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Post by Selenia on Mar 24, 2016 8:05:16 GMT -5
After her short stint with Klepto in ponyville, Selenia had gone to check the MPS office again on a whim, and the clerk had a letter for her. It was from Watermark, the esoteric unicorn and former student of RedCharge that she had fought against during the final battle against the Cult. It had told her, in flowery script, that Red was severely injured during the battle of the Red Plains, and was staying in Appleloosa to recover, about as far from hectic as one could get. Needless to say, she bought a train ticket as soon as possible and thanked Luna that the dogs hadn't been keen enough to adopt a scorched earth policy and cut the rail lines when they marched across the land. Tickets were more expensive since most transportation was currently employed for the movement and dissemination of badly needed supplies, but Selenia happily fronted the cost.
Steaming through the night, the train arrived mid morning in Appleloosa. Selenia had never been to this corner of the country, but she was unsurprised to see the town untouched by the war. The platform was loaded with countless crates of produce- apples specifically- and a few burly workers were busy loading them into the waiting freight cars. Whatever orchard they had running out here must be extremely successful to allow for such a volume of exports. Selenia left the station in search of the town hall and admired the small settlement as she went. With little more than ramshackle wooden buildings outlining a singular unpaved main street, it was a small wonder why the Royal Advisor had chosen here of all places to rest and rehabilitate after the battle. It was quiet, she'd give it that, but the heat of even late fall was something else entirely.
Upon finding the hall in question, Selenia strode right in and up to the dusty front desk. The attendant was in the back room, nose deep in stacks of file cabinets that looked out of the last century, so Selenia rung the small bell on the counter to get his attention. To his credit, he dropped what he was doing and came over with a smile. She didn't even wait for him to ask, "I'm here to see a big red unicorn," Red's choice of location was odd enough, so she opted not to use his name in case he didn't want it known. She doubted there were very many other red unicorns in the town either, so it still worked out either way. "He's recovering from some wounds and should be resting in town. Could you direct me to a hospital or inn where I might find him?"
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Post by Red Charge on Apr 1, 2016 4:51:53 GMT -5
The attendant was a bespectacled pony with a bright, dust colored, wavy mane. He approached her with a polite smile, but when she mentioned the big red unicorn he tilted his face downwards a bit, making his glasses slip on his snout slightly and giving him a certaing 'knowing' look.
"Right this way please." He said hoarsely, his voice undoubtedly coarse due to many hours of dust inhalation both inside and out of the building. He took her outside the building and led her from behind the row of buildings to a ramshackle looking shack, barely big enough to be an outhouse, let alone a residence.
Opening the door, the attendant found a particular spot on the wall and pulled out a fake plank, underneath which was a pulling chain. Giving it a small yank, the sandy floor of the shack rattled a bit and a hidden stairwell was revealed.
"Professor Rainlock will see you now." The attendant said promptly and quietly, waiting near the chain for Selenia to descend. Once she did, he yanked on the chain and the stairwell closed.
Of course, the time before Red Charge was, well, Red Charge, he was known as the explorer and archaeologist Professor Rainlock, with many expeditions to ruins in the Griffon Desert. Of course he would have had a base of operations in Appleloosa.
As she descended the stairs Selenia found herself in a chiseled stone corridor, well lit and hardly threatening, with occasional tapestries and paintings giving it a rather homely feeling. She passed a door leading to a den or an office, with several large book cases and a desk with various archaeology tools strewn about, unused.
Strangely though, there was not a speck of dust, cobweb or dirt to be found. Red Charge must have had someone, possibly the attendant, clean the place regularly. She also passed by several other doors, which, unfortunately had no windows to see through.They were all locked, of course.
At the end of the hall was an open, wider door to a large bedroom, with the bed just out of sight.
Of course Selenia remembered what Red had looked like after the Eclipse Crisis, how old and weak he seemed after his magical powers were drained. Now, she heard, he had expended a much larger amount of magic. It was almost scary to think what he would look like, bald with wax-thin skin, grizzled grey mane?
Surprisingly though, she found the Red Charge resting on the bed to be much like she remembered, young, strong and handsome. But he was also tired, obviously tired in a way that made her suspect that had he not used the last of his magical reserves to replenish his youth spell he would have likely not been here at all.
