//------------------------------//
// To Lie Beyond 
// Story: Book 1 - The Behemoth came to Canterlot 
// by Equimorto 
//------------------------------//

"What happens when you die?"
Luna looked at Rainbow Dash for a moment. "Your organs cease their functioning, and your body not so slowly begins to rot. On the observable side of things, at least. If anything else happens, and I find it reasonable to believe it might, there is nothing certain or known about it beyond the fact that we all will learn what it is, sooner or later. But you are here to learn about dreams, not life and death, so I wonder what the reason is for your question. It might be more fit to ask that to my sister, she had plenty of time to fancy herself a philosopher and a scholar of such matters in my absence." She looked like she was about to say something else too, but stopped herself.
Rainbow was looking at the ground below them, as it shifted from a grassy surface to a rocky one to a pool of water. "There's a reason I asked you," she finally admitted. Looking up towards Luna again, she asked, "Have you ever seen a pony's dreams as they died?"
Luna was shocked by the question, if only mildly. But even a small shift in her features was a notable thing given her usual composure during her lessons. After a few moments of reflection, she finally chose how to answer the question. "Once, I did. I saw the dream fade as the pony's life did. But time is a complicated matter in dreams, as I have taught you. Whether what I saw happened after, before, or as the pony died, I could not tell."
"I understand." Rainbow Dash gave a small nod, one that meant the interruption was over and Luna could continue on with her lesson.
The alicorn took another brief pause, studying the pegasus, and then returned to their previous matter of discussion.