//------------------------------// // Missing // Story: Death Be Not Proud // by ShinigamiDad //------------------------------// Thou’art slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men, And dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell, And poppy’or charms can make us sleep as well And better than thy stroke; why swell’st thou then? One short sleep past, we wake eternally, And death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die. — John Donne “Any news yet?” Twilight asked as she entered Luna’s private chambers. “No,” Luna replied, looking up from a scroll she had just received from one of her Night’s Guard, “but Celestia and I have doubled the search parties in an effort to locate him as soon as possible.” “I just don’t understand why he took off like that,” Twilight said, sitting down. “And it’s been four days! Doesn’t he know how worried we are?” Luna shook her head: “Unlikely. Recall that he never has had friends or companions or superiors with whom he needed to communicate. He is the very definition of a “lone wolf.”” Twilight stood and began pacing nervously: “But he could be in real danger, now! He’s no longer invulnerable, can’t phase, doesn’t dare even carry his sword!” Both princesses looked on the wall where Reaper’s blade hung, secured in an enchanted crystal case. Twilight had cast the binding spell herself. “I, too, am concerned, Twilight,” Luna confided, “but I am not sure what more we can do, save send out patrols and “keep our ears to the ground,” as it were.” Luna levitated a cup of tea from a low table to the left of her seat and took a sip: “Have you fully recovered from our experience?” “I guess so,” Twilight answered, uncertainly, “though I keep having a reoccurring dream where I’m drowning in the sea, I guess. It’s salty, and the sun is low, so the water seems red…” Luna furrowed her brow: “When next you slumber, I will visit to see if I can deduce the source, and possibly stop it.” “I would appreciate that a lot!” Twilight replied. “The doctor gave me a clean bill of health otherwise. I don’t really think she believed us until your sister’s very graphic description!” Luna smiled and nodded: “Yes. That did appear to put an end to her doubts, and likely her dinner plans as well!” Twilight stood and walked to a side table containing fruit and pastries, and lifted several pieces onto a plate: “I really just stopped by for a few minutes to see if you knew anything, and to grab a bite. I have a meeting with the Archivist in a few minutes. She’s getting her team together to start exploring the catacombs under the High Tower.” “So I have heard,” Luna responded, returning to her reading. “I assume your friends understand your absence from Ponyville?” Twilight swallowed: “Sure! I mean, I couldn’t go into a lot of detail, but they trust me enough to know that if I say have to be gone for a few days, it’s for a good reason!” Luna smiled: “You are becoming a fine leader, Twilight. Whom did you leave in charge of observing the map?” “Applejack and Rarity will take shifts, every other day,” Twilight answered, washing down her final bite, and placing the cup on a tray. “And if my cutie mark pops up, well, they may just have to figure out a substitute--I mean, I’m not irreplaceable!” Luna tipped her head sideways and regarded Twilight, but said nothing. Twilight trotted briskly to the door: “Well, I’m off! I’ll see you later this afternoon!” “Farewell, Twilight! Thank you for stopping by!” Luna closed her eyes and drifted into the dreamscape, continuing her intensive search there. “Pardon me, Daisy Petal,” she said, encountering a pale yellow unicorn as she skimmed low over dream Canterlot, “have you seen a unicorn stallion, either in your dreams or awake who looks like this?” Luna generated a half-size, life-like image of Reaper which hovered in the air a few feet from Daisy Petal’s face. The mare looked closely at the image, then shook her head: “No, Princess, I’m sorry! But if I do, I’ll be sure to get word to you at the palace! Is he a friend of yours?” Luna furrowed her brow, then smiled lightly: “I suppose I am as close to a friend as he has ever had. Thank you for your time!” Daisy Petal bowed and cantered off to continue her mid-day nap dream. Luna spent the afternoon querying the few ponies she encountered in the dreamscape: foals and the elderly taking naps, bored office ponies who had lapsed into daydreams, a young pegasus couple who had fallen into a deep sleep after a particularly exhausting tryst. She was becoming frustrated with her lack of progress, when she encountered a middle-aged mare, taking a nap in the main Canterlot library branch. “Princess Luna, what are you doing in the library?” she asked, startled. “This is actually a dream, Ms. Folio--you have fallen asleep in the stacks, it would appear.” Ms. Folio removed her glasses and rubbed her horn and muzzle: “Yes, that sounds about right. I’ve been burning the midnight oil down here for three days, researching the building of the castle.” Luna nodded sympathetically: “I understand. It can be difficult to stay awake under such circumstances.” Ms. Folio rolled her eyes as she looked around her: “Then, to add insult to injury, I end up dreaming I’m in the library. What’s the point? I may as well just wake up!” Luna smiled: “Perhaps I could grant you a bit of respite from this disappointing dream. But first a question: have you seen this unicorn stallion, either in your dreams or when awake?” Ms. Folio examined Reaper’s image closely: “Actually, I have, though his cutie mark looked different.” Luna furrowed her brow for a moment, then her ears perked up and she shifted the image, substituting Reaper’s new, unknown cutie mark-- 馬 for his previous one-- 死. “That’s it! He was briefly in a dream I had yesterday about the legendary catacombs. I don’t know why he was there--he seemed to be looking for something.” Luna stepped forward and touched her horn to the unicorn’s temple, replaying the incident through her own mind. “Yes,” she said, stepping back, “I see. But I do not recognize that part of the catacombs or their adjacent tunnels.” “I’m not surprised,” Ms. Folio replied, “those tunnels are believed to be long-lost--deeper even than the legendary catacombs themselves--if they even existed in the first place!” Luna chewed her lip: “Oh, I have little doubt they exist. There is much buried and forgotten, but not lost under the castle.” She turned to fly away: “Please go to the Royal Archivist when you awaken, and tell your vision in full to Princess Twilight Sparkle. Try to take whatever tome you may have been reading at the time.” “I will, Princess,” Ms. Folio promised, “wake me up now and I’ll get right on it!” Luna looked over her shoulder with a wink: “You have my thanks, good mare, and tonight when you are properly asleep I will deliver you that particularly arousing vision that has long eluded you!” Ms. Folio smiled coyly and blushed as she faded from the dreamscape.