Luna led Reaper to a secluded section of the Royal Gardens, screened from view by a high hedge. She turned to face him as he stopped and looked around.
“So what’s going on, Luna?” he asked. “Why discuss the dream here as opposed to your quarters--not that this isn’t nice! I’m just a little confused.”
Luna smiled and nodded: “I understand. I have a destination in mind for us to visit, and I wished for our departure to go unnoticed for as long as possible. Celestia’s helpers and assistants are everywhere!”
Reaper raised an eyebrow: “Are you about to get us in trouble with your sister again?”
“No, nothing like that,” Luna replied as her horn began to glow a bright blue. “I’m taking you to the spa.”
Reaper glanced to his left: “Considering that’s about half a mile to the east, I’m not sure why you’re bothering with the teleport. Unless you’re talking about the secret spa Celestia occasionally frequents…”
Luna’s eyebrows jumped: “How do you know about...nevermind. Of course you know. In any event, no: that is hardly the place one goes to escape my sister’s spies!”
She stepped in close to Reaper and lowered her glittering horn: “We are going to Ponyville.”
The teleport glow cleared, and Reaper looked down from a hill overlooking Ponyville: “So why here?”
Luna took a deep breath and cleared her head from the stress of the farther-than-usual teleportation: “My sister has her secret retreat, and so do I. I was introduced to this lovely spa by Rarity not long after my first visit here following my return from exile, and I make use of it often.”
Reaper nodded: “I understand. But why the spa--this one or any other?”
Luna began walking down the hill toward town, being careful to stay off the main road: “Your comment about the restorative powers of the Gardens struck me, and I realized that instead of traditional medical assistance for your aches and bruises, a session in the spa might be more beneficial.”
“Alright, I’m more than happy to give it a try,” Reaper said, falling in behind Luna as they slipped into town along a low brick wall, overtopped by weeping willow trees.
Luna stopped Reaper as they approached the end of the wall: “This is close enough. The proprietors of this spa, Aloe and Lotus Blossom, are expecting us, and will have a room readied for us to teleport.”
The two ponies were wrapped again in a flash of bright, bluish-white light, which cleared a moment later inside a dimly-lit, sweet-smelling room.
“Greetings, Princess!” said sky-blue Lotus Blossom.
“And welcome to you, her honored guest!” said her pink sister, Aloe.
Luna bowed politely, and climbed atop a low, padded bench, attended by Lotus Blossom.
Aloe pointed to her table: “Please, sir, make yourself comfortable on this massage table while we finish preparations.”
Reaper settled awkwardly on the table, as Lotus Blossom removed Luna’s gorget, tiara and hoof ornaments. Aloe lit several candles, poured each guest a cup of pale, golden wine, and set several bowls of scented lotions, oils and unguents beside each station.
“We rarely have couples massage sessions,” Lotus Blossom remarked, “so we were naturally thrilled when you asked if we offered such a service!”
Luna smiled and sipped her wine: “I am sure it will be our pleasure as well! My companion’s name is Reaper, by the way. I apologize for not formally introducing him upon our arrival.”
Aloe helped Reaper settle into a comfortable position, and began to work her oiled hooves along his neck and shoulders, feeling out the various strains and pulls in the underlying muscles.
“Are you a long-time friend of the Princess?” she asked Reaper, as he began to relax under her ministrations.
“Kind of,” he grunted, as Aloe dug her hoof into a particularly tough knot at the base of his neck. “I’d say it’s been more of a professional relationship, historically.”
Luna smiled as her eyes fluttered shut: “I would like to think we have moved beyond that these last few weeks.”
Reaper took a long sip of his wine, and began to shift to his belly as Aloe turned her attentions to his spine and lower back.
Lotus Blossom was working beneath Luna’s wings, rubbing the muscles and tendons, tugging and bending, careful not to damage the long, graceful indigo feathers.
Reaper began to doze as he heard Lotus chatting quietly with Luna. Aloe had worked her way to the base of his spine, and was now tugging lightly at his tail, working the ligaments, and combing oil through the grey-streaked, dark-brown hair.
He heard the creak of Lotus’ massage table and rustle of feathers as Luna shifted her position, lying half on her side, one rear leg extended, tail pulled back.
Lotus Blossom began working oil into Luna’s flank and loins, rubbing in long circles, focusing on the joints, running her hooves up over the alicorn’s teats and lower abdomen, pressing against her belly.
