Angel of Gold

by Magna85

Chapter 34

WAKE UP, CHILD.

What in the... "Oh." I woke up to the same void as before.

YES, IT IS ME. BUT FOR NOW, TO THE NORMAL MEETING PLACE.

The void fazed into the same plain as before, with Void-coat leaning on the tree. Instead of being laid-back, however, he looked much more tense than normal.

"On your journey, you need to make as many allies as you possibly can. You have no idea how much they will help you in the later part of your expedition." Straight to the point. Definitely unlike normal.

"Is something bad going to happen?" I went up to the tree and sat down. He joined me after a few seconds.

"Many things. And yet, nothing. It all depends..." Aaand he's back to being cryptic.

He sighed. "There are some things I cannot tell you, as it would complicate matters in too many ways for it to be recoverable. Just know that, the more allies you have, the better your life will turn out while you are here."

"And why would that be?"

He stared flatly at me. "I just said that I cannot tell you certain things."

"Is this one of them?"

He was silent for a second, before he smirked. "No, actually. Sort of. At the end of your journey, you will be faced with a choice. The choice you make will change this world, for good, or for evil. Your allies will help you make that choice. The more, the merrier, as the expression goes."

"Oh, so I have to worry about getting everyone to work together for something far off in the future, and now you're telling me that I have a fifty-fifty chance of doing something good or evil for the world? Great job, you just made my life a whole lot easier," I sarcastically snarked.

"You're the one who asked about it. Just remember to be wise. Don't jump into the choice on instinct."

Then the world started fading away.

---

"Celedon! Come on, get up you two-ton statue!" I felt someone trying to roll me off my bed, and the voice sounded suspiciously like Jade.

"Ugh, what? Jade, what are you doing here?" I asked while rubbing my eyes. Artificial I may be, I still felt like a regular person. However that works.

"We've gotta get packing! Discord's come by to tell us that, quote, 'In order to stay on schedule, we need to be leaving within the hour.'"

"Oh, well then, let me up." She backed away as I got up off my cot.

"I've got to get packing some stuff, so you've got to take care of your tent by yourself." She then rushed out of my presence.

Shrugging, I set to work. Or tried to, as I heard someone walking into my tent.

"Celedon, I need your help with something." Apparently Rock had decided to visit.

"Alright, what do you need?" I asked curiously.

"Snow has enlisted me to go over and retrieve the Elements and escort them through the city. A partner is always preferable when going through an urban environment," he explained.

"Huh, didn't know that. But I do need to pack up my own stuff."

At me saying this, he stuck his head out of the tent and yelled, "Berserker! Over here as well!" I heard a yell of affirmation, after which Rock turned back to me and said, "Berserker will take care of it. Plus, with all you've been eating, I believe that he should be able to lift your bag now."

Embarrassed, I said, "Heh, have I really been eating that much?"

"To me, yes. However, I don't know the nutritional value of gold. Come, we must be off." He said all this with a straight face. I didn't know whether or not he was joking or being serious.

---

As Rock and I were walking through the streets of Witherton, I wanted to learn more about him. I already learned about Jade's life, but she was easy to talk to. Rock, while he might talk easily, has sort of an 'unapproachable' aura.

That was, unless he talked himself. "What was your family like, if you had a family at all? It must have been interesting being part of a race of super-dense golden beings."

Surprised by his question, I almost blurted out that I was a widower, but then thought better of it. "I did have a family, but it was just me and my...husband."

Oh geez, that sounds so weird.

"You're married?" Rock asked incredulously.

"Yeah...I was married." Hopefully he could hear the very subtle hint at I don't want to talk about it.

He heard it. "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bring up anything."

"No, it's fine. It's just...it's been a while." Suppressing a sigh, I redirected the question. "What about you? If I may ask."

"My family?" he questioned. I nodded and he got this look. It was an interesting cross between happiness and melancholy.

"My family is actually part of the Canterlot nobility. They've been around since the founding of Canterlot. As for my immediate family...my father wasn't around a lot until I joined the military. My family might not have access to magic, but our strength and stamina work heavily in our favor for a soldier's life. Once I joined up, I learned that my father was a full-time officer who worked his way up from before I was born to reach his position. He barely had any down time, which he would always spend by coming back home." He smiled fondly. "Seeing him come home and hearing about his work, it was a good time. Everyone sitting around the hearth, listening to fantastic stories from my father, then we would all head down to bed. " Then his smile lessened itself by a fraction.

