Stargazing

by explodingdagger

Friendship

Chapter 2 - Friendship

"Can you pass the salt?"

"Dad, you know you can just use magic.”

“You know why I won’t.”

“Dad, I know you don’t like it, but she’s gon-”

“Just do it,” he growled.

I sighed, silently passing him the shaker. I suppose I should explain. My mother had been brought up an earth pony through and through, and felt embarrassed and helpless that she couldn’t manage some of the things my father could with magic. When she passed away, my father felt guilty whenever he used his horn, to the point where he stopped using it altogether. It’d been 5 months since she passed away, and I was hoping that he would’ve improved, but nothing had changed. Sometimes I could hear him crying, but when I tried to talk to him he hid it away. Sometimes he didn’t even bother hiding it.

On top of that, there was his job. Canterlot had tired him out. Since we moved here, business had been at its peak, and he had to rush to keep up. Every day he was at another meeting or talking to another client. It wasn’t good for his health, especially in his state, but he kept working regardless. He tried to hide it, but I knew he was tired.

I hated seeing him like that. I hated not being able to even begin to comprehend what this was like for him, and how he must’ve been feeling. I hated that he couldn’t tell me. But I couldn’t do a thing. I knew that well enough. I hated it, too.

And every night we would sit at a lonely table in a lonely dining room, both silently aware that there was another chair, unoccupied. But we’d pass it off with meaningless small talk. “How was your day? How’s school? Have you met any friends?” I tried my best to answer them, tiptoeing around the elephant in the room even though I didn’t want to. Annoyingly enough, I did want to talk about my personal life, because after meeting a friend, I actually had something to talk about.

Twilight didn’t seem like the kind of pony to get close to someone at first. Even when she wanted to talk she seemed detached, more interested in the topic at hand than the pony she was talking to. The bulk of our conversations were on academic subjects, and even then we didn’t talk all that much. She would ask about a star cluster or the name of a constellation and I’d reply as best I could, trying my best not to fumble my words. The rest of the time she would remain deep in a book, shutting out the rest of the world. Despite her aloofness, I could still admire that about her. While I would spend my time worrying about what I should do and where my life was taking me, she didn’t care. She knew what she wanted to do and wasn’t going to let anything stop her.

As time went on, I grew to enjoy my time with her more and more. She opened up, so to speak. She was infinitely curious, unendingly fascinated by the world around her, and made it her duty to learn something new each day. Even when doing something as passive as walking down the street, she would eye anything she could see, wanting to know what it was, what it did, where it came from. If she had anything, it was an insatiable thirst for knowledge. Any free time she had, she spent scouring a book for an interesting fact, a new spell, anything she could get her hooves on. She would talk about anything and everything from the anatomy of an alicorn to the proper method of spellcasting. Our conversations were a little one-sided, but honestly I didn’t mind. I’ve never been a good communicator, so the role of listener fitted me.

Eventually, we settled into a routine. Each day after school, we would stay outside in a quiet corner of the playground (our teacher always kept it open for the students after hours), away from the rest of the foals chatting or playing on swings, and we would read for hours on end, occasionally striking up a conversation while we did so. We didn’t talk all that much, but we didn’t need to. We were happy with what we were doing.

The best days were the ones where she showed me her magic. Twilight was talented beyond her years, the definition of precociousness, and getting to see a young filly be able to perform such feats was a treat. Plus, it was here that she let her playful, creative side show. She would levitate stones, tie strings together, bend the shapes of twigs. One time she even managed to make a bush talk. Despite her obvious skill, she was always far too humble for her own good, never asking for recognition or appraisal. I think I even saw her blush a few times. She would say, “I’m only ever as good as the books,” which I guess made sense. It made me want to go out and learn as much as she did.

So I did. Or, at least tried to. Luckily, our school library had a vast collection of books, which Twilight helped me sift through. Each night, I’d come home with a saddlebag full of astronomy textbooks, encyclopedias and star charts. My Dad got a little suspicious when I said my saddlebag was so stuffed for research, but he passed it off as nothing. I poured my time into my studies, and when night came I’d gaze up at the sky for hours. I was still nowhere near Twilight’s standards, but it was a start. She seemed happy that I was studying harder, too.

Although, I didn’t get to say any of this that night, because before I small talk even began, there was a knock on the door. I went to answer, to be greeted by Twilight clad in a wizard cape and hat.

“Come with me," she said with a wink. "We’re going on an adventure!”

---

Author's Note: *sigh*

So, after a whole month of schoolwork, other dedications, missed deadlines, writer's block, multiple rewrites and a big hunk of self-deprecation, I've finally got this chapter in a semi-satisfying state, and with only a measly 1000+ words to show for it. It would benefit from extra editing, better segues between sections and a little more content but I really just want to get this out before the time difference between chapters goes any more over a month. At least I like the ending a lot. Hopefully I'll be able to get chapters out more regularly. Many apologies for the long wait.

Comments

[bacon96]

wow. you did really good and well i cannot say anything else so have some emoticons

[-Brutus]

Good pacing so far in this story, it's okay sometimes life does get to us. Be happy that you're motivated still to write and update this story. Looking forward for chapter 3.

[smashbrawlguy]

Oh man, that hits me right in the heart. It's tough, seeing your parent(s) come home like that.

[Tealove]

Hey, good things are well worth the wait.