Though he appeared young, when Red turned to look at her his body was stiff, like his muscles were protesting against his very existence.
"Good to see you again, Selenia." He said with a pleasant, though uncomfortable smile. "You'll forgive me if I can't get up and have you join me in the lounge. I am completely drained and well, unable to support myself at the moment, but you're welcome to join me here."
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Post by Selenia on Apr 1, 2016 8:31:35 GMT -5
Selenia timidly followed the stallion outside- not out to the main street, but out back to a dusty shack. She grimaced, if Red was holing himself up in a place like this, then there was no doubt he was trying to lay low. She was about to thank the attendant before he pulled a chain she hadn't noticed and a stairwell dug its way out of the floorboards. More than meets the eye, just like her mentor. Mastering her intrigue, she quietly thanked the stallion before descending, the atmosphere of the underground compound much like a house, on top of that it was significantly cooler than the creaky wooden buildings on the surface.
Her eyes roved around the structure as she followed the main hall. A study with a library, various locked doors. Her hooves clipped on the floor in the silence, the design of the place guiding her to the one open door. Poking her head in, her breath caught in her throat. There, bedridden but looking no worse for wear, was Redcharge. She stayed silent as he turned her way, his movements stiff and his smile weak, but his yellow eyes were still sharp as ever.
She forced her steps to a slow walk, resisting the urge to trot to the as soon as she saw him. She was worried about him, and that worry from Watermark's vague definition of what 'severe' meant for somepony like Red had kept her on edge. Easing into a chair at his permission, she wasted no time before talking "Watermark told me you were here and I came over on the earliest train, it was the first I'd heard of you since the battle ended," She took a moment to look him over curiously, "He said you were injured. Are you alright? How did the fighting go?"
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Post by Red Charge on Apr 8, 2016 17:30:34 GMT -5
Red sighed, gathered his thoughts and then went into a very lengthy and detailed description of the encounter with the adversary. He went into immense detail about every single thing, the layout and terrain, Cadance's showdown with the Diamond Dog elites, Spike's clever ruse to knock out Celestia, the Adversary, his forms, his powers, play by play of the actual fight. With Selenia's vast combat experience it was easy for her to imagine the battle with his descriptions, almost as though she was there in person.
"I think for the first time in my life I was ready to let go of everything and just go into the ether." He said, speaking of Luna's difficult choice of whether or not to save him or Iron Shoes. "But I trust in Princess Luna's wisdom." His eyes wandered for a moment, a grim reminder that living such a long life was taking its toll on him, even if he struggled to hide it.
"But I am glad," He said after catching himself, "That I'm still around to help improve your odds in the Labyrinth. What about you? I heard you were present in the final battle, could you tell me about it? All I have is scattered rumors and eye accounts, hard to analyze those."
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Post by Selenia on Apr 14, 2016 6:57:32 GMT -5
Selenia sat quietly, content to listen as Red spun his tale. He was an exceptional storyteller, the life he lived and the pony he was obviously promoted that fact, judging by the extreme detail he included. Even with the overall tone of the story, she could tell Red enjoyed spinning his tales. More importantly, he took part in the climax of the battle, so she was finally getting to hear what happened from the horse's mouth, so to speak.
She wanted to speak up once he started talking about Hightower, say something or another about how there was no sense dwelling on a decision he couldn't have made himself, but she doubted it was anything he hadn't already heard or come to terms with. He desperately needed a break, they all did.
She perked up when he mentioned the Labyrinth. She had learned a few new tricks from some friends, and more or less come to terms with her predicament too. Didn't mean she was any less uneasy about the whole thing, but still. Having Red there to back her up was a massive weight off her shoulders though. She jumped at his inquiry about her role in the battle. It would be tough to outshine Red's role, but trading stories was better than just sitting and listening.
