Do Not Go Gentle

by ShinigamiDad

G.T.

They awoke in Luna’s chambers, well past evening. The orange glow in the western sky had been replaced by deep blue-gold hues, accentuated by several bright stars.

“So, where first, Twilight?” asked Reaper. “I assume you know the library and its various nooks and crannies as well as anypony.”

Twilight shrugged: “Well, the Royal Archivist surely knows them better than I, but I do know my way around!”

“Lead on, then,” Luna said, heading toward the far end of the chamber, and out into the hallway.

Her guard noticed Twilight, then Reaper, and fell back, wide-eyed and sweating.

“Will-will you be needing an escort, your highness?” asked the Captain of the Guard, in a halting voice.

Luna shook her head and walked past: “No, thank you. I’m sure we can manage on our own. Please continue to await our return, and see to it that my quarters are not disturbed.”

The three ponies made their way down several wide staircases and hallways, until they came to the closed and locked great doors of the Royal Library and Scriptorium.

“Hmm,” Twilight mused, “I wonder if anypony’s around to let us in this late at night?”

“Sure,” Reaper responded, walking directly toward the doors, “I am!”

He passed effortlessly through the door, which opened a moment later from the inside with a soft click.

Twilight grinned: “That’s cheating! But since most of the doors in this place have anti-magic dampening spells cast on them, that may have been the only quiet way to do it!”

“My thought exactly,” Reaper concurred, holding the door open for the Princesses. “Come on in.”

“So,” he said, closing the door and turning toward the great shelves and stacks arrayed four stories high across the length and breadth of the room, “where to begin? I assume you’d already have mentioned having seen anything in the main body of the library--the sort of thing that would be in the formal catalog, for instance.”

Twilight nodded as she worked her way deeper between the set of shelves, looking for a set of back stairs which led down into the lower, archival sections: “Right--that’s why we have to go down. A few floors below this, below even the Archivist’s chambers, lie Starswirl’s private collections.”

All three ponies increased their horns’ glow as they descended the narrow staircase. Reaper raised an eyebrow: “Well, I doubt we’ll find those collections undisturbed.”

“No,” Luna concurred, “they were tagged and cataloged long ago. But the rooms themselves were left largely intact, as a sort of museum.”

“Like his more extensive laboratories and chambers below the main castle,” Twilight added.

Luna nodded: “Correct.”

“Still, we might find clues in some of the old tomes and papers,” Twilight said, ducking through a low opening. “I’m familiar with most of his best-preserved and archived scrolls and documents, but his private collection room may still generate a surprise or two.”

Reaper looked around at the carefully arranged and curated space as he, too, passed through the doorway: “Yeah--it’s a surprise they didn’t just get it over with and turn it into a gift shop.”

Luna furrowed her brow: “Yes, it does look rather “picked-over,” doesn’t it?”

“Well,” Twilight conceded, “I must admit, there sure doesn’t seem to be nearly as much stuff in here as there was in those death visions. Still, it can’t hurt to look around…”

She and Luna began to flip through the various books and scrolls that were on display, as well as some of the shelved material, much of which appeared to be various reference guides on plants and insects.

“Ooh--Fluttershy might like this!” Twilight said happily as she flipped through a volume on dragonflies.

Reaper sighed and sat down in the chair that had been last occupied by Starswirl, many centuries before. He let his eyes play over the walls and ceiling and various bookcases.

He tipped his head sideways like a cat, and squinted at the back of the room, focusing on a gap between two bookshelves. He stood and began walking toward it.

Luna caught his motion out of the corner of her eye: “What do you see, Reaper?”

“Maybe nothing,” he replied. “Let me take a look at something before I give you a definitive answer.”

He phased nearly out-of-sight and stuck his head between the bookshelves, and into the wall.

Luna and Twilight moved closer, hearing his muffled voice from inside the wall: “Were you aware there’s another stairway behind this wall?”

