Original Link:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1OSB3ZyUNDB3zUgOZuLUO4xDrG1qKcJg60jibwwStVco/edit

Twilight watched her friends reaction closely as Obsidian told them about Maledictum Insania in her library. Their eyes showed similar reactions as Twilight’s was. When they heard about the curse bound to the knowledge, they just hesitated as much as she did. Especially Rarity had huge problems even looking at the mummified and sealed pony lips. She had to be convinced a lot to actually bind one of the silver cords around her hoof. But in the end, they were all friends and would do everything together. If it was helping Twilight, they would do pretty much everything, just as Obsidian predicted.

Twilight could not hear the reaper speak. The curse kept the room entirely silent for everyone not bound to it. Finally, the lips closed again and the curse loosened its grip on all the ponies. The silver cords fused back together into a single one, then the curse of secrets dropped to the ground. The five friends were shaking all over. Each one of Twilight’s friends seemed to take the story in a different way.

“Girls, I’m sorry I made you do this. But losing it now won’t serve any purpose! Think positive! If the reapers were unable to handle this, that knowledge would be public!” Twilight spoke, trying to calm down her friends.

The group had difficulties to relax after hearing what is truly going on behind the scenes of Equestria. Still, the fact that they were all together and could talk about it helped. Most of them at least. Rainbow Dash was still acting out of character. She nervously flew back and forth in the library.

“Oh, great! Now I’m so much more relaxed, knowing our lives depend on how well some killer ponies do their job!”

“Rainbow!” Twilight exclaimed, displeased of her rudeness towards Obsidian and his kind.

“It is not like I do appreciate the fact that the other reapers and me are responsible for the peace in this land. If you do not trust me, I am sorry.” Obsidian apologized while picking up the sealed lips again and making them disappear.

“No need for pardons from your side, Obsidian. Yo’ just doin’ the best y’all can do. But you should be sorry, Rainbow! He’s really tryin’ hard to make our lives easier and yo got nuthin’ better to do than to blame him for that?” Applejack stated.

This shocked Rainbow Dash. Was her best friend honestly just turning against her to protect some creep?

“Hey, who’s side are you on, AJ?” she shouted back.

“Darling, please. We are your friends. That will never change! Obsidian is one of us now!” Rarity explained.

“What?! Are you all crazy? He is a reaper! A reaper! We can’t trust him!” protested the athletic Pegasus.

“Your going too far, Rainbow. He risked his life. Even though he...” Twilight started, but found herself unable to continue.

For some strange reason, she could not tell her friends Obsidian can not truly die. Did he not tell the others about that secret? Why would he only tell her? Since she could not complete her sentence like she wanted, the magic mare came up with an alternate statement.

“I mean, he even sacrificed his eye, only to protect Ponyville! The least we can do for him in return is show him some respect.”

Rainbow Dash landed on the ground, eyeing up Obsidian. The reaper himself just looked back at her in an a little angry and arrogant manner. She didn’t trust him at all. But at least, Twilight got her to think. She had to admit Ponyville would have been destroyed and Twilight would have died without him. Would she have trusted him in the case she never had nightmares about him? After all, Rainbow Dash was the personification of loyalty. She would never abandon her friends just because she disliked the kind of people they hang around with. Half an hour of intense talking about Maledictum Insania passed. The friends tried to figure out how to go on from this point. Obsidian barely said anything. He was standing by the window and watched the commotion outside, making sure no one would come bursting in.

“Oh alright. But I still don’t trust you.” Rainbow Dash stated finally, looking to Obsidian.

It was not what Twilight and the others were hoping for, but at least she would not fly away all the time when he was around anymore. The reaper nodded, showing that this would be good enough for him.

“Anyway, guys. I have to go check on the weather. Kicking some clouds would be perfect right now to get that story out of my head for the moment,” Rainbow added.

“Okey dokey, Dashie! See you later!” cheered Pinkie, followed by the rest of the friends saying goodbye.

Rainbow Dash already was at the door when Obsidian too decided to speak up,

“Valē, Miss Dash.”

All, including Rainbow, turned to Obsidian.

“It means goodbye,” he commented, still observing the outside.

Rainbow Dash threw one last distrustful look at the reaper, then flew off to do her duties.

“What language is that?” Fluttershy asked curiously.

“An old one. Back in my early days, it was very common. Sometimes I tend to still let a few of those old words slip. I guess only reapers speak this language nowadays,” the black stallion answered.

“That’s so interesting! I bet I can learn so much from-” Twilight started, but got interrupted by Rarity, tapping on her shoulder.

“Excuse me, Twilight. But may I just throw something in for a second?” she asked, then turned to Obsidian.

“Now that all of Ponyville knows you already, you don’t have to hide under that old cloak anymore, do you?”

Obsidian finally turned around and threw a diffident look at the fashion diva.

“What precisely are you aiming for, Miss Rarity?”

“Well, my dear. I simply can not take the idea that your cloak is the only kind of outfit you have. So I would like to renew my offer on making you a little something!” she explained with sparkling eyes. Obsidian sighed.