"I'm surprised you heard. I was stationed with Team Hydra, holding a treeline against some dogs to keep them away from Colonel Bitter and his reinforcements," no doubt he knew all the units by name, but there was no harm in mentioning it. She dove into the tale, the details surprising her with how easy they were to remember. Stress and the adrenaline of combat placed memories a little more permanently, it seemed. "We were doing pretty well, but it was a battle of attrition and we were only four ponies against an army, Blink was the first to go down. She was this little unicorn that fought like the Flashes, teleporting all over as a whirlwind of death with her chakrams, I tell you what. You'd have loved to meet her," she grimaced unconsciously about how all it took was one misstep for their barely managing squad to crumble. "The dogs retreated before they could take advantage of the opening, which gave us the breathing room we needed to pull out once Core Hounds appeared out of nowhere. They didn't make it easy though, Javelin was impaled by an arrow as she flew, and one of them skewered my flank," she shifted to gesture at the the bandage still covering most of her left haunch, "thank Luna the arrow didn't land a few centimeters higher and lock the joint. Almost overworked my magic too, but we got to Bitter and warned him in time. His ponies shuttled us off to a field hospital right quick- didn't get to see the rest of the battle, but we certainly heard it."
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Post by Red Charge on Aug 5, 2016 7:11:24 GMT -5
Red Charge sighed, "Every lost pony is a shame. The Adversary, once more, caused unthinkable damage to everything his claws touched." The unicorn closed his eyes for a long moment, for a second it looked like he may have passed out, before he opened them again.
"Every life lost is a tragedy, but if I'm honest, I'm glad it wasn't you. I'm proud of you. One day you'll be the stuff of Equestrian legends, I'm sure."
"I think that if you can, you should approach Colonel Bitter, he can expand your training in ways that I can't." The royal advisor said, his voice almost vanishing mid sentence and then he quickly added, "Later of course. I am enjoying your company far too much right now."
In the end he decided to rest his eyes on the corner of the bed, even so much as looking up, apparently was causing strain to the tired pony.
"Tell me more about how Equestria is recuperating. I still have a while before I can go see for myself."
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Post by Selenia on Aug 10, 2016 8:44:46 GMT -5
Selenia listened forlornly to Red as he made a conscious effort to even hold conversation. The poor stallion just sounded so... Tired of it all. Of course, it was a combination of the battle fatigue and his recovery, but she had to wonder just how much one pony could handle before they finally broke. The Royal Advisor was strong, a pony of immeasurable mental and physical fortitude that was probably surpassed only by the princesses, but he was still just a pony. Hightower, Shining Armor, even Sharp if you looked at it a certain way- legend or not they still had their limits. All Selenia could offer to her mentor was company, and she was overjoyed to hear he was content with just that. As for Bitter, she mentally penciled that down for later, wondering what new brand of wisdom the chiseled statue of a pony would impart with a formal request from the Royal Advisor.
"Right now, it's mostly just cleanup." Selenia said with a sigh in response to his question. "The war was rough on Equestria, but you know better than anypony that ponies are historically hardy creatures. There's little else we can do while the government and other services rebuild themselves without a capital to operate from. It's pretty apparent out here, but almost all the fighting and damage was limited to the largest cities and strategic locations. Cloudsdale escaped though, I even heard their annual dogfighting tournament wasn't cancelled, probably out of national pride or for morale, who knows." She tapped a hoof to her chin for a second in thought, "There was no intent to burn and salt the conquered land like wars of the past, so the actual recovery looks to be mostly a matter of heavy lifting. The vast majority of our agricultural capability was left untouched, so food should be no object. The culture lost with the cities is regrettable in my opinion though, but I'd rather lose buildings than friends."
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Post by Red Charge on Sept 17, 2016 9:21:27 GMT -5
The large stallion looked like he could start laughing if he had the energy. All that he had in him was a slight tug on the corners of his mouth. "Always so technical, Selenia." He said, his voice droning on sleepily, "I meant the people, are they recovering? Do they feel safe again? Do they believe in the Princesses capability to defend them? Because they can, Luna can... the Meteor Storm spell was magnificent Selenia... I never thought... I would see with my own eyes the rings... If you aspire for something, aspire for a time where we might be able to explore the cosmos with our own eyes." The unicorn strained to say, his head lowering down to the mattress. "I know you would love it."
