Prologue: Reapers Chance

The drab nature of this distant land was oppressive. Everything to see wouldn't stray far from a select few shades of grey and brown. The jagged mountains seemed to scratch at the sky, while the clouds would ravage the land below with hail and lightning. Towns and homesteads were reduced to rubble as hills would collapse from their own weight. A lone castle stood out among the terrible scenery, though this castle was not much better. Moss and vines grew on every inch of this colossal stone structure, with shattered statues and serrated ramparts. Clustered around the outskirts of this dirty city were various mines, all either abandoned or collapsed. At a glance, one would assume this city to be completely abandoned. A closer look would grant the knowledge that even amid the wreckage, some ponies were trying to eke out a living.

These ponies were visibly terrified about something. A rumour on the wind and with hushed voices. Rumours of 'the reaper assassin'. These rumours were widespread, reaching far off kingdoms and civilizations. Some ponies shied away from these rumours, while others grew intrigued. One of these ponies was headed to this dreadful kingdom in pursuit of this 'rumour'. A white-haired pony with a long horn and a glimmering mane in the colors of an aurora. She had a plan for this 'reaper'. According to the rumour she had heard, the pony in question had been imprisoned. For what reason was unclear, but she didn't care.

Approaching the castle, this aurora maned pony snuck into a side building, leading to the prison. Some of the guards on the way seemed aloof, as they were sleeping on duty. 'thank goodness' was the first thought that crossed this pony's mind. 'if they were awake, this would cause a lot of trouble'.

"HEY! Who goes there?!" a guard had awoken and started to pursue the comparably bright coloured pony. Not wanting to enter any conflict, she hurried as fast as her legs would carry her down into the depths of the prison. reaching what seemed to be a dead-end, she glanced into each of the anti-magic cells. In the cell furthest into the tunnel, she spied a lone pony, an alicorn, trapped within. This pony had dirtied, dark purple hair, with an ashen grey mane and tail. She was holding up her head, looking at the sudden 'guest' outside the cell.

"…Why are you here? Do you have business with me?" The alicorn said, weakly.

"I had come here looking for you. I plan to take you from this place, and have you return with me. Might you tell me your name?" The white-haired alicorn stated plainly.

"As if we have the time, turn around." The incarcerated alicorn gestured to the tunnel behind the guest. A group of guards were beginning to turn the corner, spears in hoof. "get me out of here and I'll deal with them. Don't, and you will be imprisoned along with me. Surely you have heard who I am?" Without another word, the white-haired alicorn used a blast of magic from her horn, blasting the lock of the cell into pieces. "I would recommend you look away. This won't be pretty." Stepping out of the cell, the newly freed alicorn gathered energy into her horn. At a closer inspection, the horn was in the shape of a double-helix spiral, ending in two points. The energy only gathered on one half of this horn, and it was an energy far darker than most spells.

"What... are you?" Said the, now confused, white-haired alicorn.

"A lot of things. Reaper, assassin, warlock. At least, that's what I have been labelled as." As soon as she had finished speaking, she rushed forwards, completing her spell. In an instant, a wicked scythe lined with blackened ivory appeared in the reapers' maw. Almost instinctively, the white-haired alicorn closed her eyes, and when she opened them, the guards were gone. No signs remained of the guards' presence.

"Wh- what did you do to them?" She stammered, worried about the implications.

"It would be better if you didn't know. The less you know of me the better. Shall we leave?" a cynical tone had entered into the dirtied alicorns voice. She seemed impatient and wanted nothing more than to be rid of the situation.

"Of course. Let us be off." Gathering herself, she started to move back down the hall.

"Hold. This way is safer." With a brief inspection of the wall, the scythe-bearing alicorn pushed a cracked brick out of place, and a doorway opened. "I learnt of this during my work. It leads through a blind spot in the guards watch."


They had been flying for a while. Undisturbed by the guards, they headed south-east, back towards the home of the aurora-maned alicorn. Trying to ease the tension, she says "would you mind telling me your name?"

After a brief hesitation, she caved. "…Yamano. Yamano Sagiri."

"Well then Yamano, I have a proposition for you."

"And that would be what, your majesty?" Taken aback at these words, the alicorn princess glanced back towards Yamano.

"You know of me?" She asked inquisitively.

