Two more hours after the first.
Three hours of waiting.
But he never came.
The door never opened, Empathy never greeted, and there was stagnation in the house.
Laying around for hours, waiting for no pony to arrive.
Her book had still been hidden since lunch, waiting to be read.
"I miss you dad."
***
Was it a mistake?
Yes, he did fail, quite miserably, but he did do his part for quite a while. It was just... hindering circumstances that were to blame.
—But he had overstepped the boundaries. The ones set in place since the beginning.
There was no doubt that everything would have failed even if he did not go.
Why do I even care? I know it was the right choice. Why bother thinking about it again?
Is it Caedes? Is Caedes really what I’m asking myself about? Was it necessary to smuggle her to unconsciousness?
I suppose it could have been avoided – But! If she had refused to eat the food, she could’ve choked to death.
No, she would not have eaten it, and these years would have been wasted if not.
She paced faster. There was nothing much to hold onto besides the promise of the goal: the goal that had fueled her madness.
Is it insane? It is logical. Why wouldn’t it be the right thing?
There is no magic anywhere in Equestria like that. It is raw and unfiltered. It is what Fate is not. It is the only thing that can counter it all.
A nagging doubt became seeded. After all the time praising and defending the effects of the magic, a new thought came to pass.
What if it doesn’t work like that? There’s no evidence, no data. There is only a forgotten pony who promised such.
‘Things have yet to be decided.’ A can of worms. A can opened and left to rot.
***
Half an hour until dinner was served. The amount of effort to unhide and hide her book again would not be worth her energy. Caedes had waited five and a half hours – since lunch – to see if any pony came. No pony did.
She remembered the rune looking something like train tracks, but without loose paper it was pointless. She had some left over in the corner, but Empathy would be furious for her using it when not being used for education.
"Just one sheet?" Staring at the other desk with random supplies for being homeschooled and by private tutors, Caedes contemplated the consequences. Her musing lingered on the paper until she lost focus, and her sight moved onto several sharpened pencils. Only a few strokes were required to draw it.
A single paper missing is nearly unnoticeable, and light usage of a pencil would be hard to notice. She decided to go for it.
"18 minutes to go." Bored with waiting, Caedes rolled around the floor, releasing boredom.
Soft thuds from hooves came from the closed doorway. Caedes had managed to dizzy herself and was waiting for her head to stop throbbing.
A voice chimed "dinner." It was not pleasant. As much as she would like dinner to pass, Caedes never looked forward to interacting with Empathy.
After the door opened, any number of events could occur.
She seemed different. Caedes couldn’t tell, but she seemed less.. mean? But she was twitching intermittently; Something was wrong.
"Here, eat up." The bowl lowered but it dropped the last inch to the floor, splashing a little onto the carpet. Empathy quietly hummed in anger.
She left in the usual way after it had been eaten – reclaiming the bowl and shutting the door.
Being a creature of habit, Empathy was no likely to come back until breakfast. Caedes made her move.
She walked over from her ‘work’ blanket and went to where her learning supplies were. She slid the top most loose leaf paper off the top of the stack and then grabbed a pencil in her mouth. Transferring the pencil to the top of the dictionary, Caedes went back and put the paper in her mouth, scrunching her nose at the weird taste.
The corner of the red blanket was lifted, revealing a wealth of information that was nosed out by Caedes. Carefully picking it up, she dropped the corner of the fabric and put the book on top.
A bit of sweat rolled off her forehead. "That was harder than I thought." The hushed voice dissipated, unheard by any pony. She laid her muzzle down. Soft, patterned breathing was heard moments later.
***
Empathy was not having a good day. Yesterday, Friday, had tired her out. From usage of potions to casting magic often and in high doses had exhausted her. Going to the kitchen, she levitated a thick, cloth bag out of a hiding spot above the cupboards.
"I need some of this." She kept telling herself it wasn’t an addiction, but every day like clockwork, she came around to eat a few of the strange seeds.
"Not nearly as much as I give Caedes, but I have no idea how many are in here. We’ve—I’ve been emptying this bag for years, and it’s still full." She ate three more and sighed. "Just what I needed."
Storing the bag for later, Empathy contemplated going to bed. "I probably shouldn’t sleep yet. I left the basement a mess from yesterday’s... excursion."
The door opened to an unlit room. She had to light her magic to be able to see the bottom of the stairs. After the echoes of descending stopped, a carved spot in the wall was grabbed in a navy aura. The switch pulled lit up an array of small lights, encompassing the perimeter of the room.
Three tables were placed side by side, forming a large table in the center. A corner was blocked off by a tiny smoke house. Beakers and magically chilled liquids were in the center of the table. Measuring instruments were on the farthest side from the stairs, and alchemy tools were on the closet side.
Empathy grabbed a mortar and pestle, energized by the prospect of alchemy. "Let’s make some ‘medicine.’"