed her eyes, giving herself into the overwhelming feeling of excitement and happiness she experienced.

She embraced Obsidian, letting tears of joy and relief run down her face. Her heart raced and felt as if it was growing several times its original size.

Everything was perfect for her now. To her, this was the best thing that could have turned out of this situation. He accepted her and loved her as well. They were a couple now. This was the happiest moment in Fluttershy’s life.

The kiss ended. The yellow mare opened her eyes again and smiled widely with her teary face. This was also Obsidian’s first kiss. But while she was overwhelmed with happiness, the reaper did not feel a thing.

He forced himself to smile back at her weakly, and embraced her again, simply to get his face out of her and Angel’s line of sight. He instantly regained his typical expressionless face and already planned to report this change to Mistress Celestia. She would definitely not be happy with this.

Angel was very relieved now. He wanted to just leave them like this, but he still owed something to Obsidian. With a bit of regret, the white bunny bounced over to the freshly formed couple and tapped the reaper again.

The embrace ended and Obsidian turned to him. Angel still had an a little grim expression while he reached out his right paw, offering a truce. Obsidian agreed to it and shook his tiny paw. After that, Angel bounced downstairs, leaving the fresh couple in their happiness.