Both Princesses were taken aback: “Where does it go?” Twilight asked.

“Not entirely sure,” came his muffled reply. “Let me see how far down it goes, and if there are magical wards that would prevent you from teleporting.”

A minute later Reaper’s head poked back out through the wall: “Some old wards, but they’ve largely faded. Shouldn’t present any problem for you two. Come on through!”

He slipped back through the stonework, and the alicorns followed moments later, generating dual flashes with attendant “pops” echoing in the now-vacant room.

They brightened their horns and worked their way down several dozen narrow, cracking stone stairs until they passed under a crude archway, and into an equally-crude chamber, a bit larger than the study they had just left.

“I’ll bet no curator’s been down in this room,” Reaper observed, running a hoof across a dust-laden table.

“I doubt anypony has even known this was here for the last millennium!” replied Twilight, turning around slowly, looking for anything noteworthy on the barren shelves.

Luna examined a broken bookcase and overturned chair closely: “It appears whoever was in here last was quite thorough in their ransacking.”

Reaper nodded, pointing to a shattered chest in the far corner: “This wasn’t Starswirl packing up and relocating, this was somepony tossing the room and taking whatever they could find.”

“But what did they find?” Twilight wondered, pushing aside an overturned table.

Reaper pointed to a tattered book, uncovered as Twilight moved the table: “Well, they didn’t find that, whatever it is.”

Luna leaned down and picked the book up with her magic, opening it and holding it aloft so all three ponies could examine it.

“An old diary!” Twilight exclaimed.

“So it would appear. Lay it down on the big table, Luna, so the spine lays flat and we can take a better look,” requested Reaper.

She laid the open diary on the table and began to flip through the remaining pages: “Clearly many pages were torn out. Perhaps our ransacker did indeed find what they wanted.”

Reaper furrowed his brow, and leaned in close to the remaining pages: “Maybe. But that doesn’t mean they didn’t leave anything of value behind.”

Twilight leaned down as well: “New notes on high-level heat transference--13 Blue. Updated entry on lunar phase shifts for C--15 Green. R.A. requested...requested,” she squinted at the page, “I can’t make that next word out…”

Reaper moved in another inch and tentatively replied, “it looks like “necrosis notes--15 Red.” I wonder what the number-color references mean?”

Luna was not at the table, concentrating instead on a large, empty wall-mounted shelf: “I suspect it has to do with these tags.”

She pointed to a series of small brass plaques mounted every few inches on the edge of each shelf.

Twilight pricked up her ears and turned to examine Luna’s discovery. Reaper continued to pore over the remaining pages of the tattered book.

“Oh--it makes sense, now!” Twilight said, “Well, some of it makes sense, anyway. I think that book or diary or whatever it is, must be a sort of guide to books that were on this set of shelves.”

She blew a layer of dust off a shelf: “11, 12, 13, 14, 15, and so on. He probably kept a book at each of these locations.”

“Maybe more than one,” Reaper interjected, still intently studying the book. “There are reoccurring references to blue, green, red and yellow. I suspect there were multiple volumes under each number, cross-referenced by color.”

Luna turned back toward Reaper and the table: “Perhaps the colors corresponded to some sort of categories.”

Twilight nodded thoughtfully: “That would be a decent, quick system for a single pony, who could keep the rubric straight in his head.”

“Or ponies,” Reaper replied.

“Ponies?” Luna queried. “You believe more than just Starswirl had access to these materials?”

Reaper flipped back and forth through a series of pages: “There are a few initials that show up repeatedly. I’m going to assume this golden ‘C’ refers to Celestia, while the dark blue ‘L’ is for you, Luna. And there are others scattered throughout.”

Twilight returned to the table, standing close to Reaper, looking over his shoulder.

“Yes,” she said, watching the entries pass by, brows furrowed. “I see what you mean. Lots of entries with various initials. Most seem to be some kind of request.”

