Celestia stirred awake, her shoulder stinging with a dull pain as she moved. Her eyes fluttered open, and she looked down at what was causing the pain. Her arm was in a makeshift sling, limiting her movement. She tried to wiggle out of it, but the stinging only got worse the more she tried, so she eventually stopped and remembered what had happened.
An Inferi soldier had shot her, and she was bleeding out in the Garden of Silence. The Didact was trying to carry her out when she went unconscious.
Didact! Where was he? She looked around and found herself in a dark cave. She was placed in a particularly dry part, and the Didact was kind enough to lay her on his jacket. Even so, she couldn’t find her partner anywhere inside the cave.
With some difficulty, she managed to get to her feet. Carefully, she stretched out and uncramped her sore muscles. Her wound was what hurt the most, but when she pushed aside her shirt to check on her shoulder, she only saw her skin bruised terribly: no puncture or shards of projectiles showing anywhere. She figured that the Didact also had something to do with that as well.
As soft breeze rolled into the cave and sent chills across her body, so she picked up the jacket, wrapped it around her shoulders the best she could and made her way to the mouth of the cave. When they left for the Garden of Silence, it was midmorning. Now, the sun was low in the sky, the clear blue having long shifted to a tapestry of yellows, oranges and lavenders. As she stepped out into the open, she could see the Everfree Forest stretched out below her, off in the distance to the northeast were the Canterlot Mountains, her city hidden from view by the low lying clouds that hung around the city, dully lit in the setting sunlight. She figured that Luna would be dealing with the raising of the moon and Vulcan with the pull of the planet. Confident that the royal duties were in capable hands, Celestia wanted to find the Didact.
“I see you’ve finally woken up.” The princess turned around to see the Didact standing quietly next to the cave opening.
His uniform had changed: his trousers were a solid black, hanging over a pair of boots. Covering him was a large white jacket, extending from his neck almost to the bottom of his pants. There was a cut off in the front, where the jacket went back up from the leg to the waist and fit from there. Overall, it still made him look authoritative, yet more formal.
“Yeah,” she said idly, “Thank you... thank you very much for saving my life.”
The Didact shook his head. “Naw, it was all you: I just helped along. Luckily, the bolt went straight through and didn’t start fragmenting on impact, so all I had to do was kick start your magical regeneration.”
“But still,” she said, “thank you.”
Quietly, he nodded. “So, how did it feel getting shot for the first time?”
“Painful,” she said dully. “How do you get use to it?”
He scoffed. “Pain is relative and only lasts as long as you let it.” The Didact picked himself up from the rock wall and retrieved the stolen rifle from his side. “We need to get moving. The sun is setting and the forest should be crawling with Inferi by now: and it’s not wise to fight them at night.”
Celestia quietly nodded as she looked down at the jacket covering her.
“Keep it,” he said plainly. “You shouldn’t be cold.” Without another word, he shouldered the rifle, took a deep breath and began to walk the small outcropping he used to climb to the cave. Celestia followed quietly behind, neither of them speaking, the crunching of rocks beneath their boots echoing below them. The sight of the forest trees just below them was beautiful. The dark green pines, shaded under the orange hue of the sky, mingled with the thin evening fog resting lazily near the tips of the canopy. Somewhere, obscured by the trees and shadows, rested the Garden of Silence, where the cephalowalker guardian probably laid dead, finally at peace. It troubled Celestia that such a tortured creature could have suffered for this long.
She shook her head of the thought and tried to focus on the task at hand. He hadn’t said anything, but she assumed the Didact was trying to prioritize how they were to get out of the forest and get back to Canterlot. He kept her following at a brisk pace, the two of them reaching the forest floor in little time. There, a forest stream separated them and a length of trees from the rest of the vast forest. Their already muffled footsteps were drowned out by the sound of rushing water next to them.
“We aren’t too far from Ponyville.” The Didact had to speak slightly louder to be made out above the stream. “If we make it there, we can take a train to Canterlot.”
“Why not just fly straight to the citadel?”
“An excellent idea, but the Inferi would find our magical signatures from miles away, and the air isn’t the best place to be.”