His breathing became more and more relaxed, it looked like he would not be able to keep himself awake for much longer. "I'm sorry I can't stay awake, please don't be offended, I feel comfortable with you around and just... if you could just stay with me... I'll be up again... in no... time..." The royal advisor's words rolled out of his mouth slowly even as his eyes shut. He was probably at the most vulnerable state he's ever been in, yet the way he was sleeping indicated confidence, a feeling of safety. Much different than he was when she had just come in, with her presence being the obvious influencing factor.
Even as he lay there, there was so much around to explore, so many mysterious books and records to be looked at in his office. He was obviously going to be out for quite some time, so long as Selenia is there when he wakes up, he would be happy, wouldn't he? This was possibly a once in a lifetime opportunity to learn more about who Red Charge was, really, before he became Red Charge. Maybe about his relationship with his daughters, about his many expeditions to the most dangerous places and even the darker things he discovered... things that he would never reveal to her... things that were best left buried, but could save her life in the Labyrinth...
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Post by Selenia on Sept 18, 2016 8:54:14 GMT -5
Selenia's cheeks colored faintly at Red's praise. Truth be told, her nerves were still frayed about this whole situation. Falling back on thinking or talking out loud about things in an analytical fashion was one of her nervous tics, so she had happily pounced on the opportunity Red gave her. That said, she was still more than happy to answer any questions he had. "The ponies are..." She fished for the right word, "-Recovering." She settled, "It's like the reformation of Nightmare Moon all over again, but the princesses have swapped roles. Ponies are forgiving, but Celestia will need to regain their trust, whereas now their faith in Luna is absolute. Her role in ending the war has all but cemented respect for her power and resolve, not just in Equestria but for every nationality represented on the Red Plains. When one pony can wield the might of the heavens as a weapon, what use are swords and spears?" She sighed, lost a little bit in her own awe and fear of the Princess. She hadn't personally seen Luna's meteor storm, but she had heard it, and felt it, and RedCharge's expression spoke louder than any words he could use to describe it.
Her eyes searched aimlessly for a bit before settling back on Red, who had practically fallen asleep by that point. To be so exhausted and yet not give in to his body's need for rest until Selenia had arrived made her smile to herself. He was either unfailingly polite and wanted to be awake to greet her when he knew she was coming, or he was still on edge and simply couldn't sleep without somepony he trusted nearby- maybe a little of both, she decided to herself as she got up as quietly as possible and shook the tension out of her legs.
"Rest well, Royal Advisor, you've earned it." She managed in a whisper before looking back out to the hallway. All the other doors aside from the bedroom and what appeared to be an office were closed and presumably locked. She remembered seeing the walls lined with well-stocked bookshelves in the office and trotted her way there. Not keen to simply fiddle around for however long Red was going to be out, she decided grabbing a book or books that caught her fancy and reading them back on the bedroom chair was a good way to pass the time. After all, she wanted to keep an eye on Red as well as be right where he left her whenever he managed to wake up. Entering the office and spying the bookcase in question, its resident books' worn spines stuffing the shelves and betraying nothing of their contents. What treasures might Red have buried in here, stashed away for decades? She grinned and practically bounced up to the shelves, taking to them with a certain giddy fervor, both excited and anxious at what she might find stored in this hidden bunker.
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Post by Red Charge on Sept 19, 2016 19:13:34 GMT -5
The office is clean and neatly organized, as would be expected. The filing system in which the documents are kept however, is completely foreign. The library books are organized not according to author, alphabet or even Dewdrop Decimal, but some system she's not familiar with. After a while of trying to figure it out, Selenia realizes that apparently they are organized according to some sort of codex, but where this codex may be is anyone's guess. Far as Selenia knows, the codex could be memorized by the Royal Advisor and not even kept in writing to begin with!
Wall to wall, the workshop is filled with tall libraries and various exhibits, from large, leatherbound tomes of forbidden knowledge to sinister looking artifacts made of strangely colored metals, burnt or wicked looking woods, or even bones and ashes. Most of them are marked with warning signs and Selenia can sense enough of a sinister aura to know better than try and handle any of them. Who knows what she might be unleashing if she allowed them to tap into her magic.
