Chapter One: A Faint Glow

A Distant Star
Chapter One: A Faint Glow

It was a warm, clear summer night in Ponyville, the full moon sharp and bright in the sea of stars. Everypony in the town was asleep, save for one; Twilight Sparkle. She stood on her balcony, her eye to her telescope, observing Luna’s beautiful night sky. It had been too cloudy at night for Twilight to stargaze in recent weeks, and she was determined to make the most of the clear skies.

As she scanned the skies she was able to pick out and name each and every star she could see. Astronomy had always been her favourite hobby, save reading, though the two often overlapped. Eventually, after she had scanned as much she could, an out of focus, over magnified image of the leaves from the branches by her balcony were all that filled her view. She sighed 'Nothing new tonight I guess, it’s a shame I didn't catch the shooting star scheduled to pass by.’ She thought, feeling a little disheartened. She was just about to walk away, when she got the urge to peer back down the telescope, but when she did, she was met by the same image: Out of focus leaves.

Suddenly a slight gust blew up out of nowhere, moving the leaves just a little, and just enough for Twilight to be able to see through, and she couldn't believe her eyes. Just through the small gap, she was sure she could make out a small, almost unnoticeable speck of light… what appeared to be a star, but in an area of the sky that, to the best of her knowledge, should be clear. She blinked a bit and looked back, but the leaves had covered the view once more. She rolled her eyes. ‘How silly of me, I should have thought of that earlier.’ She thought as she looked down the telescope again, her horn glowing as she moved the leaves out of the way.

And there it was, the faint glow of a very distant star, but the light from it was so little, that she could determine nothing from it. She stepped back ‘I’m sure that nothing is supposed to be there…’ she thought, her mind now hard at work trying to figure it out. She walked back into the mane part of the library, her horn glowing as she lifts several books down from the shelves and started scanning over them frantically. She was determined to find out what that star was, despite how late it was. Her desire for sleep was now replaced by an insatiable hunger to investigate.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Next Morning ~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Spike stirred and gently woke up. It was early in the morning, like it always was when he woke, he always woke up early to get chores and errands done. He got up out of bed, still half asleep and headed out the door to the stairs. He slowly came down the stairs and then stopped in his tracks, suddenly waking up, his eyes going wide.
"Oh no! She’s done it again." He cried in dismay as he looked at the state of the library

Every shelf of the library was emptied onto the floor in a large pile, with a sleeping purple unicorn perched on top. She was laying at an odd angle, with a book covering her face, snoring lightly. Spike sighed lightly and started to climb the mountain of literature. When he finally reached the summit, he gently nudged Twilight to wake her up.
"Come on Twilight, you have to wake up so I can clean this mess." He said gently,

Twilight groggily opened her eyes and was so surprised by the text directly in front of her eyes that she rolled backwards; down the mound of books landing with a hefty thud at the bottom. Spike quickly jumped down to help her, and with his assistance she managed to get onto her hooves, her eyes still spinning from her rude awakening.

She looked at Spike, still a little discombobulated from her fall.
“S-Spike, what’s going on, why am I-“ Her words cut off as she noticed the pile of books. The memories of her frantically emptying the shelves last night in a bid to find any kind of reference to that faint star sprang into her mind. She gasped suddenly ‘THE STAR!’ She shouted in her mind, as the thirst for answers came flooding back into her mind.

She knew that her resource of knowledge from these books was exhausted after last night. ‘What I need is more information about the star… but there is no way that my telescope will be able to see anything useful, the star is just too faint.. What I need is an observatory… I guess I’ll have to write to Princess Celestia and ask if I can go back to Canterlot for a bit to use the telescope in the observatory,’she thought to herself.

She turned to Spike who had already begun to tidy the books away, a point that Twilight, as usual, had over looked. “Spike! Take a note.” She ordered as she lifted a quill and scroll over to him and began to dictate.
“Dear Princess Celestia, Last night I was stargazing, as I usually do on such a clear night, and happened to notice a star that I hadn’t seen or heard about before, after intensive research I have not been able to find a reference to it. Would it be ok if I were able to come and stay in Canterlot so that I can use the observatory to find out more about it? Your faithful Student; Twilight Sparkle.”

“Twwwwiiiillliiiggghhhttt Spppaaarrrkkkle” Spike said as he finished writing. He then took a deep breath before engulfing the scroll in a burst of green fire, sending it on its way to the Princess. Spike went back to tidying the books as Twilight paced in a small circle, eager to hear a response, as her hunger for information grew and grew. A small rumble emanated from Spike’s belly just before he burped up a spurt of magical green fire which quickly formed into a new scroll. Twilight quickly opened it and read it’s contents:

Dear Twilight Sparkle,
My Most Faithful Student.