"I have heard your description. You are hard not to recognize. You are Celestia, correct? What could you possibly want with me?" Yamano seemed annoyed. Whatever Celestia said next had to be plain, to be sure.

"I wish for you to protect a dear student and close friend of mine. She will be entering an unfamiliar situation, and I would not want anything to happen to her." The princess spoke with caution. "I would not ask anything impossible of you, and I would not ask for you to take another life."

"Then you DO know who I am. Why choose a murderer to protect somepony?! Why risk your life and freedom to save somepony like me?!" The still dirty alicorn spoke with a distressed tone, as if this was the first act of kindness anybody had given her.

"Because I believe in redemption. Consider this a chance at a new life." The princess spoke with a calming tone, trying to ease the wariness possessing the assassin. "I believe there is good in any pony, and all they need is a little help to find it."

Yamano was quiet for a long time after that. Her internal dialogue written across her face as she considered the proposal Celestia had given her. Eventually, she sighed, and turned to face the princess. "I will do as you ask. I will protect your student. Though I still do not see why you would go to such lengths to hire a guardian. Surely a guard captain from your kingdom would suffice?"

"I believe that you would suit the role far greater than a stuffy guard from a castle. You have seen more of the world, you have seen its dangers and returned unscathed." Celestia threw a knowing look at the newly appointed guardian.

"I won't argue with you there." Yamano looked down at the ground far below, with a gloomy expression. "Though I believe i- "

Celestia cut her off with a slight chuckle. "Please, do not speak to me as if I am royalty. Outside of the palace you should be able to speak how you would normally."

Yamano considered the princesses words. 'THIS is a princess of equestria? No wonder they need a guardian… Well s***, might as well.' After a long sigh, all the reaper had to say was "I've seen way too much ugliness and experienced incredible amounts of pain. I guess you could call me…. Unstable? I just don't believe I was your first choice." The sudden change in speaking caught Celestia by surprise. "I mean surely you considered SOMEPONY other than the reaper assassin of rumour? It almost feels like you're asking to get somepony killed." The aggravation of years of imprisonment started catching up with Yamano. After catching herself about to start rambling, she breathed deep, sighed and asked, "So do you want me to start right away?"

Celestia tried in vain to hide her laughter. "I suppose we should get you cleaned up first. We are not far from Canterlot now. I will have a bath prepared for you, and then I shall introduce you to your new charge."

"Alright then. I have been in that cell for a while now. Might be nice to remember what cleanliness felt like."

Celestia decided to press her luck. "if you wouldn't mind my asking, why were you imprisoned?"

"I betrayed my king." The guardian stated bluntly. "I would not follow his orders and drew my scythe to face him."

"And your horn? Why is it shaped like that, and what spell did you use that was so dark?" Celestia said this with concern that she did not even realise she had.

"That… is a longer story. Unicorns in our kingdom sometimes are birthed with twin horns that twist together in various shapes. Each time this happens, the unicorn in question is born with two specific specialisations in terms of their magic. The magic is split evenly between the two parts of the horn, each half being a different element. Each pairing of elements is named with a title. For example, if you were born with affinities for fire and earth, you would be named a geomancer. I was named a warlock. A dangerous title for a dangerous nature. A warlock is comprised of light and dark. However, these two elements, while necessary for each other's existence, are opposed so completely that when combined by a warlock, it causes terrible things to occur. The resulting magic can grow and consume on its own, and if not controlled, will cause devastation to surrounding Eco-systems and structure. That's why the spell I used earlier was so dark. It's because I used only the dark half of my magic."

Yamano glanced back at Celestia, who fell slightly behind while listening. The look on the princess' face could only be described as dumbfounded. "S- so, you could also use light-based magic on its own too?"

"Yes, but each half of my magic is specialized towards certain aspects of magic. I can't manipulate objects, for example, because that is more arcane in nature. Teleportation is off the table too… the- " Yamano sighed. "I will go into the specifics later but let's just say my magic is… limited in its use."

"Maybe, just for now, we can forget that I asked?" The look on the princess' face was that of complete bewilderment.

"Alright then. Let us fly in silence for a while. Though I wish we could walk…" Yamano stretched out one of her shoulders at this and looked onward towards the horizon. She finally had a chance at a new life, and she was determined not to let it go to waste.