Under the evening sky, two ponies ran across the plain. Their cloaks seemed to blend into the twilight, providing some cover. But it was little comfort to the two travellers. Lens and Southwatcher were still a long ways from Golden Pines, and were not sure if they were being pursued. Here at such open land they would be easy targets, if not hunting party then bandits or the minions of the Laughing Mare. Southwatcher, despite being under the influence of whatever the Inquisition drugged her with, was able to keep a steady pace. Alas, Solar Lens found herself struggling to stay active. She had spent more time in the labs than exercising. Much to their luck they came across what once was a farm. But the main barn had collapsed with the roof fallen inwards. Only the silo remained standing, and even then it lacked a roof. Lens looked over to Southy, nodding over to the structure. The Earth pony nodded, getting that would be the best place to spend the night. Half an hour later, the pair were in what was a small cellar. They had checked the area, carefully making sure no other ponies or unwanted guests were staying. The barn’s understructure was too wet and smelled foul, and the remains of the house did not provide much protection. By chance, they found some stairs that lead to a sturdy oak door. Inside was dry if a bit cold. As the stairs was obscured by the ruins, it was unlikely anypony would find it right away. Southwatcher and Lens blocked the inside of the door, and finally rested. --- On the other end of Equestria, Scalpel oversaw the readying of his forces for the task ahead. They had little time in which to achieve their goal, but with sufficient skill and a bit of good luck they might succeed where others would fail. The plan required the entire thing to go as smooth as clockwork, and it was making him nervous, anything else and the Stormwing legions would be alerted to his presence. He paced back and forth in nervous agitation, trying to calm himself down. Recently one of the squads of his Risen had come from Woodswatch and rejoined with the main group, which had given him some measure of relief. He hadn’t heard from the forest god either, so he assumed he’d managed to get her off his trail, at least for the moment. He was standing in the cave they had occupied with his equipment. Most of it was still packed up, asides from fold up chairs and a few tables which were easily disassemblable. Over in the corner the bodies of the captives lay from where Scalpel had dealt with them when Zodiac had returned. They drooled and muttered incoherently to one another on occasion, but for the most part they seemed almost catatonic. He’d have to deal with them at some point if he had the chance, although he figured that might just be a waste of his time. [i]I doubt they’ll have the strength to even recover, let alone talk to anyone.[/i] he mused, wandering over to the Inquisitors serum bags and beginning to pack them up. He’d cleaned the equipment before he finished with it, and the dull steel glinted in what remained of the daylight. The serum had proven to be rather effective, it was a wonder he hadn’t used it much before really, but then he’d never seen much of a need to consult the brains of the living in regards to his studies. He figured he had enough to synthesize his own at some point, but that would require shipping in the chemicals and figuring out the formula for its completion, so it was out of the question right now. He turned to his nearby saddlebags, each pouch filled with accumulated lore, as well as both rare books which the trade had supposed to exchange. Lens had been on his mind of late, he wondered how she was doing, where she was, and how she felt. He’d left in a rush and an inopportune time, he hadn’t been given much time to get to know her as well as he might have under different circumstances. He paused before the bag, before lighting it up with a touch of magic, and lifting out a small intricate metal box and giving it a look. bringing it over to a nearby table he sat down, legs crossed, his forehooves on the table with the box in front of him. Should he make the call? it might have been a bad time to do so. He didn’t know yet, which was why he’d asked her to call him instead. He didn’t want to draw attention to the beautiful mare more than was necessary. He sat there frowning for a while, before making up his mind. He would send out a projection. --- Southwatcher took the first watch by the door, while Lens decided to get some rest. Around the bend of some rock there was small alcove with some shelves. At one time it might had held canning jars, but there was now nothing but dust. Somepony at one time or another took the food. Lens checked the area for glass or any pest, and it was nothing but bare stone. She lay down and attempted to sleep. Despite her tired legs and aching back, the unicorn could not fall asleep. Her mind was back to the Noxferus, whose real name she kept secret. Her heart was still with him, wherever he went. She turned to her side and took out from her saddlebag his gift. Looking at the device, she wanted to see the Doctor again, and wondered if he felt the same way. She avoided using the device during the run - Lens did not want to endanger Scalpel. That and no doubt the Doctor would have been busy setting up a new shop. But days have gone by… and each day her heart longed to see the