In the end one particular journal catches her interest. A research journal of some kind, where Red Charge has been documenting his attempts at... something. It's not clear from the entries exactly what, at least, not at a glance. But it is clear whatever this is has been occupying him for a long period of time and yet even so it seems to have been abandoned abruptly. This will obviously need more than a quick skim of the paper to truly understand, but then again, would Red Charge even want her reading this? Or touching anything in a room so full of obviously primal and mostly malicious magic? Then again, if this had anything that could help her during her time in the labyrinth, it was worth Red's ire, right? That is, if he even ever found out.
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Post by Selenia on Sept 30, 2016 7:08:52 GMT -5
As Selenia perused through the books and artifacts in the office, she couldn't shake the feeling that most or even all of these contained some kind of forbidden knowledge. The items and artifacts warded her away with a mere look, and most of the tomes held the character of old grimoires through their spines alone, as if opening them would be a grave mistake. No matter how hard she looked, each shelf warded her away. Her ears folded back- not from uneasiness, but disappointment at the prospect of not finding something interesting to read. Nevertheless she kept looking, and nearly at the end of both her wits and the shelves, she found a small leatherbound journal. It looked innocuous enough, so she reached out and poked it. Pleased to find no demonic possession or trap spell bound to its pages, she gently swiped it off the shelf and took a quick look inside.
It was a research journal authored by Red himself. Selenia took a glance back at all the other books, had he perhaps written everything else in this office as well? Reading a few more sentences on the first page, the object of the research was wholly unclear, but it had definitely piqued her curiosity. What kind of magic or project had been important enough for Red to research at some time in his life? The prospect excited her, but also made her faintly nervous- if everything else in this office had such an oppressive aura, why didn't this lone journal? Maybe it was a faint type of magic cast by Red to dissuade nosy ponies like herself, but the design and location of this underground bunker all but removed the possibility of trespassers, so she wasn't terribly convinced. If it was some kind of forbidden knowledge she ended up reading, then that's it.
Hopefully intuition while she read would tell her whether or not to stop, but if he woke up and saw her reading or asked about it later there was no way she could lie. Red was her mentor and friend, and the last thing she could do was hide things from him, last time that ended up with her RSVP to the Labyrinth. She took the journal back to his room, sat back down in the chair and started reading the journal in earnest.
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Post by Red Charge on Oct 17, 2016 8:19:50 GMT -5
The journal she opened was indeed a research journal. It depicted numerous visits to various ruins in the Zebra Lands and, as oddly as it sounds, under water. Apparently there was one ruin of particular interest to Professor Rainlock several mile off of the coast if a particular Peninsula in the Zebra Lands and from what she could read in the journal, Professor Rainlock had been predicting it to be one of the most important finds in history.
As she reads, the journal depicts the slow piecing together of the location from many maps and notes in other locations, things that would have taken many years to collect and many more to analyze and be brought together. Apparently he had managed to pin a location for a very important Equiterian facility. It was not clear from Rainlock's scribbling what the facility might be for, other than being a military installation, but considering the fact that nearly all Equiterian facilities were military in nature, it was no big surprise. Whatever it was, it must have been exciting, because within the journal, professor Rainlock had been counting down the days to the time he could go explore it.
The last two journals are the strangest, the second to last entry is a detail of the expedition, its equipment and members that Red had put together to explore the ruins. She noticed a very obvious lack of both Lady Rainlock and Watermark in it, though this might be well before either were born. There is palpable excitement in the written lines of that entry.
The last entry, however, states, "Archive this, no one must know about this ruin ever again."
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Post by Selenia on Oct 22, 2016 19:43:58 GMT -5
Selenia flipped through the latter half of the journal- twice- and found nothing between that final entry and the back cover. It was completely blank. So, Red had launched an expedition to some derelict underwater Equiterian military installation. Whatever he and his team had found there was clearly one of those 'it should have remained buried' types of things. Some Equiterian weapon, or forbidden magic maybe. Point is, for Red to have simply dropped any notion of an explanation in this research and journal he had worked on for years, it must have really shaken him, and on top of that she had little doubt he was the only one who made it back. As much as Selenia would have loved to know what he stumbled upon, she decided she'd rather not fulfill that particular trope and happily tabled the knowledge of the journal and ruin under 'Somebody Else's Problem'. She closed the journal and set it down on the floor next to the chair. As intriguing as it was she had neither the means nor the motive to go off on some lengthy and dangerous expedition, not least of all since she was about to be go off on another lengthy and dangerous expedition very soon.