“Of course it isn’t.” Celestia tilted her head in confusion. “But, what’s keeping them from tracking our magical signatures right now?”
“A spell called Aura Compressor,” he explained. “It compresses the psychophysical energy that the developed mind naturally emits, keeping the radiation levels nearly untraceable. It’s not a complicated spell, but its effective against people hunting mancers without detailed equipment.”
Celestia nodded, understanding what he was saying.
“However,” he continued, his tone slightly grimmer, “To perform the spell, the targeted aura must be completely independent from any magically radiating body.”
Celestia didn’t understand that, so he said it to her straight. “You’re no longer tethered to the Star.”
The “Star” he was referring to was the Sun. She was unprepared to hear news like that. Since she woke up, Celestia noticed that she felt a little funny... off, as if her magic was out of tune. Now she realized why. She hasn’t been unconnected to the sun for almost a millenium and a half: ever since she became old enough to earn her key and for her father to connect her to it.
After a couple of seconds, she slowed down to a halt, prompting the Didact to turn around and wait patiently for her. Celestia was set to simply stand there and think about it: let the news sink in. Instead, she felt her legs give out under her, and she tumbled into the stream beside her.
“Celestia!” The Didact wasted no time as he dropped the rifle and his coat and dived into the water and swam the best he could to the bottom, where Celestia had descended. He reached out and wrapped his arms around her waist and began to pull her up to the surface. As they broke, he sucked in a deep breath and found himself being pulled downstream, deeper into the forest and closer to the numerous infantry squads searching for them. He made a corkscrew dash towards the shore and heaved Celestia onto the grass, before pulling himself up out of the water. Refusing to rest, he placed his fingers on her neck and felt a weak pulse. The Didact got up and straddled her, making sure her head was arced back and her airway was clear as he began compressions against her chest.
One... two... three... four... five... six... seven... eight... nine...
He mentally counted out thirty compressions before bending down, pinching her nose closed and opening her mouth, where he wasted no time to press his mouth against hers and breathed into her lungs. After one breath, he felt water rising out of her mouth and pulled back as fast as he could as Celestia coughed awake and expelled as much water out of her lungs as possible. The Didact sighed with relief as he pushed himself off of her and simply laid out on the grass beside her.
Celestia refused to get up, simply staring up at the trees with bewilderment. That’s twice in one day that the Didact had saved her life. She wondered how much she would owe him her life after this was over: after her little ponies were safe and the Church of Unitology was expelled from Equestria.
For a minute, the two of them just laid there next to the stream, enjoying the fact that they were alive and breathing. It was the Didact who moved first. Slowly, he got back up to his feet and extended his hand down to help up Celestia. She accepted it and was pulled up at a startling pace, the princess struggling to stay on her feet. The Didact reached down to put his coat back on and to pick up the rifle.
“It’s time to go,” he said.
Celestia wrapped the jacket tighter. Even though it had be plunged into the stream with her, it was only slightly damp, so she felt warmer simply removing the soaked shirt and buttoning up the jacket over her less soaked bra. Confident she wasn’t going to freeze in the chilled Everfree summer night, Celestia followed the Didact like before.
This time around, the two of them walked more cautiously than before. Through the gaps in the canopy, they could see the dark violets and indigos of a sun just past the horizon. The moon was already high and bright in the sky, dominating above the light of the dim stars behind it. Celestia looked up at them and saw that the stars were twinkling ever so brighter than normally, their luster increased slightly. Sirius was going to arrive in Canterlot shortly, she realized, and he would no doubt be happy to help once Twilight explained to him what was happening.
Her foot snagged on a root and brought her back to reality before she fell to the ground. The lack of light within the forest made it hard to walk and see. The running stream water made it hard to make out any other sounds she could use to help.
It was only destiny that her shoe would get caught on a low lying vine, causing her to tumble to the ground. She landed in a layer of pine needles and leaves, cushioning her fall.
“Here, take my hand.”