Aloe guided Reaper, almost imperceptibly, from his stomach onto his side, until he was facing Luna in a similar posture. Lotus beckoned her twin, who leaned in close for a moment to share a whisper.
Lotus turned back to Luna, who smiled, and spread her legs and wings wide, enjoying Lotus’ full-body massage, from the depths of her loins to the underside of her jaw.
Reaper’s eyes were half-opened, and he took in the vision of Luna’s oil-slicked body, with its dark, glistening cutie mark, ruddy nipples, and taut muscles, as though it were a dream. He began to drift in and out of a light sleep, lulled by the room’s warmth, Luna’s soft groans, and the sound of the twins’ hooves working lotion into their charges’ coats and skin.
Reaper’s eyelids drooped heavily, and as they closed he felt the touch of a hot-oiled hoof run up between his hindquarters and over his growing erection. His legs opened wider reflexively as Aloe rolled him from his side to his back.
Reaper’s eyes fluttered open for a moment as he lifted his head, and he saw Luna exchange inaudible words with Lotus Blossom, who smiled and backed silently from the room, closing the door as she went.
He barely had a moment to ponder what this meant, when he felt the wet warmth of Aloe’s tongue on the end of his member, followed by her lips, which slid down the length of his shaft until they met her hooves, which were now stroking lightly, up and down.
Reaper shuddered and let out a low moan. His head dropped heavily to the table, and he closed his eyes, allowing himself to be swept away by the sensation.
Within moments all of Reaper’s senses were heightened: he was suffused by the heat of the room, the rich musk of the aroused mares mingling with the perfume from the flickering candles, the soft, wet, rhythmic sound of Aloe’s attentions, the tang of the wine lingering on his tongue.
He felt the tension beginning to build in his loins; his tail twitched, his breathing became quick and irregular. He slipped fully into a vivid dream state as his back began to arch off the massage table.
Aloe felt Reaper’s scrotum tighten, and his girth swell in her mouth, and she increased her rhythm, her headband slipping forward over one eye, allowing her light blue mane to bob free.
Luna lay on her side, head propped up on her right hoof, her left hoof pressed deep between her hind legs. She watched the bounce of Aloe’s mane, the play of light across Reaper’s face, and the rapid rise and fall of his chest.
Suddenly, images of smoke and fire, battle and death filled her vision. Her nostrils flared as the scents of blood and dust overwhelmed her, and Aloe’s wet, eager noises were washed away by screams and the ring of steel on shield.
Reaper’s eyes flew open and he placed a hoof on Aloe’s head, halting her, mid-stroke: “Stop.”
Aloe tipped her head back slightly and rolled her deep blue eyes up to meet Reaper’s. He reached down with both hooves and cradled the sides of her face, pulling her free from his member with a soft ‘slurp.’ He pulled her forward, up his chest, and kissed her gently on the forehead.
“Please go. I need to talk with Princess Luna in private.”
Aloe ran the back of her hoof across her mouth, and tipped her head sideways, as a look of worried confusion crossed her face.
“Is everything OK? Did I do something wrong?” she asked, glancing back at Reaper’s saliva-slicked cock.
He smiled: “No. You’ve done nothing wrong, but I really need you to go, now. I have important things I must discuss with the Princess.”
Aloe glanced at Luna, who nodded: “Please leave us now. All is well, and we both thank you for all you’ve done today.”
Aloe looked back at Reaper with furrowed brow: “Alright. Well, I hope you feel better, and please come back anytime!”
She stepped back from the massage table, dropping a hot towel on Reaper’s belly before stepping through the door, closing it on her way out.
Reaper grabbed the towel with both hooves and pressed his aching shaft into it, groaning loudly, rolling on his side, and squeezing his legs together as he emptied himself into the warm, damp cloth, his tail switching with each spasm.
“Better?” Luna asked as Reaper finally relaxed, stopped twitching, and caught his breath.
He sighed heavily, and used his magic to refill his empty wine cup: “No. But at least I was able to hold on until Aloe left the room.”
Luna took a drink from her own cup: “I do not understand. What happened?”
“Which part?”
“Either--both! Why did you not let her finish? Did she displease you? And what was the meaning of that sudden vision?”
Reaper sat up and wiped himself down with a fresh towel, wincing as he ran a towel across his still-sensitive glans.
