Death Be Not Proud

by ShinigamiDad


Reminiscing

Celestia roused from her fitful sleep, mere minutes before dawn, rolled to her side and looked around Luna’s chambers in confusion. She saw Reaper asleep on a nearby couch, Twilight’s faded form resting motionless on a pile of cushions, and no trace of Luna.

She sat up and summoned a cup of tea from Luna’s side table, clearing her head, and stretching her wings before standing unsteadily and walking stiffly to the window.

She set the teacup on the window ledge and concentrated her energies toward the eastern horizon, willing into motion the machinery of the heavens, for the untold thousandth time. Dawn broke over the distant hills, and Celestia sighed deeply before turning back toward Luna’s dais.

She approached Reaper and prodded his shoulder gently with a hoof: “Where is everypony? What did I miss?”

Reaper rolled onto his back and blinked blearily up at Celestia’s face: “Miss? Not much, really. We just kept going over and over the various glyphs and colors and placement and whatnot until even your scribe was at her wits' end.”

Celestia grinned: “I assume Twilight wanted just one more run-through…”

Reaper rolled his eyes, and swung his legs over the edge of the couch: “You’d be right on that count. That girl loves her lists!”

“So she’s patrolling, or whatever you call it?”

Reaper nodded: “And before you ask, I don’t really know where Luna went. I’ve been dreaming for a while, and she dropped in for a bit, but disappeared some time back. I guess she felt the need to check in on the dreamscape, take care of moon duties, etc.”

“Were you dreaming of Kur?”

“Actually the last dream I recall was of our final battle with Grey Thorn, except I was in control of the Void, and Starswirl was fighting alongside Luna and Twilight.”

“What do you think that meant?”

Reaper shrugged: “That your sister stocks some seriously strong wine, I think!”

“Yes--and I think it’s been getting stronger lately! I rarely fall asleep outside my own chambers!”

Reaper walked over to the side table and procured some fruit: “I suspect Twilight had something to do with that as well.”

“How so?”

“You’ve always avoided being in my presence as best as you can, so you’ve rarely felt the long-term impact of my draining effect.”

Celestia furrowed her brow: “But I’ve been near Twilight for hours now, never really thinking of her that way. I see!”

Reaper nodded: “You’re just less uneasy and on edge around her naturally. It’s something you’ll need to keep an eye on, going forward.”

Celestia sighed heavily: “Yes, I will. And it’s all the more difficult given the fact that I really need to consult with her regarding her new, hopefully temporary duties.”

Reaper turned from the table and faced Celestia with a cocked eyebrow: “What do you mean? What’s happened?”

“I’m getting more and more reports of paranormal activities: apparent hauntings, unexplained, localized fear, things like that. Until a few days ago I simply would have dismissed these as products of overactive imaginations, but now…”

“Now you know there’s some truth behind them.”

“And it’s not just the occasional tale--I’ve heard at least a half-dozen credible stories just in the last three days.”

Reaper looked up at the ceiling and tapped his chin thoughtfully: “Yeah, that sounds about right.”

“Is it going to get worse? Is there anything I can do?”

“Hopefully not, and no. I should be on my way later today, and then Twilight can devote a lot more time to Harbinger duties and a lot less to mirrors. And as for you helping, well, let’s just say, death isn’t your thing.”

Celestia swallowed a sip of tea, then bit her lip: “No, it’s not. And to be honest, I don’t what I could do to help. I just know I have to at least offer.”

Reaper smiled: “And I’m sure she’ll appreciate the sentiment. If it’s any consolation, I’ll give her us much “sage council” as I can before I go, and she’ll have Luna for advice and guidance as well.”

“Luna seems especially uneasy with you going alone.”

“I’m not a big fan of it myself, but I don’t want anypony else taking this risk. We’ve gone over every equation and glyph and diagram three times, but there’s still a lot we don’t know.”

Reaper walked over to the still-open window and closed his eyes as the morning breeze washed over his face.
Celestia stepped up beside him: “I hope it’s enough.”

“We’ll see. Twilight’s a smart cookie--probably the best pure magic user since…”

“Starswirl?”

Reaper smiled grimly: “Grey Thorn, actually, given the fact he outlived his mentor by many centuries.”

“Yes--at great cost to many ponies, yourself included.”

“No doubt! And I hope to set that right just as soon as I can.”

Celestia furrowed her brow: “But how soon do you think that can be, realistically?”

Reaper shrugged: “Don’t know. There’s no way to know how time passes here versus on Kur. I might be gone a few hours, I might be gone for years. We have no frame of reference. Twilight’s experience passing through Starswirl’s portal gave her the sense of roughly equal time, but that may just be coincidence.”

Celestia frowned: “And there’s really only one pony who could probably answer that question…”

“And he’s kind of indisposed at this moment.”

“So we’re back to the leap of faith, and the hope you can find your way back before generations of ponies have passed here.”

Reaper turned to face Celestia: “Right. Speaking of the passing of ponies: an event a few days ago led Luna and me to discuss Twilight’s probable fate, and the impact of emotional entanglement on immortals.”

Celestia raised an eyebrow: “And?”

