//------------------------------// // Breakfast // Story: Death Be Not Proud // by ShinigamiDad //------------------------------// Celestia walked into her solarium shortly after dawn and found Twilight already at their breakfast table, nursing a cup of hot cider, and mulling over her notes and copy of Phantasmagoria: Their Creation and Uses. She looked up blearily from the table: “Good morning, Princess Celestia…” Celestia furrowed her brow: “Are you feeling well, Twilight?” “I’m just exhausted.” Celestia took a scone from the tray in the center of the table: “Did you have a particularly busy day, or perhaps night, yesterday?” “No, that’s not it, though I have been having more trouble the last couple of days getting spirits under control.” “Are there more, or are they resisting?” “It’s not really resisting, as much as it is hiding. Most spirits are supposed to be unconscious, yet they seem to be evading my senses, so that is kind of tiring.” Celestia sipped her tea and perused a scroll: “But not exhausting.” “No. I turned in kind of late, but was sleeping OK until, well, until Luna broke in.” Celestia dropped the scroll: “Luna? How?” “I don’t know. She said something about trying to connect the three of us through a dream, like we’ve done before.” “Three of you?” “Yeah: Luna, Reaper and me. But there was a fourth. It was a, well based on my mirror trips, I’d call her a woman.” “She looked like the beings you’ve met through Starswirl’s mirror?” “Basically, yes. She was actually quite pretty. I think it was Luna in a different form.” “So there were two Lunas?” “Sort of--yes--I don’t know!” Twilight took a long drink of cider: “They acted almost like rivals or, if you’ll pardon the comparison, sisters.” “You said Reaper was there as well?” “Yes. He was also in non-pony form. I think the whole thing was supposed to be his dream, but neither he nor Luna seemed to really be in control of it.” “Wait--so the one having the dream, and the Princess of Dreams weren’t in control?” “I’m not sure anypony was! I guess if anything, the other Luna must have been.” “They weren’t working together?” “No, like I said, they were more like rivals. Our Luna didn’t want the other Luna to, umm…” “Yes?” Twilight blushed: “Reaper was kind of sprawled out on a couch, almost like he was half asleep or drunk, and the other Luna, well, she…” Celestia leaned in as Twilight’s voice tapered off: “She climbed on top and fucked him!” Twilight’s blush deepened as she turned away and buried her muzzle in her cider mug. Celestia concealed a grin behind her cup: “Twilight, it’s fine. No need to be embarrassed--we’re all adults, here.” “Luna said something about that “entrapping him further in a body he cannot keep,” but I wasn’t sure what that really meant.” Celestia swirled her tea and pondered Luna’s words for a moment: “I suspect her words have to do with the power of sex and love to bind us.” Twilight looked up with a confused expression: “Bind?” Celestia took a deep breath and looked up at the ceiling: “Have you ever wondered why I have no Prince, no Consort, no mate?” “I always assumed it was just because you would outlive them, and that would be sad.” Celestia nodded: “That is indeed an important piece of it, but there’s more. I must remain somewhat detached from other ponies lest being emotionally or sexually entangled cloud my judgement. This has happened in the past.” “So you just shut that part of yourself off? I’ve only really started to explore what all that means to me. I don’t know how to shut it off!” Celestia smiled: “No, it’s not “shut off,” but it is tempered and channeled. It took me a long time to perfect the rotation of my “Honored Consorts,” such that I never develop any serious attachments.” “Honored Consorts?” “Haven't you noticed the guards who stand watch outside my bath or bedchamber?” “Yes. I always assumed it was just special duty.” Celestia laughed: “I suppose you could put it that way! I spend time with those select few when I feel, well, ‘needy.’ I summon one to my bath or bed and share my pleasure with them.” Twilight’s eyes grew wide and she looked away, shyly: “Oh! Is that also how Luna handles her ‘needs?’” Celestia furrowed her brow and shook her head: “My sister has long taken her pleasure in ponies’ dreams. She will visit them either as herself or in disguise, sometimes merely watching, but often interacting. She, too, never maintains any kind of lasting bond.” Twilight recalled the vision of Nightmare Moon and Zephyr: “Isn’t that kind of, I don’t know, deceptive? Maybe even dangerous?” Celestia nodded: “I cautioned her long ago not to engage with ponies in that way, and since her return from exile, I know she has allowed the spa attendants in Ponyville to, well, “relieve her tensions” in a more conventional fashion.” Twilight fidgeted with her mug: “How about as Nightmare Moon?” Celestia closed her eyes: “I believe you can guess how she dealt with it then. I heard stories, and frankly don’t think I want to know more than I already do.” Twilight bit her lip and nodded. Celestia took a sip of tea: “So imagine how much more hazardous it must be for Reaper. He has spent thousands of years on our world, with no attachments of any sort: no cold, no hunger, no thirst, no need for sex or companionship.” Twilight furrowed her brow: “Then to suddenly find he has a body again--a real body, that feels pain, and needs to sleep and eat...” “And fuck. Exactly. I’m sure that’s what Luna’s words imply. Reaper must try to avoid entanglements if he is to remain free of sentiment to a degree that even I have never attempted.” “Then who was the other Luna? Why was she so, well, eager?” “I’m not sure. You said the other Luna had the same form as Reaper, yes?” “Right--they both looked the way he’s described the inhabitants of Kur.” Celestia rubbed her chin for a moment, then ran her hoof across the back of her neck: “She may have been a manifestation of his desires--a dream Luna, if you will. I’m sure he and my sister both realize the danger of them becoming connected in that way, so his sleeping mind created a substitute.” Twilight glanced down at her mug skeptically, but held her tongue. Celestia smiled uncertainly: “I just hope your dream was them reaching out to let you know they’re OK.” “I don’t know. It was just very disorienting. I don’t like getting pulled into dreams from out-of-the-blue like that!” Celestia tipped her head slightly as she regarded Twilight: “Do you still sleep normally?” “Kind of. I clearly have some of Reaper’s attributes, but not a hundred percent. I still need to eat and drink a bit, and I still catch a few hours of sleep occasionally--maybe three or four.” “And do you dream normally?” “I can’t really recall any dreams until last night’s.” “But that one was crystal-clear, I take it?” “Yes. I’m sure that was really them reaching out to me.” “Do you think you could connect back the other way?” “I doubt it. Luna holds all the cards with this sort of thing. The rest of us are just along for the ride.” Celestia nodded, then caught the eye of her secretary who had just entered the solarium: “Excuse me, Twilight. I need to catch-up on this morning's audience schedule.” “That’s fine, Princess--I need to get to work myself. I just wish I understood better how the whole spirit thing function.” Celestia stood and smiled at her protégé: “If anypony can figure it out, it’s you, Twilight. I’m not happy about the accident that gave you this power, but I can think of no other pony who could handle it better!” Twilight looked down at the table and pushed a napkin around nervously: “I hope you’re right, Princess. This whole task is getting harder and weirder, and I just want the two of them to come home safely!” “We all do, Twilight! I’m sure they’re doing their best, just as I’m sure you’re doing your best!” She walked toward the exit, and looked over her shoulder as the passed through the doorway: “See you after lunch?” Twilight nodded silently and stared into her mug.