Reaper lay in a large feather bed, staring wearily at the ceiling, listening to the murmur of a fountain outside the guest room’s window. A faint scent of jasmine hung in the air, and a small oil lamp flickered on a side table, throwing dim shadows on the deep-blue walls.
His eyelids drifted down as exhaustion overtook him, washing away all thoughts of the Void, his new-found incarnation, and his recent subterranean misadventures.
He found himself lying on a moonlit beach, the tang of salt spray overtaking jasmine, fountain sounds becoming the rhythmic surge of the surf. The ceiling was now the roof of night, ablaze with stars.
Reaper stood and brushed off the damp sand clinging to his coat. He began trotting up the beach toward a distant lighthouse, and realized as he approached it, that he was no longer running on all fours--he was standing upright on his hind legs.
He arrived at the lighthouse, and climbed the stairs, drawn to the bright blue door. He reached for the latch with his magic, only to find he had none. He swept his hoof up to his forehead to find his horn gone, so he stretched out his foreleg to the door instead.
His hoof rested on the door latch, but it was no hoof Reaper recognized. It was some sort of multi-ended, fleshy appendage, akin to a bird’s talons or dragon’s claws. He closed it around the latch and pulled the door open.
Suddenly, Nightmare Moon burst forth from the doorway and drove her glistening horn deep into his ribcage, impaling him, and tossing him down the lighthouse steps.
Reaper lay at the bottom of the steps, bleeding into the sand as golden glyphs and runes sparkled all about him, absorbing the blood.
Nightmare Moon, now also standing on her hind legs, walked slowly down the steps, regarding Reaper through narrowed eyes.
“Why art thou here, Harbinger?”
“I--I don’t know.”
“Thou art powerless now,” Nightmare Moon observed, “except for…”
“Except for what?”
Reaper looked down at his pierced chest and saw that it was no longer covered by its usual brown coat, but by bare, tan skin. He noted dryly that the blood running out of his wound was still red, at any rate.
He tipped his head to the side to get a better look at Nightmare Moon, who had also lost her glossy blue-black coat, though she still had her horn.
“What power do I still possess?” he asked.
Nightmare Moon sat next to Reaper, and leaned down, licking at the blood--not hungrily, but tentatively, almost shyly.
“Thou must unlock the power in thy blood, again. Thou shouldst not have this blood--it is thy prison!”
“I don’t understand.”
Nightmare Moon ran the tip of her horn up Reaper’s chest, drawing a fresh bead of blood, and began lightly kissing his nipples (where had those come from?) and neck.
“Thou didst once. Seek again thy end--summon a new beginning!”
Reaper closed his eyes as he felt his life drain away into the sand with his blood. He wove his fingers through Nightmare Moon’s flowing, glittering black hair, and pulled her mouth to his for a dying kiss.
Reaper’s eyes slowly opened, taking in the guest room, washed with the pale, first light of dawn. The bedding was tossed aside, and a sheet was wrapped around his right hoof. He blinked, and could just make out a shape sitting in a chair next to the bed.
He ventured a guess: “Luna? Is that you? How long have you been there?”
“I have been watching you slumber for the last hour or so,” she replied. “I was concerned you might not be capable of proper sleep since your transformation.”
“Apparently so,” Reaper said, shifting slightly and stretching his legs, exposing his now-rigid member.
Luna raised an eyebrow: “It appears everything else is functioning properly as well!”
Reaper looked down between his hind legs and chuckled: “Well, that’s new! I’ve hardly gotten used to taking a piss, and now this! Nice to see the equipment works the way it’s supposed to, I guess.”
Luna nodded: “So is this merely the result of normal stallion “mechanics,” or were you inspired by a dream?”
Reaper furrowed his brow “I don’t really know. I know I just came out of a dream, but it was too weird to call an erotic fantasy.”
A puzzled look suddenly crossed his face: “Wait--couldn’t you see inside my dream?”
Luna bit her lip: “No. I was sure you were having a dream: the murmuring, the restlessness, the arousal,” she nodded toward his now-subsiding erection. “But I could not perceive the dream. That is most disconcerting.”
“Well,” Reaper said, climbing unsteadily out of the bed, “I guess that’s one more mystery for the pile!”
Luna stood and walked toward the doorway: “I hope we do not add any more. The collection we have now is quite sufficient!”
Reaper nodded as he followed her from the room: “I can’t argue with that! Now let’s go see about this brunch you mentioned yesterday--I’m famished!”
Luna grinned: “In more ways than one, it would appear!”
Celestia walked into her solarium several hours later to find Reaper and Luna already sitting at the table that her staff had set up for their brunch. They were sipping tea and chatting.
“How long have you two been here?” she asked.
Luna tapped her chin thoughtfully: “I would say nearly an hour.”
Reaper swallowed and nodded: “That sounds about right. I woke up just after dawn, and following a long walk through your gardens, I went to see the Royal Physician.”