"After I joined I also saw how my father worked. He was fair, but strict. He knew I was his son, but would only do what he would do for any other soldier. Not that I ever asked for preferential treatment. Then again, a few people knew that I was working in the same force that my father commanded. Rumors are notoriously easy to start, and even easier to spread in the military. That's part of the reason I applied to C Squad. I wanted to show those people gossiping behind my back that I could get there, with only my own hard work. Only problem was that my commanding officer was my father, so I had to actually work even harder than the norm in order for another officer or higher-up to notice that I was an upstanding soldier. Even if my father had been allowed to recommend me, he would have needed someone to verify his story that was a bystander, not someone under his command. Nepotism is something that is not tolerated in the Equestrian Military."

"Wow. You must have had a hard time trying to do all that." The sheer amount of regulations that the military had were astounding.

He smirked. "Yeah, comes with the territory. If someone applied for C Squad entrance and a relative had recommended them, the person might never actually be good enough for the squad. It could bring in someone who doesn't work well in a team, or just had a plain bad attitude. Everything after the recommendation was a cakewalk compared to the politics and red-tape that I had to cut through. I knew what I was getting into though, so I was expecting it."

"Sheesh. Turning to a different topic for a second, I see that you are always wearing those heavily armored gauntlets. Is it safe to assume that they are you weapons?" We walked past the city hall where Equal Trust was standing outside and surveying the building with a team of construction workers. He noticed us and gave a polite wave, before turning back to the work.

"You assume correctly. Due to my strength, the only weapons that I was able to use effectively were my own fists. Even knuckle-dusters or other things like that were known to warp and crack if I punched something with them. Even these," he lifted his arms, "need to be repaired if I hit something with them. I didn't want to enchant them so they wouldn't need repairing as the crumple factor actually would keep my target alive if I hit them. The gauntlets also protect my fists if I punch something that my bones would break against normally."

I whistled. "Must cost quite a bit to get them fixed."

"If I actually hit something, then yes, it does. I still would rather have an actual weapon when fighting, like a sword or a mace. Keeps them at arms reach, but I can bring out my fists if I am disarmed. That surprise factor has saved my life more times than I know."

"Interesting..." The rest of the journey was silent as we walked to the inn.

---

"Celedon! Hiya! It's been a whole day since I saw you last!" Pinkie Pie said as she hugged me.

"Actually, it's been less than a day, since I saw you in the afternoon, yesterday," I recounted.

"But I still missed you!" I sighed at the overabundant energy that the girl had.

"Pinkie, my dear, we must be off. I'm not one to be late. Except for some things," Discord interrupted.

"Aw, alright." Pinkie said sadly even though she still looked joyful.

"Where's the rest of the guys?" Twilight asked.

"They are packing up right now, we needed to be moving on as soon as possible, so they sent myself and Celedon to escort you. Snow takes no chances when it comes to protection," Rock answered.

"Ah, okay."

"Let's get a move on, then!" Rainbow Dash said as she started jogging in place.

Comments

[ifuckkids]

Wow

[Magna85]

6153846 Is that a good wow or a bad wow? Or just plain, "Wow, I don't even know what to say."

[ifuckkids]

6154256 hehheh! IT good bro

[ifuckkids]

6154412 .....?

[forrest yuchnitz]

So celedon was gay? Or was he just saying husband because hes in a female body

[Magna85]

6164585 She's just saying that because she/he doesn't want anyone to know that he is a widower. She needs to keep up the facade that she has been like that for her whole life.

[Dragonlover553]

husband

Coulda said "spouse" or "mate". I'm sure Celedon would have felt more comfortable saying either of those. Not to mention that it wouldn't be a lie. Not that I really care about lying. Just just prefer omition and embellishments. You know, like the Fae are notorious for.

[Dragonlover553]

6164585 you were paying attention throughout the story, right? We even say Celedon's wife at one point. But he's (aesthetically) a she now, so she's pretending to have always been female, and that means having a husband rather than a wife.