“Do you remember any of your “Honored Consorts” from long ago? Do you still have attachments to any of them?”

Celestia closed her eyes, turned away and walked back toward the dais. She sat on the low couch Reaper had been using as a bed.

“Funny you should ask. For the most part, the answer is ‘no.’ But sometimes…” She got a far-away look, and continued, “I was actually dreaming just last night about Strongheart, one of my Consorts from about six-hundred years ago.”

Reaper returned to the nearby cushions and sat down: “Strongheart? Six-hundred years? Was he a slate-grey unicorn?”

Celestia closed her eyes and nodded: “Yes. He was more than just an eager partner, pleased to do his royal duty for his needy Princess--we had a genuine attachment. Luna had been gone for quite some time, and the loneliness and guilt were becoming oppressive.”

“So what became of Strongheart?”

“Normally I just have the chosen consort of the season join me in my bath. The candles are few, the light is low, and our time is relatively short. I send him or her back on their happy, sweaty way, and soak in the bath.”

“But?”

“But not Strongheart. I kept him around for several sessions, culminating in a sudden dawn tryst in the Gardens. It was glorious! I could hardly breathe when we were done. We lay on the grass for at least an hour, luxuriating in each other’s heat; I wanted it to last forever.”

Reaper closed his eyes and tipped his head back: “Then you had him transferred to the Northern Marches. Got him married off to the local commander’s daughter.”

Celestia’s eyes snapped open: “That’s right! How did you know that?”

“Sometime, after I get back, remind me to get together with you and your sister so we can enter a dream state, and I can replay Strongheart’s death vision. I think you might take some comfort from it.”

Celestia stared at her hooves: “I’m sorry I’ve been so stand-offish to you over the centuries. I know you’ve just been doing your job…”

“Don’t worry about it. You’re the Princess of light and growth and dawn and arising--you’re supposed to feel uneasy around the agent of endings and decay and final darkness.”

Celestia wiped away a tear: “Will this really work? Will you get back to being that agent? I really don’t know if Twilight can handle being the Harbinger forever, and I fear what this power might do to Luna in the long run."

Reaper knelt before Celestia and took up her right hoof in his left: “I swear I’ll do everything I can to make this right. And Twilight’s tougher than you know--she’ll hang on until I get back.”

“Hang on for what?” Twilight said, stepping up silently behind Celestia, looking over her shoulder at Reaper.

Celestia shuddered and stood up, turning to face Twilight while taking a hasty step backwards: “Ah! Please don’t sneak up behind me like that!”

Twilight’s ears drooped and she, too, took a step back: “I’m sorry, Princess--I’m still not used to this effect!”

Reaper smiled and fetched a cup of cider for Twilight: “We were just discussing my complete confidence in your ability to act as Harbinger during my brief absence.”

Twilight took the cup and raised an eyebrow: “I somehow doubt you phrased it that way, and I doubt I’ll do a very good job, to be honest!”

Reaper shook his head: “You’ll do fine, kiddo! You’ve had a few days to feel your way around, ask some questions, send a few spirits on their way. This puts you in a better position than I was in back in the day, and if I could muddle through, I have no doubt you can too!”

“And Luna and I will be here for you, Twilight,” Celestia said, moving around the couch and placing her foreleg over Twilight’s shoulder. “If there’s anything either of us can do, you know we will.”

“I know you will, Princess,” Twilight replied, taking a swig of cider, “I’m just very nervous--not just for me! I mean, I certainly don’t want to be stuck with this role, but I’m also worried for Reaper. The three of us have shared so much these last few weeks, and I’m very concerned about him doing this alone!”

Reaper opened his mouth to respond, when Luna stepped out of the shadows and interrupted him: “As am I!”

Reaper sighed and walked toward a low table at the foot of the dais: “We’ve been over this--if worst comes to worst, I can be spared. You two can’t!”

He bent down, moved aside a small flask of blood, and slid a few scrolls, a small book and a dark-red vial into a saddlebag.

Twilight stepped up behind him: “But surely you should wait another day or two? Shouldn’t we experiment with the mirror and the nexus a bit?”

Reaper swung around and looked at Twilight with a pained expression: “No! Let’s get this done now! I feel the attachment to my old power fading, and I fear the time may come soon when I can no longer be used as a vessel for it--and when it can no longer be separated from you!”

Twilight stepped back, eyes wide.

“Then let us all do what we must, now,” Luna interjected, magically closing up the saddlebag, “and set the world aright again.”

Reaper nodded and headed over to an armoire against the wall, which he opened, exposing a variety of oddly-shaped garments and boots. He pulled out another saddle bag and began loading in the garments.

“Alright then, Your Highnesses, it’s agreed--let's pack me a lunch and kick me out the door, and with your blessing,” he nodded toward Celestia, “this whole enterprise might just be successful!”

Celestia furrowed her brow, but smiled bravely: “I will give my blessing gladly, if it will help. But I fear my magic may not travel beyond the bounds of this world.”

Reaper returned her smile: “Well, it’s my hope that this world has so damn much magic, a little of it might stick to me, even as I slip through the portals!”

Luna nodded: “I trust it will!”