You are always welcome in Canterlot, though I am afraid that the observatory is closed for the foreseeable future due to repairs to it after Luna tried to ‘See how it worked’ So I am afraid that you shall not be able to use it for a while. Although, if memory serves, there is an old observatory just outside of Ponyville, perhaps you could ask one of your new friends about it, one is bound to know about it.

Your Teacher,
Princess Celestia

Twilight simply stood there, stupefied,
"There was an Observatory in Ponyville and no pony told me!… Why would my friends keep something like that from me!?" She cried despairingly, upset no pony had mentioned the observatory to her, and was confused as to why they hadn't. Spike just sighed and got back to work, every time Twilight went looking for answers, Equestria almost got destroyed, he could see this ending badly.

She rushed out of the door to find somepony she could ask about the observatory, but it was still early and the town seemed to be asleep. She sighed, her original determination fading away, and she turned back towards the library, when suddenly there was a gust of air and a familiar cyan pony with a ruffled rainbow mane landed in front of her with her usual confident grin on her face.

“Hey Twilight! You’re up early today, come to watch me clear the clouds?” She asked brightly before spotting how down Twilight was looking. “Hey… what’s wrong Twi’?” She said in an empathetic tone.
“Oh, Hey there ‘Dash. Well I’m was just feeling a little down. Do you know why no pony ever told me about the observatory before?” She asked in a sad tone, with a hint of accusation towards , as she realized that Rainbow Dash must have also been keeping it from her.

‘Dash rubbed the back of her neck and looked away “Oh… you heard about the observatory then..?” She asked trying to stall so she could think what to say, or how to get out of there.
“Yes.” Twilight said flatly in an irritated tone, glaring daggers at Rainbow Dash. Dash grimaced when she heard that, and started to sweat a little.
“Er… Well… you see… the thing is…” Se said desperately looking around in one last attempt to find an escape route, sighing when nothing presented itself to her. “Oh ok then, the truth is, we knew if we told you about it you’d want to go and take a look at it bu-“
“OF COURSE I WOULD!” Twilight shouted at her, her bad night’s sleep and frustration getting the better of her

Rainbow Dash jumped back startled, and Twilight sighed a little,
“I’m sorry ‘Dash, bad night’s sleep.” She explained with a regretful look, “What were you saying?” She asked calmly.
“Yeah… uh… well like I was saying, we didn’t want you to go up there… we didn’t want to put you in any danger.” She said in a worried, but caring, tone.
“Why would it be dangerous? Is the building unsafe?” Twilight asked, a little confused.

‘Dash looked away a little, “No, but that’s kinda’ the problem, you see, there is this weird pony living up in the observatory, some kind of weird science unicorn, but no pony ever sees him, except when he comes into the town every now and then to get things, but never really talks to anypony. Everypony says he is dangerous. There are a lot of stories about flashing lights and strange noises coming from the observatory. Even I try to avoid going near it and I’m the coolest pony around, but the place just gives me a bad feeling.” Dash explained, trying to convince ‘I hope she doesn’t go to explore, everypony here knows to stay away, but she’s an egghead and is probably thinking too much about all that science stuff to worry about what else is there…’ Dash thought to herself.

Twilight thought for a minute, and Rainbow Dash fidgeted nervously, hoping her friend would not decide to go. Twilight then chuckles and smiled a little.
“You should know better to listen to stories like that Rainbow Dash, I’m sure that this pony isn’t that strange, I bet he is just a little shy or something. Anyway, where is it?” She asked, slight amusement in her voice, ‘Dash’s heart sank in her chest.
“But… but… I…” She stammered trying to think of something that she could say to make her change her mind.

“Don’t worry Dash, we defeated Nightmare Moon, Discord and that huge bunch of Changlings. I’m sure I’ll be ok dealing with some ” She said trying reassure Rainbow Dash.
“I-I Guess… but be careful, please…” ‘Dash said, a rare amount of concern evident in her voice.
“Don’t worry, I will… but where is it?” Twilight asked, not really taking on-board how worried Rainbow Dash really was.
‘Dash simply pointed in the direction of the Everfree Forest, “It’s just on the edge of the forest.” She said, still a little worried. Twilight smiled and nodded.
“Thanks Dash, I guess I’ll go and have a look tonight.” She said as she trotted off back to the library.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~ That Night ~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Twilight slowly wandered down the old path out of town, so disused that it could barely be called a path. Once again, it was a clear and calm night. ‘Another perfect night’ She thought, looking up at the sky, then looking down as she went over a hill, and the large observatory loomed in front of her. Rainbow Dash hadn’t been quite right on where it was; it was in fact just inside the forest, not on the edge. Which explained why Twilight had never seen it before.