“She had requested he come to see her first thing this morning,” Luna interjected.
“And honestly,” Reaper continued, “of the two, walking through the gardens was the more beneficial activity! I’ve been in them many times over the centuries, but have never really looked at them and experienced them. They were just one more location for me to perform my duties.”
Celestia smiled and sat down next to her sister: “I’m glad you enjoyed them! So how are your injuries? Nothing too serious, I hope?”
Reaper shook his head: “No--a few bruises, some strained rib cartilage; that sort of thing.”
“So what’s the plan?” Celestia asked, moving a muffin and slice of melon to her plate.
Luna looked around: “Should we not wait for Twilight’s arrival? If I recall correctly, she was to be part of this discussion as well.”
Celestia sighed: “Yes, I suppose. I’d really rather she have as little to do with this as possible though, given her trauma of a few days ago.”
Reaper furrowed his brow as he took a sip of hot cider: “She’s a tough kid, Celestia, and her research skills may well make all the difference!”
“Difference in what?” Twilight said as she trotted into the solarium.
“Whether we are able to successfully recover Reaper’s powers or not,” Luna replied, magically pulling a padded stool out from under the table for the young Princess.
Twilight sat down next to Celestia as a servant poured her a cup of tea: “I don’t know how much use I’m going to be with that, honestly. There’s nothing in the archives about Reaper, beyond legends and scary stories.”
Reaper nodded: “Yeah, I don’t exactly have the best reputation, and it’s not like I’ve ever sat down for an interview!”
“Well, you sort of did, way back when, when you talked with Starswirl,” Twilight responded.
“Kind of, I suppose,” Reaper said, “but we’ve already run back through the two encounters I had with him, if you’ll recall.”
Twilight took a bite of apple tart, and nodded: “True, but we know he had already figured out how to forestall you before your first appearance. Clearly he gained even more mastery over the twenty years that followed. Surely all that research and spell development was captured.”
Celestia furrowed her brow: “Perhaps, but for better or for worse, that’s gone now. You’ll have to make do with what you managed to take out of Grey Thorn’s study.
Twilight chewed her lip, and changed the subject: “What about the sword? I know you didn’t want anypony touching it, but what if that’s the key?”
Reaper shook his head: “I’ve already handled it--it’s inert to me now. I had you secure it out of concern for what it might do to you three, but I honestly don’t think my power is in it.”
“Is it truly a source of power, or just a conduit?” Luna asked.
“Conduit,” Reaper answered. “It acts--well acted--as an extension of my powers, somewhat like a unicorn’s horn.”
Celestia shifted uncomfortably: “I watched power pour out of you into Twilight and Luna’s bodies. Where did that power go? Is it in them, or was it just used-up?”
Reaper shrugged: “I don’t know. I’ve never had to tap even a fraction of my power, until we encountered Grey Thorn. And between that Void of his, your power, Celestia, and draining myself, I can’t tell where one thread ends and the next begins. I suspect the sword is still “alive,” just dormant, but I don’t know what it will take to awaken it.”
Luna tipped her head sideways: “Is that why you seek the remnant of the Void? Do you think it may hold some secret?”
Reaper nodded slowly as he took another swig of hot cider: “Maybe. I poured a lot of my power into sealing it off. It’s possible I might be able to use it to “prime the pump,” as it were.”
“Well, no more going rogue!” Celestia chided. “I understand how important this is to you--to all of us--but I need your assurances”--here she looked at all three of her guests--”that you will take helpers and assistants with you, and keep me in the loop!”
Luna nodded: “I, for one, do not wish any of us to come to harm in pursuit of either goal: Reaper’s power regained, or the Void recovered. Both are worthy objectives, but they do not require secrecy--certainly not among the four of us.”
“Any suggestions for next steps in achieving these lofty goals would be greatly appreciated!” Reaper replied.
Twilight stood: “I’m going to head back to the Archives, and get an escort from the Archaeologist to return to Grey Thorn’s large chamber. There are a large number of death-related runes and glyphs in the bone pit that may shed some light on how Grey Thorn extracted spirits before he perfected the Void.”
Reaper chewed his lip: “And I’m back to square one. I guess I’ll head down below too, and see if I can convince the Archaeologist to give me an assist with finding that damn Void.”
Luna looked at Reaper with a light smile: “Actually, I would appreciate a moment of your time before that. I should like to discuss your dream further.”
Celestia raised an eyebrow: “You had a dream?”
“Yes,” Luna replied, “and I was unaware of it as it occurred. This may be important.”
“Well, I want all three of you to keep me up-to-date as you find or learn anything that might be useful.” Celestia said, standing up. “We can meet back here later tonight for dinner.”
Luna and Reaper stood as well, and watched Twilight and Celestia leave the solarium, as Celestia’s staff began to clear the table.
“Come with me,” Luna said, “I have a surprise for you.”