Reaper and Twilight entered Luna’s chambers, and found her curled on a large pillow, sipping chamomile tea, browsing From Dream to Death and Back Again.
Twilight poured herself a cup of cider and sat down next to Luna: “I’m surprised Celestia didn’t take these books away! She clearly thinks they’re evil.”
Luna raised an eyebrow: “These are my chambers, and my sister is loathe to interfere with my judgments here.”
Twilight shifted uncomfortably: “I’m sorry, Luna, I didn’t mean--”
“No offense taken, Twilight,” Luna interrupted with a gentle smile, “and you are correct to assume that Celestia was less-than-pleased to leave these tomes here. But I assured her that these may well prove valuable in solving our current conundrum.”
Reaper leaned forward to peruse the book before Luna, opened to a chapter titled “Can One Die in Truth From Within a Dream?” His eyes widened: “Especially this one! Where did you get these, Twilight?”
“Just before our final fight, I ran from Grey Thorn’s study into the large chamber, and dragged four books along,” Twilight explained. “I hid them under a rock next to the wall to keep them safe.”
Reaper grinned: “Then soft-shoed back down past the guards to get them! And Starswirl’s sneaky legacy continues!”
Twilight glared back: “Well, I couldn’t just let the Archivist or the archaeology team get them! We might never get to see them if they’d ended up in the Archivist’s hooves!”
“Precisely why I told Celestia I would keep them here under my watchful eye,” Luna interjected. “I, too, believe these volumes may hold the key to putting things aright.”
She turned to face Twilight with a knowing look: “And I already know the various deceptions all of us have used recently. I will not be so easily misled!”
Reaper put on a mock-hurt air: “Princess! I would never dream of deceiving you, especially not now that you seem to be able to get into my dreams!”
Luna rolled her eyes: “Speaking of, were you dreaming earlier today?”
Reaper shrugged.
Twilight looked pointedly at Reaper: “When I got back from the “Waiting Room” I found him asleep in a chair. He said he had been dreaming, but I guess you still can’t see into his dreams?”
Luna furrowed her brow: “It is as I suspected: I could tell you were dreaming, Reaper, but could not see inside the dream, again.”
Twilight tapped her chin: “Oh--what if you were to put him into a sleep state, now, and try to rewind back through his memories?”
Reaper glared at Twilight: “Enough with the rummaging in my dreams! You have several days’-worth of cleanup to begin, and I’m not going to be able to help you with almost any of it!”
Twilight’s ears drooped: “Wha-what? Why not?”
Reaper closed his eyes and took a deep breath: “Blue Belle worked out fine because she was close. Your next trip may well take you over a thousand miles from here. There’s no way we can teleport me that far, and I no longer have the ability to simply appear anywhere within moments. Only the Harbinger has that ability.”
“But what if I run into trouble?” Twilight asked uneasily. “How will I get help?”
“You won’t,” Reaper replied sternly. “I didn’t when I got the job, and you’ll figure it out, too.”
Twilight chewed her lip nervously.
Reaper rubbed his temples: “Look, if push comes to shove, you can pop back here and ask for advice, but in all honesty, as Harbinger, you’re equipped with all you need.”
“What if they’re conscious and try to run or fly or whatever it is spirits do?”
“Pursue them. You’ll find it easier to do a lot of this in your ethereal form, though you definitely want to be “in-body” on those occasions you have to actively reap a living pony.”
Twilight stood up and paced nervously, sipping at a cup of cider: “How often does that happen? I don’t think I can stab anypony!”
Reaper smiled sympathetically: “You recall the second Starswirl death vision? It’s just like that--no fuss, no muss, no pain. It’s simply the physical manifestation of separating the spirit from the body.”
“What if they resist or fight?”
Reaper shrugged: “I suspect you may actually be better equipped to deal with that right out of the gate than I was. You have real, combat-tested unicorn magic. My magic is fairly weak, and largely used for defense. It’s not really the Harbinger’s job to fight."
He poured himself a cup of cider and continued with a grin: “If I have a recalcitrant customer, I just wait ‘em out. They have to sleep sometime!”
Luna nodded: “Indeed they do!”
Twilight sighed and finished off her cider: “OK, I guess there’s really no choice. I just hope you two are able to figure this out fast!”
“Hey, that makes three of us!” Reaper chuckled, gesturing to the scrolls and books piled beside Luna. “I’m not a big fan of book-work, you know!”
“I assure you, Twilight,” Luna said, “Reaper and I will not rest until we have exhausted every lead and resource available to us!”
“And regardless of what I said earlier, I’m pretty sure you’ll have plenty to do within a 30-mile radius. Pop back in if you really need an assist or some advice,” Reaper added, walking over to Twilight, offering his hoof as she stood.
Twilight took his hoof and nodded gratefully: “Thank you. I’ll do my best!” She looked off in the distance as though homing in on a faint sound, and began to fade moments before teleporting away.
Reaper stood looking at the spot where Twilight had stood: “I know you will, kiddo.”
“So, where do we begin?” Luna asked, breaking Reaper’s reverie.
He blinked and turned to face Luna: “I really wasn’t kidding about hating book-work. I can read, but I doubt I’ve perused a total of a dozen pages in all the time I’ve been in this world. I never had any need, or frankly, interest.”
“Academic pursuits are not exactly my forte, either,” Luna admitted, “but we will have to make due with our limited experience. Perhaps together we are more than the sum of our parts!”
Reaper levitated the carafe of cider from the side table and refilled his and Luna’s cups: “I hope. I’ve spent hours racking my brain for clues from my encounter with Fate, or whatever it was, looking for a lead. And I’ve come up empty.”
“Is it possible that I might witness that encounter?” Luna asked, taking her cup.
Reaper shook his head: “No, it was a real thing, not a vision, not a dream. It took place in this plane, in our reality. I only have my memory of it, which is hazy, at best.”
Luna furrowed her brow and tapped the volume in front of her: “That is a pity. An earlier chapter in this book asserts that dreams of death have the power to transcend this reality in a way that normal dreams do not.”
Reaper shrugged: “I suspect this volume must have been written largely by Grey Thorn. It certainly plays into the strengths he showed within the dreamscape.”
Luna flipped through a few pages, distractedly: “Yes. It is somewhat disconcerting that he seems to have had a better grasp on certain dream elements than I do.”
Reaper smiled: “Not all that surprising, considering he was haunting your steps for nearly a thousand years, watching you in a way you never would have done yourself. Few ponies are that self-aware!”
“True,” Luna said, furrowing her brow as she watched Reaper drain his cup. “Likewise, he spent centuries haunting your steps, as well. This tome is the synthesis of of his observations.”
Reaper nodded: “So?”
“We have seen what he learned under Nightmare Moon’s unwitting tutelage,” Luna replied. “I wonder what he learned from you?”
“Aside from drilling into that book of his, I’m not sure how we’ll ever know,” Reaper responded, focusing on his empty cup for a moment.
Luna narrowed her eyes and tipped her head slightly: “I am not so sure about that…”
Reaper crumpled to the floor suddenly and heavily as Luna’s magic beam struck his temple, catching him completely by surprise. She refolded her legs, placed her cup aside, and settled-in comfortably, reaching out for Reaper with a silvery tendril.
“Let us see if we can catch you unguarded yet again!”