She pointed to an entry reading “G.T. updated tables in 19--Red. Must double-check.”

“But this one,” she continued, “seems to indicate that “G.T.” had access to volume 19.”

“And who is “G.T.?”” wondered Luna.

“That is the question of the hour, isn’t it?” Reaper replied, leafing through the remaining pages. “I don’t see a key, or index, or anything like that…”

“Well, he wouldn’t really need one, would he?” said Twilight as she backed away from the table and began to investigate the broken chest.

“No, I suppose he wouldn’t,” Reaper admitted, walking slowly toward the numbered shelves, probing with his horn, phasing slightly, dipping down to the floor occasionally.

Luna noticed his odd behavior: “What do you seek?”

“Not sure,” Reaper muttered as he stuck his head sideways between two shelves.

“This side of the room has rough paneling,” he observed.

Luna raised an eyebrow: “Do you suspect more hidden spaces?”

“Actually, yes,” he admitted, “though not on this wall. That’d be too crude.”

“No,” he said, stepping back and tugging at the shelf with his magic, “but maybe something got knocked off a high shelf and slipped in behind those loose panels when this place was being tossed.”

The dry wood split with a crack as it pulled away from the wall, causing loose stones and splinters to shower down on the remaining shelves. A thin red book, similar in style to the diary, fell out of a small gap as the paneling gave way.

Twilight stepped in quickly and retrieved the slender volume: “Well what have we here?”

She took it back to the table and opened it while Reaper and Luna investigated the loosened and crumbling panels for additional clues.

Reaper squinted, and the glow from his horn changed to a darker hue: “Do you notice any burn marks on that book, Twilight? Magical burns?”

She looked up from the table: “Yes--how did you know?”

He stepped away from the now-broken shelves and splintered wall: “Because there are traces of magical burns on the top of this shelf and the wall directly behind.”

Twilight returned to her study of the book, as Luna and Reaper made their way back to the table.

Luna leaned in close: “Yes--clearly somepony fired a magical blast at that shelf, scoring this book, and likely knocking it behind that loose panel.”

“That’s my take on it, too,” Reaper said, moving around Twilight’s shoulder for a better look. “So how much damage did it cause?”

Twilight grimaced: “Quite a lot, actually. Many of the pages are scorched black, or are too brittle to touch.” A page crumbled as she pointed this out.

“Crap!” Reaper cursed. “We have to able to get something out of this book!”

Luna’s horn gleamed blinding white for an instant, and the book was sliced in two down the length of its spine. Twilight and Reaper jerked back in surprise.

“Why’d you do that, Luna?” asked Twilight.

“It appears the back half of the book is relatively intact,” She replied. “We can magically stabilize the fragile front half and take it back for further investigation. We should be able to glean something out of the second half while here in this room.”

Reaper grinned and tipped his horn: “Good thinking, your Highness!”

Luna rolled her eyes: “So what can we see in the remaining part?”

Twilight read:

“Clearly the key lies not in rebuilding cells, but in not letting them age in the first place. I will try again to break whatever code is on that small, bone-covered tome G.T. calls “Codex Os.” He seems to be making a bit of progress with its companion, “Codex Cruor.””

“But it’s hard going. I never seem able to remember what I read from that volume for very long. I need to have G.T. re-check my notes before I close out volume 19.”

Twilight flipped through a few badly-damaged pages, looking for anything readable, and continued:

“Almost discovered today. If G.T. hadn’t renewed both upper and lower glyphs and wards, R.A. might have found out. The lower way may be too risky given the work below; may need to seal it sometime. Maybe the new wards will hold. G.T. say they’re old family magic. I must investigate--might be useful for other…”

“I can’t make out anything more on this page after “other.” The page was actually ripped, along with the next two,” Twilight explained. “But that’s OK--they appear to be blank.”

Luna’s expression had become increasingly puzzled as Twilight read: “Glyphs and wards” I understand. I assume he meant the secret protected passage we used to come to this chamber.”

