Celestia paced nervously in Luna’s audience room, awaiting her sister’s return. She had already upbraided, then pardoned the Guard Captain Luna had tricked, and doubled the guard on both the hole and Grey Thorn’s former lair.
A single, high bugle note pierced the air, alerting Celestia to Luna’s imminent return. She set her face sternly, prepared to chide her sister for her recklessness and disrespectful attitude.
Luna entered her quarters, leading a medic and a member of her personal guard, who were escorting a litter bearing Reaper.
Celestia’s initial, angry reprimand died on her lips, but she still had to express her royal displeasure: “I’m glad to see you found Reaper, sister, but I wish you had let me know your plan in advance!”
Luna guided the litter to a low sofa, where the medic helped Reaper into a reclining position. She turned to Celestia: “Had I told you of my plan, sister, you would have forced an escort on me, and I would not have had the freedom of action I needed in a hazardous situation.”
Then Luna bowed: “My sincerest apologies, sister. In addition, I trust you were not too hard on your guard pony; he was overmatched.”
Celestia smiled and shook her head: “Of course he was! That’s why I’ve doubled the guard down in those accursed catacombs!”
“Well,” Luna replied, “you need not have done so on my account. I have found what I sought, and have no further need to visit those tunnels and chambers anytime soon.”
“Maybe not,” Celestia said, walking to a side table, filling a pair of chalices with cider, “but you’re not the only one with an unhealthy interest in that place!”
Reaper grinned as he took the cup Celestia offered him: “You mean me, I presume?”
Celestia nodded as she levitated the second vessel to Luna: “Yes, but not just you--I suspect Twilight would also like to resume snooping around down there!”
“I would think so,” Luna agreed, taking a long drink of the strong, cool, golden liquid. “However, I am fairly certain she is spending most of her free time with the Archaeologist and her counterpart, the Archivist.”
“Perhaps,” Celestia said, uncertainly, “but I’d feel a whole lot better knowing what you three are up to, and keeping a close watch on those damnable tunnels!”
She poured herself a draught, sat next to her sister with a resigned sigh, and faced Reaper: “So, since you decided to defy me, what did you find?”
“Well,” he began, shifting slightly in order to take pressure off his bruised ribs, “it’s clear there’s a lot more, deep below this place than I suspect even Starswirl guessed.”
Luna nodded: “There is a deep, narrow chasm of some sort below the floor of the large chamber adjacent to Grey Thorn’s study.”
Celestia furrowed her brow: “Is that where the Void ended up? I’m quite worried about that thing being somewhere below the castle!”
Reaper nodded: “Yes. It bored a smooth hole right through the floor, and dropped down into the chasm Luna mentioned, beyond my ability to perceive or illuminate. I was seeking a way to the chasm’s deeper layers, when I fell, then got trapped by a cave-in.”
“I can confirm Reaper’s impression,” Luna chimed in, taking a bite of scone. “That chasm should be as safe a resting place for Grey Thorn’s creation as anywhere else--at least for the time being.”
““For the time being,” indeed!” Celestia replied. “I can’t imagine anywhere being safe with that thing around!”
Reaper nodded: “We don’t really know enough about it, to understand what it may do in the long run. My plan, as soon as I figure out how to recover my power, is to find the Void and deliver it to Tartarus’ Pit.”
Celestia raised an eyebrow: “The first part of that plan sounds at least as difficult as the second! Do you have any idea how to get your powers back?”
Reaper cleared his throat nervously, and took another swig of cider: “No.”
“Well, how did you get them in the first place?” Celestia pressed.
“I died.”
“Oh,” Celestia said, “I’m not sure I see that being a useful strategy, here!”
Reaper laughed, then groaned at the ache in his side: “I would probably have to agree with that! I suspect my death would simply go unnoticed.”
“Except by your friends!” Luna chided.
Reaper shook his head: “My friends would get over it…”
Celestia put up a hoof: “Be that as it may, I don’t see how it would help our current situation. If you aren’t Death’s Agent anymore, then dying isn’t really an option for anypony, am I right?”
Reaper closed his eyes and sighed heavily: “That’s absolutely true. That’s why I took off four days ago: I’m desperate to find anything, any link that might tie me back to my powers.”
Luna nodded: “I understand that kind of desperation, Reaper, but you must allow us to aid you. This impacts us all.”
“I know. And I’m sore and bruised and exhausted and hungry and frustrated and all sorts of things I’ve never been since coming to Equestria all those countless centuries ago.”
Reaper sat up stiffly and stretched his neck and shoulders tentatively: “And I too, apologize to you, Celestia, for not letting you know what was going on. You are acting in the best interests of your subjects, and since I no longer have the ability to simply pass through solid objects and hover, I represent a possible risk of entrapment.”
He looked at Luna and nodded: “Obviously…”
Luna smiled back: “I am glad that I was able to find and extricate you from your predicament.”
“Yes,” Celestia agreed, “though that does raise a question,” She turned toward Reaper: “I understand Luna’s sleep trick, but I don’t get how you were able to get by the guards.”
Reaper smiled sheepishly: “Well, I have been lurking in shadows and corners for millennia. Even without my ability to phase, I’m pretty stealthy. And now that I don’t generate a feeling of fear or unease, and nopony knows me anyway, it wasn’t all that hard to sneak in during a watch change.”
“Well, not anymore!” Celestia said, pointedly. “I’ve made sure of that!”
Luna nodded: “That is just as well, though we should likely inform Twilight so as to head off any potential unpleasantness with the Guard.”
“Yes,” Celestia agreed, “and speaking of: we need to get the four of us together tomorrow sometime, the earlier the better, and make sure we’re all on the same page. I’ll send a messenger to the Archives to inform Twilight. Assuming she’s still there, of course...”
Luna looked at Reaper and rubbed her chin with a hoof: “I would suggest not meeting too early, sister. I am sure Reaper could use a bit of time to recuperate from his ordeal. I will have my staff prepare the guest room adjacent to my quarters. Let us meet over brunch, perhaps?”
Celestia stood and walked to Luna, giving her a hug: “That’s a wonderful idea! I’ll pass along the details to Twilight. See you both in the morning!”
She turned to Reaper and nodded before leaving the room: “Sleep tight, and sweet dreams!”
Luna watched her sister leave, then tipped her head slightly: “I am not aware of you having dreams, Reaper. You have slept some these last few days, have you not?”
“Some, yes.”
“Did you dream?”
“Not that I know of.”
Luna stood and smiled: “We will have to see if we can rectify that situation.”