Original Link:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1lHOblihC8xhde9alKaPc4fYb35Yu3vdvuZue7LCjwZY/edit?usp=sharing

The candle was nearly burnt down and its fire started to become weak when Princess Celestia finally finished the last letter for tonight. As so often, she spent several hours of the night-time lying on a large pillow on the balcony of the highest tower of Canterlot Castle, accompanied by her sister Luna.

“The times have really changed, have they not?” the dark demi-goddess asked.

“Yes... it is ironic. In the peaceful era of Equestria, we never had a chance to be together like this... I should have started involving the ponies in national management tasks much sooner. Perhaps it would have never come this far then...” Celestia spoke lowly.

“Let the past be the past, sister. It can not be undone, but the future can still be changed. I hold no grudge against you either. The way things currently are for me is all I ever wanted. I get to meet ponies and be with you every night. Having you back as my sister makes me happier than I can express,” Luna replied.

“I have seen so much blood, Luna... So much destruction and violence. So much desperation... It just never stops. Now, even Twilight Sparkle had been nearly killed, even though she is under my protection...” the bright demi-goddess kept speaking.

“Twilight Sparkle can take care of herself. You know that. She is the mightiest mortal pony that has ever lived and if that was not enough already, she has very capable friends and is under constant protection of two mighty reapers at once. You need not worry about her,” her sister commented.

“She should not even feel the need to protect herself. Neither should she feel the need to help me fight insane ponies. Nopony should. All I ever longed for was to create a land of peace and harmony. But instead, Equestria became filled with monsters, demons, violent mad subjects and curses...” Celestia replied.

“The times have already changed and they will keep changing. There will be happier times coming. One day, we will complete the task we are working for more than a thousand years now. We will save Equestria and defeat Nightmare Moon once and for all. Do not doubt, sister,” Luna motivated.

“Thank you... After all the support I have given others, it really feels good to receive some. I honestly would not know what to do anymore if it weren’t for you. These one thousand years without you were just so horrible...” the bright demi-goddess spoke.

“I am back now and I will remain by your side until the end of all things. We are sisters and always will be, no matter what,” the Princess of the Night assured with a smile.

Celestia smiled back, closed her eyes and confirmed with a nod. Then they both turned their focus down to Canterlot. Minutes passed by until a scroll suddenly appeared next to the bright demi-goddess, which she immediately unrolled.

“Oh no...” the Princess of the Sun commented in a sad and disappointed tone after reading.

“What is the matter?” Luna wondered.

“Twilight Sparkle’s investigation team discovered that the mare who tried to assault her was a member of a bigger organization of Maledictum Insania affected subjects,” Celestia replied.

“Really? Insane ponies can organize themselves?” the dark demi-goddess asked in confusion.

“Yes, though it is rare. They usually are not capable of thinking logically enough to hide themselves for long or perform any important actions. Most of the time, these organizations destroy themselves, as their members attack each other,” Celestia replied.

“What does Twilight Sparkle say about this organization?” Luna wanted to know.

“She is not sure what to think of them, yet. Although the lower ranked members seem to be very irrational and carelessly give out information, it seems like the leading positions are very well organized. They quickly discovered the hideout of this group in Baltimare by just tracking down individual members. But as soon as the insane subjects noticed they were being observed, they vanished from the city,” the Princess of the Sun answered.

“This is no good... If they are this careful, it will be difficult to root them out. What does Twilight Sparkle plan to do next?” Luna asked.

“She wrote that they have evidence this group came from Trottingham, so they will head there next,” Celestia replied.

“I think it would support them if we inform the reapers stationed in Trottingham,” the dark demi-goddess suggested.

“I agree. I will write to them right away. Anyway, it has been a long night for me, Luna. See you tomorrow,” Celestia spoke.

“Good night, my sister,” Luna replied.

---

It was close to sundown when the train finally arrived in Trottingham. Applejack was the first to leave, her face instantly showing a smile.

“Now that’s more like it! Still a big city, but with plenty o’ trees around! Ah bet they have a lot of gardeners employed around here!” she commented.

“Oh my. This really is a pretty town! Perhaps I should travel around Equestria more often!” Twilight agreed as soon as she left the train herself.

“Yes. This is certainly a nice place. I bet I can get the animals living around here to help us,” Fluttershy suggested.

“A very good idea, apprentice. Though we better not talk about important things loudly in the public. Somepony might be spying on us,” Crystal added quietly while leaving the train.

“Hm, but I certainly think this place needs a little bit more... style. I barely see anypony walking around in a decent dress. Perhaps I should create a fashion line specifically for Trottingham. I bet I can make plenty of new customers here!” Rarity spoke.

“Hehe. I’m likin’ this side of you, Sugarcube. Glad to see you finally get over your obsession of details and start thinkin’ practically,” Applejack commented with a lightly mocking expression.

“Now what do you mean by that?!” Rarity responded, mildly scandalized.

“Ah it’s nothin’ big. Just this rodeo pony here knows a lil’ bit more about bein’ competitive,” Applejack kept going.

“Why you!” the fashion diva started.