stallion’s face. And now that Lens was by herself and secure (she hoped), perhaps she could give into her soul’s desire. She studied the device, and gave a guess in how to activate it. [i]I have no experience with Astral projection. Grandfather noted the dangers of attempting such magic, but I’m sure the Noxferus’ device should be safe enough. Here I go… [/i] So she thought back to the handsome face of Scalpel, his smile, his eyes full of intellect and passion, his wonderful coat and well developed body. Her horn began to glow, and she felt the slow transfer of magic from her to the device. She closed her eyes to focus on the image more, and waited. --- At the same time, Scalpel on the other end of Equestria was doing just the same thing. He imagined her soft luxurious mane, parting wonderfully down her face in cascading waves, her piercing orange eyes, her soft blue coat, his heart aflutter slightly as he revelled in the memory. But most of all he remembered the towering intellect behind the beauty, and which intermingled fantastically with her features to create a truly stunning mare. Channeling these thoughts into his mind, and then activating his magic into the device, he readied himself for the projection. Suddenly his mind began to leave his body, still connected by a strong link to it, but drifting away towards the device. With a rush of magic he made the connection and the small box sang harmoniously, the gem rising from it to levitate above it, spinning and growing ever brighter. Finally with a woosh of exhilaration he felt the connection on the other side be made, but it was made even easier when he realised that at that same time, Lens had also done the same as him. With a rush of energy, the gem on Lens’ side erupted in a cascade of light and magical essence, pouring out like a twisting serpent from the gem. Slowly this magic correlated itself, the image growing clearer, until the ghostly ethereal form of Scalpel stood levitating before her, surrounded by a miasma of magic and a small amount of the cavern he was sitting in. He blinked momentarily in surprise and looked about, around him he could see what seemed to be a cellar, old and dusty. But that was not what caught his eye. Before him, Lens lay, looking up at him with a loving smile on her face. She looked tired, like she’d been on the run for a while, and there were faint traces of bags under her eyes, but to him she was just as beautiful as the day he’d first seen her. He gave her a small smile, the passion and adoration seeping out of him like concentrated magic as he took her in again. “Lens” he breathed, and savored the word, “I… I’ve missed you.” ---- The Scholar was silent as she looked into the eyes of Scalpel, usually hardened but were now lovely. Her own eyes began to quiver and she smiled. In the three days she and Southy were on the run, Lens did not forget him. And to hear his voice after running that long… Lens couldn’t hold back the joyful tears. “Thank you,” Lens said, wiping the tears away. “It seems like forever since we spoke, Doctor Noxferus.” His real name Lens swore never to reveal or speak aloud. In was kept in a maze of thoughts, buried under the most subconscious defenses that her training had prepared. If any pony ever penetrated those defenses via force, Lens would be left insane and incoherent. Any only Scalpel and the Inquisition were the only ones who do that without destroying her mind. And Lens had no intention of being captured by the Moon and Stars. A new passion drove her, love that was left kindled that meeting in the manse in Woodwatch days ago. Emotions now reawakening at the sight of Scalpel. “Please, if I am interrupting something, let me know. But…” Lens took a deep breath. “... I needed to know if you were alright.” Scalpel chuckled at that, a bright smile settling over his face as she spoke, “Quite the contrary, I have some time on my hooves as of late, although I’ll be moving camp later tonight. That will be the first of the decisive changes in my fortunes, although I’m afraid I should leave the details vague for now.” he scratched his chin thoughtfully, before returning to her with an eager look, “Interestingly enough we managed to activate the Astral projection at the same time… I must admit, I’ve been concerned about how you were doing for the last few days. I … left at an ill time, I worry that the Inquisition might still be on your hooves. Tell me, how are you progressing in your travels?” “Been rough as of the past day or so,” Lens replied. “But I should probably start from the beginning, after you had transported away. “I rushed out of the mansion as fast as I could, once I was able to compose myself. Funnily enough I almost forgot to close the front door. I went back and slammed it and made my way to the Inn. I found the place more than a mess after the party, with the bar mares less than happy with the job they had to do. I inquired about Scarlet and Southwatcher, my fellow Scholar. Of Scarlet, the maids knew nothing and they said Southy rested in my room. “The Innkeeper was there, attending over my catatonic peer. Alas, he did not see Scarlet either, and he seemed rather anxious when I mentioned her description.” Lens sighed. “Scarlet must have left, before I could properly thank her for saving me from the Inquisition. But she must have known that the Moon and Stars would send someone to find out what