“I am most honored, but there is no need for that. This ‘dirty, old cloak’ here is fully enough.”

“I won’t take no for an answer! I just must make you the best looking reaper in all of Equestria!” Rarity claimed.

Secretly, the reaper really started to get annoyed by these ponies. This overly friendly character is something he never liked. To him, it seemed fake. He knew what ponies are capable of. Especially when they fell to the curse of madness. He really preferred the presence of other reapers, or even the long-term solitude his duties sometimes bring.

“Obsidian. If there is one thing I learned from my continuous studies in the magic of friendship, it’s that making new friends is always a good thing. Please just give us a chance to pay you back,” Twilight stated.

These words shot through Obsidian. Studies in the magic of friendship? It all made sense now. Mistress Celestia ordered Twilight and her friends to constantly try making new friends! That is the way he would get them! It appeared his job would not be so difficult after all if he just played along. If he had feelings, other than conscientiousness and suspicion, he would be amused.

“So be it. But as I said formerly, I have a lot to do. So, if all of you would like to renew their offers, we would need to spread them over several weeks.”

“That simply won’t do!” replied Rarity. “It takes time to make a good outfit! And the sooner I can start, the better!”

Obsidian nodded.

“In that case, we shall get started right away. Valēte, everypony.”

Rarity was quite pleased by Obsidian’s instant reaction to her request. She said goodbye to the others and left with Obsidian Shards to Carousel Boutique.

---

Upon arrival, Rarity directly lead him to her workshop. Opalescence was upstairs in Rarity’s private rooms, sleeping. She wouldn’t even realize Rarity had a visitor. The fashion diva dragged a clothes rack out of the corner. A bit unwilling, Obsidian took off his cloak and hung it up. In the light of the day, even more scars and stitches were visible. She never had seen such a war-torn pony before. The centuries of fighting against demons and insane ponies clearly left their marks on him. But she figured it would be rude to make a comment about the way he looked. So she just picked up a measuring tape and started working.

“You have very unusual proportions, my dear,” Rarity stated while measuring the reaper.

Even though Obsidian mostly looked like a pony, when measuring him it became clear he was a bit taller and thinner than a pony would normally be.

“You can not compare a reaper with a pony, Miss Rarity. We are no ponies. Not anymore,” the black stallion stated.

The fashion diva looked up to him in confusion.

“The reaper curse affects everything. The body. The soul. The mind. It completely changes you into something that can no longer be called a pony,” he explained.

This idea frightened her a bit. Neither could she, nor would she want to imagine how it feels like to be turned into something entirely different.

“Well, nevertheless, I will put my best of efforts in this outfit! I’m going to make you look just absolutely incredible!” Rarity cheered.

Obsidian just turned away from her. As Rarity finished noting down the proportions, she went over to her fabric collection and made several samples float in front of her. She examined them for a moment and made a selection.

“Now, would you be so good as to stand by the window so i can see the colors properly?” she asked.

Obsidian was greatly displeased. She demanded a lot from him to stand in the light of day without his cloak. It was his job to gain the trust of the group, so he had no other option. Slowly, he walked in front of the window. Rarity put on her working glasses and walked over to the reaper, letting the colored fabric samples float around her. She compared them with Obsidian’s coat and tried to come up with an inspiration.

“That’s strange...” she commented.

Somehow, she found it difficult to find proper colors for the reaper. She never worked with a black coated customer before. Getting the colors right and having them match to the color of his own coat seemed to become quite difficult. Obsidian’s blind, red eye made it even worse. Rarity began to get frustrated. Suddenly, the black stallion made a suggestion.

“Do you happen to own black fabric, Miss Rarity?”

“Black?” she questioned. “Oh no, no, no. Such an awful color does not belong in my beautiful designs!”

The reaper turned around to her.

“Why not, if I may ask?”

“Is it not quite obvious? Black is an awfully depressing color! And it is far too dominant! A good outfit has to be shiny, delicately decorated and sparkling!” the white unicorn replied.

“Not all ponies would agree with that, my fair lady,” he commented. Rarity became startled.

“How can you say such a thing? Of course bright and spectacular designs are the only true fashion!”

Obsidian stepped out of the sunlight.

“Before I got to Ponyville, I was stationed in Manehattan,” he started.

“Manehattan?! The capital of fashion?” Rarity shouted in surprise. The reaper nodded.

“It not only is known for being the home of fashionistas, but also for being a general clash of opinions. Even though you may not believe it, there is a big group of ponies that enjoy very dark clothing.”

“What?! Scandalous! This can’t be!” Rarity commented in shock. She just could not understand how anypony would like to wear something dark and depressing.

“Some of these outfits were very aggressive looking, too. But that is actually what they enjoyed about it. It made them look strong and mysterious. Some ponies were quite drawn by this kind of fashion,” Obsidian continued while slowly walking over to Rarity’s sewing table.

He spotted some colorful scraps and an ink pot. His demonic horn started to glow and the scraps lifted into the air. A few drips of black ink floated out of the pot and soaked into the scraps, which then rapidly dried by magic.