“Girls! Keep it serious! We are here on important tasks!” Twilight spoke to snap them out of it.

“So how should we get started?” Fluttershy wondered.

“I think asking the animals is a good idea, Fluttershy. Let’s see what they-” the purple mare started, but found herself interrupted by a tap on the shoulder, coming from Crystal. “What is it?”

The elder reaper mare did not reply. Instead she made a gesture telling them to be quiet and minimally tilted her head over to the shadow of a nearby building. As the group looked over there, they saw another reaper, so well hidden that they would not have noticed him if the light blue mare had not informed them about his presence. He was looking at the group and carefully beckoned them over.

They instantly became silent and calmly started walking over to the reaper, trying not to look around too much to prevent arousing suspicion. The reaper started retreating around the corner of a backstreet, signaling them to follow. Finally, as the group met up with the reaper at a remote impasse, he removed the hood from his head and bowed down to the mares.

“It is an honor to meet you, keepers of harmony. Mistress Celestia informed me about your journey and ordered me to support you,” he spoke quietly.

“Now that is very useful. We were just thinking about how to start gathering information around here. Did you or the other reapers protecting this place notice anything suspicious?” Twilight asked in the same low tone.

“Yes. We do not know how, but ponies keep disappearing at night. Who- or whatever causes this to happen, it must be very skilled. We just can not track it down,” the reaper stallion replied.

“That sounds like it would be a demon,” Fluttershy commented.

“No. It is definitely not a demon, otherwise we would sense it. But we doubt it is a pony either,” the stallion answered.

“What makes you think that?” Crystal wondered.

“I am afraid to say, but as a matter of fact, this abductor is also kidnapping reapers. Five of us were originally stationed in this city. Only one other and me are left. We have not seen the missing three in weeks,” he replied.

“Kidnapping reapers?! What in Equestria would be able of doin’ that if it’s not a demon?” Applejack wondered.

“Twilight... Do you think it has something to do with the ponies we are tracking down?” Rarity added.

“I have no idea, but this all is very suspicious. Something is definitely going on in this town,” Twilight replied, then turned back over to the reaper stallion. “Is there anything else you can tell us?”

“I am very sorry to disappoint you, keeper of magic. But that is all we know,” he replied.

“Well at least we have a clue. Better than nothing. Thanks for the help. Let us know when you or the other reaper notice anything,” Twilight thanked him.

“We certainly will. Valē,” he replied and turned over to Fluttershy and Crystal Blossom. “Purity and sacrifice for Equestria.”

“Purity and sacrifice,” both replied at the same time.

While the reaper stallion snuck away, the group turned around and went back on the main street.

“Kidnapping reapers... What do you think this means? What do they want with them?” Rarity whispered.

“I can not say I have heard of something like this happening ever before,” Crystal replied. “Insane ponies and the undead fear us. Demons avoid us. Monsters do not even get a chance to come anywhere close to a city of this size. Frankly, I am puzzled.”

“But if this abductor is so skilled that it can handle reapers, it would definitely not be a good idea to wander around alone,” Fluttershy analyzed.

“You are right. If we go around, we should always be in groups of at least two. For now, we should look for a place we can retreat to and observe Trottingham for a few days,” Twilight suggested.

The group nodded in agreement and started looking for a cheap hotel.

---

Two unsuccessful days of observation later, Crystal and Fluttershy found themselves patrolling through the backstreets of Trottingham together at night. This pattern started to get repetitive to all members of the group. The regular ways of observation and gathering information just didn’t seem to work on these ponies. Somehow, it felt like they precisely knew how to dodge the reapers.

“Any updates from the animals?” Crystal asked in a whispering tone.

“Sadly no. This is so strange. How can not even birds and squirrels notice anything?” Fluttershy whispered back.

“A whole organization of insane ponies. So well hidden that not even the animals can see them. It makes me wonder how long they have been around,” the elder reaper mare spoke.

“You think they have been working together for a while now?” the yellow mare asked.

“At this point, this can very well be assumed,” Crystal replied.

“Then how come they never acted before?” Fluttershy wanted to know.

“Perhaps they were just not ready. Think about it, apprentice: These ponies have set up operation centers in at least two bigger cities. For irrational beings, they are surprisingly well organized and their first publicly noticed slip-up was an assault on nopony less than the leader of the keepers of harmony. This knowledge is already enough to safely assume a conspiracy against our mistress,” the light blue mare analyzed.

“That sounds dreadful. But I still don’t understand how their knowledge about Nightmare Moon fits in all of this,” Fluttershy commented.

“Neither do I. But the more we find out, the clearer it becomes that this must be stopped. We must track down the leaders of this organization and eliminate them, no matter what,” Crystal spoke.

“It seems like it. I just hope we-” the yellow mare started before she suddenly became distracted and halted.

In a bit of distance in front of her was the gray figure again. This time, it was closer than before.

“Mentor... Do you see that?” Fluttershy asked.

“See what, apprentice?” Crystal asked back, trying to find what she was looking at.

“This... I think it’s a pony. Gray. Nearly glowing. You can’t see it?” the yellow mare wondered.