Reaper nodded.

“But what,” Luna continued, “did he meant by “upper” and “lower?””

“I would guess there’s another passage around here somewhere,” Twilight conjectured, gently turning a few more pages, looking for additional writing.

“The old wizard did like his secret passages, didn’t he?” Reaper said, changing the hue of his horn again as Twilight turned another page.

Luna chewed her lip and snorted: “And who in Tartarus was G.T.?!”

Reaper looked up: “Is G.T., you mean. I suspect he’s our mystery unicorn stallion. He was obviously working closely with Starswirl, unbeknownst to anypony else.”

“And he must have been very powerful himself, if Starswirl put him in charge of the wards and glyphs,” Twilight added.

Reaper nodded grimly: “And if that old fool really was close to finding the spells needed to unnaturally extend pony life, clearly G.T. would have been right there.”

Luna furrowed her brow: “Your final death vision!”

Twilight brought a hoof to her mouth in alarm: “He said “that research has been put beyond all reach!” But what if…”

Reaper cut in: “...it wasn’t beyond G.T.’s reach? Yeah…” He sighed heavily. “Deceptions within deceptions.”

Reaper turned away from the table and paced among the litter and debris on the floor.

“It’s clear Starswirl was deceiving me as to the true nature of his final “work.” It wasn’t just the Codex of Shadows and that parchment he had, it was other material, even darker--intended not to to merely mask or cloak, but to actually stretch out a life-span.”

“And you believe this G.T. then deceived Starswirl as to his intentions?” Luna asked.

Reaper looked at the floor and scuffed shapes in the dust: “As Twilight so eloquently put it, “Starswirl lied.” I doubt he was the only one.”

Luna shook her head sadly and began silently reading the page currently open.

Reaper closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them slowly, frowning: “Twilight?”

“Yes?” she replied.

“You said there were blank, partially-torn pages after the last one you read aloud, correct?”

Twilight nodded: “That’s right. A couple of damaged pages, then we’re back into diary-type entries.”

Reaper licked his lips: “Starswirl didn’t seem like the type not to cram information on every page, did he?”

Luna tipped her head to one side: “What are you implying?”

Reaper walked back to the table and lifted the torn volume, turning back to the blank pages, tipping them back and forth, changing his horn’s hue and intensity, holding each page up to the light of his companions’ horn, as though he was trying to look through the pages. He froze.

“What is it?” Twilight asked nervously.

“Please step closer, Luna,” he said, never taking his eyes off the page.

She stepped forward: “What is it?”

“Please run through the gamut of your horn’s colors and range.”

Luna raised an eyebrow, but complied. The radiance of her horn shifted through the full spectrum of colors, and ranged from imperceptibly-dim, dark violet to blinding-bright white.

Reaper brought a hoof up to his chin and tapped it, all the while staring at the page: “Now give me dark.”

“I beg your pardon?” Luna replied.

Reaper gave out a short, impatient sigh: “Come on--you know what I mean. Make your horn glow with dark magic.”

A worried look crossed her face, but she closed her eyes, and the length of her horn blossomed with a black, unearthly glow.

Symbols and shapes suddenly shown through the page Reaper was holding out.

Twilight’s eyes grew wide and she gasped: “He used dark magic?!”

“Yes,” Reaper replied, “but which “he,” I wonder?”

Luna shook her head sadly: “Both, we must assume.”

“Can you make out what that says at the bottom of the page, Twilight? Right where it’s torn away?” Reaper asked.

“G-R-E-Y…” she said slowly, “T-H-O-R, or maybe U-R...I can’t make anymore of it out. It’s kind of like a signature, and the page tear cuts through the end.”

Luna spoke slowly and distinctly: “Grey Thorn.”

Reaper’s eyebrows jumped: “You know, or knew him?”