Celestia removed her face from the pile and spat out all the needles and leaves that were caught in her mouth as she looked up to see the Didact offering her a hand. She accepted it, and was pulled to her feet easier than last time. When she was on her feet, he kept hold of her hand.
“One of the perks of being a cyborg freak: you can see in the dark excellently.” As the Didact finished speaking, his eye flashed with light, illuminating a small amount of his face with red light. With the light emanating from it, Celestia saw that it was possible to see behind the solid red iris of his eye. Underneath, she could see there was a hole between the tiny gears and machinery that reminded her of a pupil. The alien sight of the artificial eye seemed kinder and more familiar to her with the soft light behind it.
“The edge of the forest isn’t far off: it’ll only be a little while longer until we’re in the open and in Ponyville.” Without another word, he gestured to keep going, keeping her hand in his so it was easier for her to follow. Sure enough to his word, Celestia could hear that the stream they had been following was heading off in another direction, back into the forest. They were left to the embracing sounds of the woods. A few birds chirped about above them, while a timberwolf howled in the distance. Crickets and insects played their nocturnal songs with an endless chorus. The only sounds that was out of place were the occasional crunch of a pile of leaves or the snap of a twig under Celestia’s feet. The Didact walked with perfect clarity and grace, careful to make as little sound as possible, as fast as possible.
At his pace, Celestia and he reached the edge of the Everfree Forest in little time. The moon was peaked in the sky and the night was a beautiful tapestry. The Didact looked up, and took a second to relish in the beauty and wonder that was the universe. With modern slipspace technology, a person could travel across the galaxy his entire lifetime, and still only see a fraction of what was there. On Erde-Tyrene, much of the sky was hidden by light and cities. Here, the stars were painted with whites and reds, plastered across the entire sky. Crossing off near the edge, arcing above the Gryphon Mountains on the west, was the mass of stars and dark clouds that made up this universe’s Sagittarius Galaxy: like drops of milk splattered on a black canvas.
The Didact snapped out of his marveling and looked forward towards the few dim lights of Ponyville. Most of the quiet town was closed down for the night, with very few still open this late in the evening. The signature clock tower, rising above the low story buildings of the rest of the town, was illuminated with light, the clock face reading twenty hundred hours.
Celestia noticed the time as well, and tapped the Didact’s shoulder to get his attention. “We need to get to the train station quickly. The last train for the day leaves in fifteen minutes.”
She ran towards the town, leaving him slightly surprised.
“How do you even know that?”
He rushed after her, easily outpacing her to the point where she began to struggle keeping up with him again. The town paid no heed to the new addition of humans: beings that had never before walked these streets or among these buildings. There was only the rare pony finishing some last minute chores before turning in, and only four even saw that they were crossing the town to the train station. The train was resting in station, the final preparations for departure and the final passengers just boarding. Celestia and the Didact were some of the last passengers to board. The ticket master didn’t question them much about the details of who they were, or even what they were, and the two of them had bought their tickets and were already in their requested stateroom long before the train left.
The only problem was that the train wasn’t heading straight to Canterlot, like they needed. The train was stopping in Stalliongrad first, and would arrive in Canterlot in the morning. It proved to be a setback, but nothing so bad worthy of trekking across unincorporated land crawling with Inferi clerics and infantry at night. It also permitted a night’s sleep, which in the Didact’s line of work was a rare event that shouldn't be passed by easily.
The room was large, taking up half of the train car. There was only a single bed, off to the side with several couches and a tiny kitchen making up the rest of the room. The room was cozy at best, obviously made for a richer crowd who wanted a day trip in comfort. Even with his own wealth (which he refuses to ever keep track of) the Didact could never get used to such blatant over-comfort. Slowly, he walked to one of the sofas, cautious of it as if it would explode in his face. He sat down awkwardly and let the sense of apparent “comfort” sink in.
Celestia huffed with amusement as she casually strided towards the bed and sat down at the end confidently. “I imagine you aren’t really used to posh society life...”
The Didact shook his head. “I was raised in a middle-class house in one of the larger cities of my home country. Even now, with such a high galactic status... it’s not me.”