At this moment, the figure reached out something that looked like a front leg in Fluttershy’s direction.

“No. I do not see anything that would fit your descr-” Crystal wanted to say, but suddenly found herself gagging on blood.

Fluttershy quickly turned around and saw a creature slicing a blade through the elder reaper’s throat. Instinctively, Crystal grabbed the attacker and tossed it over her shoulder, disregarding the fact that she was bleeding out. Though it landed right back on its legs and started charging Fluttershy.

While she summoned her scythe, Crystal used her last strength to throw herself between the aggressor and her apprentice, holding it back just long enough for the yellow mare to start an attack.

As the blades kept swinging, Fluttershy had to realize that her enemy was very skilled. It could block and parry most of her attacks. There was no doubt that this had to be the abductor they had been warned about.

Every now and then, Fluttershy felt the blade slicing across her front legs and stabbing in her stomach. But ultimately, she was able to dodge an attack that brought the aggressor out of its balance. She used this moment to get behind it and hit her enemy in the back of its head with the end of her scythe handle.

The aggressor instantly fell to the ground, unconscious. Fluttershy as well sat down for a moment to breathe and recover. The cuts and stabs were burning a lot and she felt her warm blood running down her body. As she looked at herself, she realized that she was heavily bleeding. But she could not allow herself to pass out now. It would not take long before the attacker would wake up again and then, both her mentor and she would be in big trouble.

Now able to concentrate on something else than defending herself, Fluttershy finally got to realize that it indeed was a pony attacking her. A middle aged pegasus stallion, whose coat had the color of sandstone and a dark brown mane.

The yellow mare put all her strength together and got back up on her legs to look around. Again, the gray figure had disappeared. Instead of trying to look for it, Fluttershy went over to Crystal Blossom. She had bled dry by now. But as with all reapers, this would not be enough to truly kill her. Knowing this, she tried to shake her mentor awake again.

It took half a minute, but Crystal finally came back to her senses. The heavy loss of blood made it difficult for her to stand, but she forced herself back up as well and nodded to her apprentice. After that, both of them went over to the knocked out pegasus, picked him up and started limping back to their hideout.

---

Twilight, Applejack and Rarity were already sleeping when they heard knocking at the door of their hotel room. Twilight forced herself up and used her magic to unlock and open the door. Her sleepiness instantly became replaced with intense shock as she saw the two heavily injured mares enter, carrying another pony with them.

“Oh my gosh! What happened to you two?!” she shouted, waking up Applejack and Rarity, who as well instantly became wide awake and gasped at the sight presented to them.

“In the name of Celestia! Quick, Rarity! Get me the first aid!” the orange mare shouted.

Rarity already jumped out of her bed when she was stopped by Fluttershy raising her hoof.

“Don’t worry... We are fine... It will heal up soon,” she spoke in an exhausted tone.

“What about Crystal? Look at her throat! How come she survived that?” Rarity wondered.

Twilight opened her mouth in attempt to explain the situation, but she found herself unable to put her thoughts in words. It was now that she remembered she had been cursed to not reveal this secret four years ago. So instead, she turned her head over to Fluttershy. She understood without a word and nodded shortly.

“Girls. There are a few things about reapers that they haven’t told you about, because they feared it would warn Pinkie... Pinkamena from her execution. The reaper curse makes it impossible for us to die by conventional means. We are immortal. No matter how badly we get injured, we do not turn into undead. As long as a reaper is well fed, it will recover from even the most lethal injuries,” the yellow mare explained.

“But... uh... what? Then how did Obsidian die?” Applejack wanted to know.

“That is something I can explain. There are only two ways for a reaper to die. They either have to be devoured by a demon or be killed using a reaper scythe. Anyway, enough for that. What is going on now? Why are you hurt like this and what’s with the stallion?” Twilight wondered.

“This pony here is the abductor we had been warned about. There is absolutely no doubt about that. He managed to sneak up on Crystal and slit her throat, then tried to disable me as well. I could only knock him unconscious by sheer luck, otherwise he would have kidnapped us like the other reapers,” the yellow mare explained.

“And yer bringing him here?! Alive?! Are ya nuts, Sugarcube?!” Applejack shouted in disbelief.

“No, AJ. That’s actually a good thing,” Twilight disagreed.

“Darling! You can’t be serious! Why in Equestria would it be a good thing to have such a dangerous pony right here?!” Rarity argued.

“Because now we can turn the game around. The kidnapper is now the hostage. We just need to tie him up well and constantly watch him. Then we can interrogate him and finally get some answers,” the purple mare explained.

“Ah don’t feel quite comfortable with that idea, Twilight. But if you say that’s the right thing to do, I’ll give him my strongest knot. He won’t have a chance to get out of that one,” Applejack spoke.

“Very well. Then let’s get to it. Fluttershy, Crystal Blossom: I want you two to rest it for now and recover. You have already been through enough for tonight and we will need you at your full strength for this,” Twilight ordered.

“Thank you...” Fluttershy spoke while Crystal nodded in understanding. Then they both helped each other to walk into the bathroom to wash the blood off.