Regardless, the actual meat of the journal, all the map research and hypothesization to the technical preparations and dossiers, was enjoyable to read. The expedition itself had happened years in the past, so she recognized some names from the pages of textbooks or the covers of dissertations. The very last entry though, 'no one must know about this ruin ever again'. Did that include her? Probably. Should she go put the journal back before red woke up? Probably. Would he be able to tell that she had taken the journal from his office to read, even if she took care to replace it perfectly? Probably. Would he be angry if he found out she read it and didn't let him know? Definitely. So, she left the journal on the ground, got herself comfortable, and decided to try braiding her mane and tail into a style she liked with magic until Red woke up. With no prior experience braiding anything in her life, it promised hours of excitement and frustration in equal measure.
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Post by Red Charge on Nov 13, 2016 6:10:34 GMT -5
And then a thought occurred to Selenia. Red Charge was asleep. Not only was he asleep, he was knocked out, too tired to exist, let alone resist. Selenia knew the basics of mental spells, that is, she's watched Red cast them over her again and again to train her mental fortitude. Theoretically she knew how to use them.
If once, Red had found that location to be that important and something drove him away from there, maybe the knowledge should not remain buried? After all, his own daughter was piecing the Equiterian maps together right now. It would be naive to think such a place would not be found again if it was so significant to the Equiterians.
What if it was important that someone else knew? Someone who could possibly warn against going to such a place. If anything, the last war showed that Red Charge is neither immortal nor invincible and the secret can't die with him, can it?
IF she did it now, it's very likely that he wouldn't even know about it and when it's all done, she could put the book back. Not like he'll go looking for it, right? If there was any alarm system tied to that book, it would have triggered when she took it.
But should she? After all, Celestia and Luna's secret keeping cost so much recently, Shining Armor's for example, several of Selenia's friends and acquaintances. Selenia and Klepto were still indebted to Lady Rainlock, what if she sends them into that specific ruin? There were too many unknowns to let a stubborn old pony keep such a secret for himself. Right?
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Post by Selenia on Nov 17, 2016 12:17:22 GMT -5
It had been a few hours, and Red still wasn't awake. Selenia idly played with her newly braided mane before her eyes were drawn back to the journal on the ground. She bit her lip. None of the other books in the study had, for lack of a better term, let her read them, and instead of sating her boredom it had merely given her more questions than answers. With an unconscious Red and no knowledge of when he would awake, the contents of the journal had started to eat away at her usually well conditioned resolve.
Then she looked to Red. Perhaps... If the journal couldn't answer her questions, than maybe he could. She had been on the receiving end of Red's mental spells a few times for conditioning and he had been kind enough to teach her how to cast the simplest of them when she had asked- not that she ever expected to actually use them- just for curiosity's sake. She was certain such a low-priority spell would never work if he were awake, but here and now, even Selenia knew that he was exhausted beyond belief, and with the spell she could easily learn what she wanted to know.
She could go in with the intent to find out where he was hiding in his own subconscious to talk to him, and just so happen to do some perusing along the way. Depending on his disposition, he might even be up to show her around, but that was a longshot. Sure, the memories of the expedition were in there as long as he hadn't burned them out, but with all of his compiled memory out there like an open book the expedition might as well be a secondary interest. He clearly wouldn't take kindly to her digging though his head, but the right intention might temper his rage. Red was severe, but he was wise and forgiving. Not once had he been an abusive teacher, and she knew the reasons behind every action he took concerning her training and livelihood. It was a thin defense, and her stomach churned at the prospect of taking advantage of his trust and condition like that.
Needless to say, she was falling back on far too many technicalities while considering this, and she full well expected to get caught like a foal with their hoof in the cookie jar. 'I was bored' wasn't a valid excuse either. She squelched the voice in the back of her head that was spouting proverbs like 'curiosity killed the cat' and 'the road to Tartarus is paved with good intensions', and prepared the spell to search through Red's mindscape. Even weakened beyond belief and devoted entirely to restoration, his mind of tempered steel could handle the strain of an invasion by his own student, right? Selenia laughed weakly and silently prayed to Luna that this wouldn't all explode in her face.
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