“I never would have guessed you were raised by a family,” Celestia joked. “I’ve always thought you were like this perpetually.”
He only cracked a smile, before laying back onto the rest of the sofa. “That was a long time ago your Highness: a lifetime ago to be exact...”
Celestia looked at him. For some reason, he seemed depressed. “Didact, you’ve saved my life twice today. You gave me a new magic and outlook towards potential. You even gave me clothes, even when you didn’t have to. Why must you be so formal with me? I, personally, will always think of you as a friend of mine... can’t you think of me the same? Please, just call me Celestia... or Tia.”
He sighed with exhaustion, the soft sofa lulling him. “If you say so...”
“Were you always this stiff?” Celestia teased, crossing her legs and leaning back onto her hands.
The Didact simply remained silent. He knew exactly what she meant, even when she didn’t mean it. If she considered him a friend, then that was her folly. He had very few friends, and that was by design. He could only really name two who’ve stuck with him through the long years: through the school days and the military life. Less people meant less chance that someone or something would go after them.
Certainly, Celestia may consider him a friend, but then that meant it was her choice to get hurt by all of his secrets.
***************
Zero-three hundred hours...
The train had already stopped in Stalliongrad and was well on its way back to Canterlot. Celestia was asleep in the bed, while the Didact himself was resting on the sofa he sat down in first. He was asleep, at least, until he woke up only moments before. He didn’t wake up abruptly, as if from a nightmare or a dream, but instead quietly opened his eyes and looked around the room. Something felt... off.
Unable to find out what was putting him off, and unable to get rid of the feeling long enough to fall back into a catnap, the Didact got off the sofa, stretched his muscles for a second, and walked over to the tiny kitchen off in the corner. Underneath a small counter that separated the space from the rest of the room was a tiny refrigerator, stocked with drinks and snacks. Glancing around, he pulled out a glass bottle of milk and opened it for a drink.
A quiet moan snapped his attention back to the train car. Setting the glass down, he found that it came from Celestia, only turning underneath the sheets. He wondered what could possibly be going across her mind. She’s been through this situation almost completely side by side with him. When he was younger, only starting his training, a cleric had challenged him and completely wiped the floor with him. The Didact had never previously faced such fervent and terrifying conviction and determination in the magical discipline. The night after in the hospital was the first of many where he would suffer traumatic nightmares from the aftereffects of the cleric’s magic.
Yet, the princess slept peacefully in her bed, not waking up even slightly due to the trains motion or bumpiness. There were no nightmares plaguing her subconsciousness or her dreams. She was sound asleep and cut off from the rest of the world. The Didact walked around the car as quietly as he could, sipping his glass of milk. He heard Celestia take in a sharp breath and shiver in the corner of his eye. Respectfully, he pulled the sheet over her chest and shoulders and picked up the discarded jacket of his from her arms. She subconsciously grasped for it, trying to pull it back, but he freed it from her grip and laid it over the back of a sofa.
“Sweet dreams, Tia.” He finished his glass and left the empty bottle on the counter. With nothing else, he sat back down on the sofa and took a deep breath.
“So that’s how it’s going to be...”
Like a flash, he reached over behind him and flipped the shadowed cleric to the ground in front of him. This cleric was the embodiment of why no one ever fights a cleric at night. Its shadow magic was crawling over its body, the armor and flesh darkened to a near pitch black. Its eyes glowed with a vicious luminosity, as if it was staring at its first real meal in weeks.
The Didact blocked its claw strike, before lashing out with an elbow from his other arm, then following up with a knee to its stomach. The cleric was pushed back and avoided hitting a sofa. It crouched low to the floor and pounced up like a spring, claws and teeth bared. The Didact wasted no time, as he charged his magic to its full power and released it onto the cleric’s chest. Without a flash of light, or even a sound, the shadow cleric dissolved into atoms, and the Didact sat back down with a sigh, pulling out from his coat pocket a lone cigar.
“All roads lead to Trantor,” he said as he cut and lit his smoke, “and that is where all Star’s End.”
He puffed and exhaled, growling his next words. "Come on Rassilon... make your move."