happened that night.” Scalpel nodded, “Scarlet is perfectly fine, we met shortly after the incident at the Monolith, I ended up hiring her to see to some personal matters on my behalf, although I didn’t know that she’d left so soon. She was... Ah, rather inebriated that night. She may have decided to start out on a whim. I may be able to contact her soon, if so I’ll send her your thanks, she was one of the people to vouch on your behalf after the incident.” Lens blushed a bit. “Well, Scarlet does know how to party, I think Nocturne could tell you the details if you want. In any case, thank you. “Now where was I… yes, the Inn. I gathered what little baggage I had, which was a medical bag. I wasn’t sure which serum the Inquisition had used on Southy. Chances are she would be fine in a couple of days. But time being short, I took some desperate measures and injected her with a syringe of hyperactivity stimulant, the stuff that acts like adrenaline. “Sure enough she literally jumped out of the bed and was standing on the ceiling.” Scalpel smirked at that, “Sounds like Nocturne after too many drinks, goodness knows Honey had to beat her down with a broom for roosting on the ceiling after the party you three had. She kept on hissing, but eventually settled down a bit after a lot of grumbling.” “Regardless, I think the serum used on her was a lesser variant, as far as I can tell the concoction you were injected with was a recent invention, high priority targets only. Doubtless she would have made a recovery sooner of later, but the shot you gave her couldn’t have hurt, probably helped in getting out of there fast I imagine.” Lens nodded, and chuckled at Scalpel’s comments. “Southy is a rather large unicorn, sometimes she gets mistaken for a stallion. I couldn’t drag her all the way to the safehouse at Golden Pines. But bad luck came our way. “Just as I was paying the Innkeeper extra money - to tell anyone looking for me that I headed south for Manehatten, the door busted open. There was one of the Town Watch, Pathfinder and Lily, who seemed rather worried.” Lens sighed. “It seems that Lily went to the Watch after Longsight did not return that night. Worse, it seems the Innkeeper contacted the Watch earlier about Southy. As a result, we were delayed by an investigation.” “It took hours, but I managed to convince the authorities that there was a misunderstanding. And by convince, I mean bribe. The Town needed medicine, so I traded my bag to get Pathfinder to look the other way.” Scalpel gave a small sigh of relief “Thank goodness for that, honestly now that I think about it I should have expected as much, I could have left a sizable amount of bits to assist with bribing process. Its not like my family had any dearth of wealth, even if you one is of the more unwelcome members of said family.” He began to pace slightly before the Astral projector, a slight frown on his face, “I do wonder if the Innkeeper will keep his end of the deal, hopefully he’ll keep his mouth shut. How far are you from one of your safehouses?” “This pegasus Pathfinder was rather odd - he didn’t want money. I had more than enough to bribe him as well, but instead he just began talking about Woodwatch’s lack of medical supplies, implying he wanted that instead. “Now I have two hypotheses why he wanted my bag. One was that he was a addict and needed a fix. But considering he was in fine shape and very focused, I don’t think that was the case. The second was, well, he was willing to bend the rules so the Town itself would benefit. I know it sounds strange in times like these, but there was something about him that indicated that. “But I should return from this odd tangent. We’re about a day’s march away from the nearest Scholar safehouse. But we needed to rest for tonight.” Scalpel’s frown got slightly deeper at the information Lens had just given him, the cynical portion of his brain beginning to question the watchpony’s motives. “That’s a very curious reaction to this Lens. Call me a cynic but it sounded vaguely like he was up to something. I don’t know, perhaps I should keep an ear out for him the future, see if he starts turning up in the ‘wrong’ circles.” Out of the gloom of the cave, another figure emerged from the darkness, heavily shrouded and bent to whisper in Scalpels ear. After the figure had finished it turned and left, but not before giving Lens an analytical look as it past, clearly displaying the features of the dead Inquisitor Longsight. Scalpel continued as if he hadn’t noticed, sitting back down again and turning to give her a warm look, “On my end we seem to have a bit of mixed luck. a portion of the force had to be split off as I couldn’t transport them during the ritual, regardless we’ve had them making their way to temporary camp over the past few days. Tonight we’re planning an operation, which, if it goes successfully will give me a permanent hidden base so I can work relatively undisturbed. Hopefully, with this developed I might be able to be with you in a more physical manner than the Astral projection device.” A slight blush erupted across his face, the tantalising thoughts of being close to Lens’ filling him with some level of glee, “It’ll be good to see you again in person…” But Lens had paled somewhat, her limbs began to shake. She closed her eyes and shook her head to regain her wits. She did not respond right away, but then spoke: “That… unit that just spoke to you… it was like seeing a ghost. Was that… who i think it was?” Scalpel looked a bit confused at that, tilting his head to the side. Eventually however, the dawning sense of realisation kicked in, and his mouth thinned a little at the mistake he’d just committed. [i] Stupid, stupid stupid![/i] he scolded, [i] I should have realised, goodness me I’ve made a right mess[/i]. With a very clipped and formal tone he replied, looking a little nervous as he did so, “Ah… yes. That would happen to be the recently deceased Longsight, although there isn’t much of her left in there anymore. The resurrection process doesn’t bring back the souls of the dead the same way the cult does. There are fragments left, abilities, traits, not much else. The new possessor of the body calls herself Zodiac, and she’s proven to be a useful asset to the cause. I thought I had mentioned before that the Inquisitors had been ‘processed’. Perhaps I wasn’t as clear as I thought. I apologise for that… its my fault.” he looked a little downtrodden at that, slightly saddened to have made Lens so afraid. “No, no, this is no fault of your own,” Lens said. “It just… this is the first Risen that I could recognized as living before. I didn’t know Longsight very much, and until you told me, I didn’t even known of what she did to me. It’s unnerving, because just a week ago I saw her, alive, just a rather curious missionary. To see her body moving as if nothing happened, changed as it might be… it’s like the a ghost coming to visit. Something shocking even to a Doctor like me.” He nodded back understandingly, “I guess it would seem rather uncanny, personally I’ve never felt it exactly. Then again, I’ve never resurrected anyone who I knew particularly well, or much at all, I wonder how I’d react if I did so, probably not as well as you I imagine.” He rubbed his face, slightly relieved that the situation wasn’t as dire as he’d previously presumed, “Perhaps we should move to other topics?” [i] I hope the Noxferus will never have to face such an instance, to see a friend come back from the dead, as if nothing happened [/i], Lens though. She nodded. “I should finish my tale quickly. Of the Missionaries I had some difficulties. I informed Lily and her comrades of Longsight’s affiliation. I did not tell them about the events of last night, though I had to conjure a different story. “Lily was in shock, and a pegasus mare didn’t want to believe. But I asked if they knew anything about Longsight. Few knew anything about her, save that she joined their band a month or so ago. And Longsight was interested in meeting the Lady Sweeper, almost too interested. I then asked if Longsight had any strange behavior. ‘She would go out during dark,’ Lily said. ‘I followed her one time, quietly. She met up with a stallion and they exchanged notes. I thought they were, well, lovers.’ “Well, it was not proof, but it was enough to convince the Mission to leave town. I told them to head to Manehatten, to the Cathedral of the Sisters of Harmony. The bishop is the granduncle to one of the other Directors of the Scholarship - he should be able to keep an eye on the group until I could get back to try to sort things out.” With a nod of affirmation, Scalpel replied, his face still heralding a slight but noticeable frown set upon it, “It does seem that the majority of the Missionary group are trustworthy. Still, I’d advise caution for future work with them, their order is loose and could be easily infiltrated, as it has been done here. I’d advise someone keep a close eye on their membership in the future, just to make sure, Sweeper’s temperament, according to my sources, as well as your analysis of her is… erratic.” He shuffled some loose papers to the side of him, sliding them into one of his numerous travel packs, “Regardless they should still serve as good cover for Scholastic movement…” he paused, and gave her a small smile, “but despite all that’s been going on I guess I want to ask you something personal. Is that fine with you?” “Good advice - I was thinking of setting up protocols for the Scholars to use when working with the Missions. Perhaps we could set up an Counter-Inquisition as it were,” Lens said. “But that will have to wait....” She was quiet for the last part, unsure of how to respond. “Personal? Well, this is a first - I’ve never been asked that before. Most of my peers wonder if I have a personal life. But… yes, you can ask.” He gave her a grin at that, happy that his idea was being taken on board, not to mention getting to know her better. “I must say that everything seems to have been forced to move so fast with us, the attack put a stress on me which might not have happened otherwise. I know Dr Lens has a sharp mind, perfect and wonderful, and that she has a vast array of talents. I also know she’s the most stunning mare this stallions ever met, from her beautiful hair, wonderfully alluring orange eyes and a fine hau... “ he cut himself off there, blushing slightly as he realised he’d almost gone overboard, “Well… what I mean to say is that whilst I know these things about you, I don’t know the real you. What I said when we were back in the Manse still holds true, I want to get to know the real you Lens, not just rely on these sparse details… you're… important to me. I guess what I’m saying is, who is this magical mare who swept me off my feet?”