“I’ll answer the second part first: you saw my death vision. It must have been dredged-up by the sudden overload on this all-too-real body--the feel of Aloe’s mouth and hooves, the wine, the candles, your intoxicating scent and appearance, her eyes--it was all too much!”
He tossed the sticky towel aside and lay back down, stretching his quivering legs: “The last time I experienced anything that intense, that real, was when I was killed, all those millennia ago.”
Luna began pulling on her various ornaments and accouterments: “It is interesting that I was able to perceive that dream so vividly, but could not see the one from this morning.”
“I don’t understand it either. Perhaps I simply have to have very intense dreams for you to detect them. Even though I appear to be a normal pony, now, there’s no good way to know how normal I really am.”
Luna nodded and wiped down her flanks, running the towel back and forth once between her legs, before tossing it in a nearby basket, along with the two towels Reaper had just used.
She sat back down on a nearby cushion: “So why did you not let Aloe finish? You were clearly enjoying yourself, and she was eager to help.”
Reaper took a seat on a low couch, and rubbed the back of his neck: “I agree with both those statements, but I had to stop her--the sudden rush of a death vision conflated with my climax would have been too jarring, too incongruous. I would not have wanted her or the experience to have been linked to my death vision.”
He pulled another hot cloth from a covered hamper, wiping his face and neck: “And more to the point, I didn’t want Aloe associated with my climax.”
Luna raised an eyebrow: “Now I am confused, again. Do you not find her arousing? She is exactly the type of pony I so frequently see in the fantasies of both stallions and mares.”
Reaper sighed heavily and slumped forward: “I can't become attached to the pains and pleasures, the agonies and ecstasies of this world. I must stay detached from it all, or it will be impossible to do my job.”
Luna furrowed her brow: “But you have no job at this moment! What better time to enjoy the things your “all-too-real body,” as you call it, has to offer?”
Reaper looked up with a pained expression: “Because I can’t keep this body! I have to figure out how to get back to being Death’s Harbinger, and I can’t imagine coming to reap Aloe’s spirit 50 or 60 years from now, and having pangs of regret as I recall the pleasure she gave me and the affection I felt for her!”
“Has it ever been thus for you?” Luna asked.
“Yes and no,” Reaper replied, “I have never had to worry about being intimate with anypony--not in that way, at any rate. But I have observed many ponies over the years whom I wished I could have known better. And it has disturbed me, occasionally, to see their lives simply flicker by like feeble candle flames, barely noticed before they’re gone.”
Luna’s ears drooped: “I understand. I, too, have lamented the loss of friends who were in this world for far too short a time.”
Reaper nodded: “Then you see why I couldn’t let Aloe finish. Nor must I ever see her again, until the day comes to guide her spirit beyond the bounds of this world. I don’t have the luxury of friends, to say nothing of lovers!”
Luna furrowed her brow: “Then what of Celestia and me, and I suppose Twilight? Do we also fall under your restriction?”
“Not really,” Reaper replied. “I expect to sit with you and your sister at the end of time as Entropy draws its final curtain across the Cosmos. I have largely avoided friendship with the two of you due to our disparate duties, and because I assumed my presence was unwanted. I would have been surprised otherwise!”
Luna raised an eyebrow: “I cannot speak for my sister, but I assure you your presence is not unwanted! I am unsure how Twilight may feel about this…”
Reaper sighed: “I’m not sure about her, either. I don’t know if she’ll end up as immortal as you and your sister essentially are, or if she has a different fate. But either way, I’m sure she will long outlive many generations of ponies.”
Luna nodded sadly: “I hope she avoids the sort of entanglement that will someday break Cadance’s heart.”
Reaper shrugged: “She doesn’t really seem the type to avail herself of your sister’s “Special Services” Guard company. She’s more the settled-down, homebody type, I would guess.”
Luna bit her lip as she recalled Twilight’s lucid dream of a perfect life with Moondancer: “I trust she will come to see the wisdom of Celestia’s “honored consorts” in due time.”
“I hope so,” Reaper replied, “or she’s looking at a long life of heartache.”
Luna stood, preparing to teleport, as she recalled another of Twilight’s dreams: “I fear that is inevitable in any event.”
Lotus Blossom heard a ‘pop’ through the door, and opened it to find an empty wine carafe in an empty room.