“You see, black is not all just negative. It also has the ability to brighten all colors around it. The dark fashion ponies of Manehattan were very well aware of this fact and perfected it in use for designs. To not cause too much irritation, they used darkened colors to match the strength of black.”

Rarity observed Obsidian as he dyed the scraps and cogitated over his words.

“Black? Dark colors? Oh my, I never even considered such combinations...”

Obsidian allowed the dried samples to land on the table and walked back to the fashion diva.

“Spectacular and bright outfits have a lot of demand. There is no doubt about that. But you would hit a much larger range of customers if you considered expanding your collection to include dark outfits. The essence of a ponies personality can have all kinds of styles and colors,” he stated.

Rarity was sceptical, but she had to admit business was not really going well lately. She didn’t receive a new order for weeks and her money was running out. A new idea and some expansions may help her out. The black stallion closed his eyes and stepped back into the sunlight. With a sigh, Rarity let the dyed samples float over to her and eyed them up. The ink made the colors look dirty. Those would definitely not work out for an actual outfit. But for now, they would have to do. The fashion diva compared these new samples with Obsidian’s coat. At first she was displeased to work with such awful colors. But she quickly realized the darker tunes matched him far better than the bright ones did. Soon, the first rough concepts came up in her mind.

“Well, I would have to think about this for a while...” she stated. Obsidian nodded and went back to his cloak.

“I am sorry to leave you like this now, miss Rarity. But I have to make some preparations. We both have our tasks to do.”

Rarity shook her head and laughed lightly.

“It’s fine, my dear.I have everything I need for the moment. Au revoir, mister Shards.”

“Please, call me Obsidian,” the reaper offered while putting his cloak back on.

“Alright. See you later, Obsidian!” Rarity corrected.

The black stallion bowed down one last time. Then, he left the boutique.

---

The reaper started walking towards Fluttershy’s cottage, using his magic to make some notes about Rarity.

“The element of generosity. A fashion pony with an obsession for neatness and perfectionism. I wonder. What is generosity good for if it only serves to satisfy your kink?” he thought.

The reaper soon reached the tree house. Still sunken in his thoughts, he opened the door. The moment he did, something small shot towards him. Out of reflex, the reaper summoned his scythe and swung it. He spotted a little, white bunny standing at the door, grimly looking at him. Obsidian turned around and saw a carrot, sliced in half, laying on the ground.

“Angel! That is not very nice! He is our guest! You really should not...” Fluttershy started, but the bunny did not listen.

He stuck out his tongue to Obsidian and bounced away. The reaper snorted lightly and dissolved his scythe again.

“Oh my, I’m so sorry,” the yellow Pegasus apologized quietly and picked up the carrot halves.

Obsidian entered without a comment. All the animals in the house instantly retreated as they spotted the black stallion. He was used to being rejected by animals. After all, they had good reason to fear him. Just Angel seemed to put his desire to protect Fluttershy above his own fear. Or was he even scared? Angel sure is not a normal bunny. He may make his time in Ponyville quite a bit more annoying. Obsidian walked straight through the living room and aimed for the basement door he had sealed with several curses.

“W-wait,” Fluttershy pleaded. Obsidian stopped and turned around to her.

“I, um. I prepared something for you. I noticed you didn’t eat anything for breakfast. So I thought, maybe you would enjoy some tea.”

Fluttershy nervously pointed at a small table in her kitchen. She already prepared some sandwiches and a pot of tea. Obsidian’s eyes switched between the table and Fluttershy. How come she had noticed he didn’t eat anything? Did he act this obvious? And why would she even care? For what Obsidian had found out about her so far is that she is a very insecure pony and can easily be put off her stride. So he just walked over to the table and sat down. Fluttershy smiled lightly and joined him.

“We barely had the chance to talk yet. I mean, I know you are a very busy... um... well, reaper. But I would like to get to know you better,” she said while pouring tea in Obsidian’s cup.

The reaper lowered his head and stared at his sandwich. He hoped he could somehow avoid having to eat it.

“So, well... where do you come from?” the yellow mare asked.

Obsidian hesitated. He inspected the tea cup. What is the reason for all this? Is this a trap? Did she poison the food and tried to put him into an inconvenient situation to make him consume it? The reaper sniffed on the tea. He couldn’t sense anything suspicious about it.

“Oh, is something wrong with the tea? Do you not like strawberry?” Fluttershy asked nervously. Obsidian shook his head.

“It is fine,” he answered. Now he had to try it.

Obsidian lifted the cup and took a sip. The tea was fine. Nothing was wrong with it. Fluttershy relaxed a bit more. She was about to resume her question when she heard something falling over.

“Oh goodness. Please excuse me,” she apologized and went outside to see what happened.

Obsidian used this moment and got up from the table. He left the sandwich completely untouched and walked over to the basement door again. Due to the curses he casted upon it, the door growled at him. But as soon as he placed his hoof on it, the growling stopped and the door opened. He turned around one last time and saw Angel hopping away, closely followed by Fluttershy. Then, the black stallion closed the door behind him and went downstairs.