Luna stepped back and stretched her neck wearily: “I cannot be sure, but that name would match our mystery unicorn’s color and cutie mark. In addition, do you recall Starswirl’s comment about G.T.’s “old family magic?””

Reaper nodded, knitting his brows: “What family, do you think?”

“A name of “Thorn,” with that mark, might indicate he was a scion of the Highbriar family, an old, aristocratic unicorn family, before Canterlot was even established,” Luna explained.

Reaper nodded slowly, “I recall that name. I believe the line died out about 500 years ago. The last Baronet died without issue. He actually had a child--a filly--but she died of an illness in foalhood. He followed several years later.”

“And if Grey Thorn did possess “old family magic,” that certainly would have made him a prime candidate to apprentice under Starswirl,” Twilight said as she surreptitiously created her own dark magic glow, and continued to inspect the pages.

“Well,” Reaper said heavily, “it looks like we have a description, a name, and a bit of background. Now if only he hadn’t done such an outstanding job of erasing himself from history!”

Luna turned toward Twilight: “I glimpsed you using your own bit of dark magic behind our backs to further explore that text. I would advise against making a habit of that.”

Twilight blushed, but responded, “I normally wouldn’t but I know how important this is! And I got a better look at more of the glyphs on the second page. I don’t recall seeing them in the stairway we came down.”

“Oh, I doubt they were there just for practice,” Reaper said. “Luna, would you be so kind as to sweep the back wall with your dark magic? It shouldn’t take much.”

She stepped away from the others, lowered her head, and let the dark glow of her horn bathe the wall furthest from the entrance. A small, round symbol glowed faintly down near the floor.

Twilight looked at it, and cocked an eyebrow: “It looks like one of the symbols from the parchment Starswirl read in your first death vision of him.”

“Interesting. I wonder what happens if I try to pass through?” Reaper said, phasing as he approached the wall.

His head disappeared through the wall, though the rest of him was clearly meeting resistance.

Luna and Twilight came toward Reaper, hearing his frustrated grunting beyond the stony surface.

“How are you faring?” Luna asked.

“Not well,” came Reaper’s muffled response. “It’s clear these are the “lower” wards, and they’re in a lot better shape. In addition, even if you came through, it wouldn’t help.”

“Why not?” asked Twilight, pressing her ear against the stone.

He stumbled backwards into the room, nearly phasing into Luna: “This passageway was collapsed long ago, and then somepony used magic fire to actually melt some of the stone in place, making it nearly impossible to clear away. I don’t think this is a useful route at this time.”

All three stood in silence for a moment, looking at each other.

“So now what?” Twilight asked.

Reaper rubbed his muzzle and sat down on a low side table: “I don’t know. We know what he looks like--or looked like, at any rate. We have a probable name, a cutie mark, and some assumptions about who he was and why he was with Starswirl.”

Luna nodded: “But we have no clue when or how he may strike next. Without cover of Nightmare Moon’s darkness, he will likely have to change his approach.”

“But he already has,” Twilight retorted. “He took Dew Drop from inside a dream…”

“As far as we know,” Reaper interjected.

“Well let’s assume he did,” Twilight continued. “So, he can strike quickly and leave almost no trace. How do we get ahead of him? Finding the next Dew Drop doesn’t really help, even if we know now what we’re looking for!”

Luna straightened up and composed herself, sternly: “I shall have to be more vigilant going forward. I must redouble my dream patrols so I am aware of any unnatural darkness at its first appearance!”

Reaper nodded and stood up: “And I’m coming with you.”

Luna and Twilight’s faces both registered the same shock: “You? Why?” Luna asked.

“Because if I’m with you, I can move through the dreamscape and double our chances of finding Grey Thorn before he strikes again,” Reaper answered. “Four eyes are better than two.”

Twilight gently scooped up the various books and fragments they had found and followed her companions to the exit.

She stopped at the threshold, looked back and shook her head sadly.

The sepulchral dark returned as she left the room and picked her way back up the narrow, crude stairway.

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