The large imposing structure looked old and could definitely do with some repair work, at least so far as she could tell from the outside. As she approached it the structure towered over her, it was much larger than she had first realized. When the path reached the building it followed it around to a large metal door, with small sign loosely nailed onto it, which read "Dr. A Discharge." For the first time Twilight started to feel nervous. ‘What if all those stories had been right? What if this pony was crazy? What if I am really was putting myself in danger?’ She thought, too late as she had already raised her hoof and knocked automatically while she had been thinking.

There was nothing for a second and Twilight sighed in relief, ‘There must be no pony home’ She thought. She was about to turn around until she heard the soft pattering of hoofsteps echoing in the distance, slowly getting louder, and coming from inside. Her insides froze. She was terrified. The hoofsteps stopped just on the other side of the door. She a loud grinding noise, and the door swung inwards showing a dark corridor, the only light being at the end, which seemed far in the distance. Twilight didn’t even notice these things, what had her attention was the tall, thin unicorn that stood before her. He was easily taller than her, was a menacing dark crimson, almost the color of blood, wearing a jet black mane, save for the strip of white through the middle, dazzling in comparison to the rest of his mane. His tail looked almost like a black razor blade, with a blue segment dyed into it.

The glow Faded from his long, and unusually sharp looking horn. He had used magic to open the door, and he leaned down so they’re faces almost met. He studied her intently through the dark blue glasses balanced on his face. Neither moved as he continued to study her. She was rooted to the spot in fear. After a few minutes, but what felt like hours to Twilight, his mouth twitched slightly, and then spread into a large, almost menacing grin. Twilight’s stomach flipped as her fear become pure terror…

End of Chapter One

Dramatic reading by myself

Chapter Two: Supernova

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A Distant Star
Chapter Two: Supernova

Last Chapter:The glow Faded from his long, and unusually sharp looking horn. He had used magic to open the door, and he leaned down so they’re faces almost met. He studied her intently through the dark blue glasses balanced on his face. Neither moved as he continued to study her. She was rooted to the spot in fear. After a few minutes, but what felt like hours to Twilight, his mouth twitched slightly, and then spread into a large, almost menacing grin. Twilight’s stomach flipped as her fear become pure terror…

After a little while he backed off and looked at Twilight. "Hello, what can I do for you, young mare?" he asked with a slight accent that Twilight couldn't place. She looked the unicorn over again, noticing things she hadn't before: On his flank was an odd symbol she couldn't quite make out; his eyes were just visible above the sunglasses and appeared to be darting back and forth but always returning to rest on her with a piercing gaze, as if he were able to see right into her. Despite his thin structure there was obviously strength in his legs and ba- "Young Mare?" he asked again, breaking her train of thought. She realized she had been doing nothing but staring at him for almost 5 minutes.

"I-I.. well.. I.." She stammered, not sure what to say, still uncertain about him. She was about to try again when he spoke up.
"My guess would be that you are here to ask to use the telescope to view something you have spotted because you don't have the equipment to find out more yourself." He said nonchalantly, despite the fact he had practically read her thoughts back to her.
"H-How did you know?" She asked quietly, now quite afraid. He raised an eyebrow and then pointed to the edge of the notebook sticking out of her saddle bags, showing a very clear title: 'Stars and Planets: A guide to the nights sky.'
"And since I knew you were an amateur astronomer, there are few other reasons why you would want to come to an observatory. Plus it must be important for you to ignore all the tales that the folks in Ponyville tell about me, so I am guessing that it is something that could have some significance." He said, leaving Twilight awestruck that he could deduce so much from such little detail.

"Wow... thats incredible, how could you tell so much?" He chuckled a little.
"Practice." He said simply before offering a hoof and smiling a little. "I am Dr Atom Discharge, what is your name young lady?" He asked politely. Twilight gave him a little smile, still nervous.
"I-I'm Twilight, Twilight Sparkle." She said and shook his hoof tentatively, to which he shook back firmly.
"A pleasure to meet you Miss Sparkle." He said before turning around and starting to head back inside, leaving Twilight slightly confused. After a few steps he turned his head and raised his eyebrow again. "Are you coming then Twilight?" He asked, his tone oddly informal in comparison to a few seconds ago. She slowly followed him inside, her earlier fear starting to build back up as she followed him down the long, dark corridor. The only light was that of the moon that was shining in from outside, which suddenly disappeared as the door slammed behind her, making her jump and leaving her nerves a little frayed.

She followed what she assumed was the corridor, her only guide being the irregular sound of Dr Atom's hooves as he walked. After a few seconds her eyes started to adapt to the light, and she could just make out an outline of light getting closer and closer, not sure what it could be. She kept walking towards it until she walked right into Dr Atom, who's dark coat made him almost invisible in this light. She staggered back a little.
"Watch yourself young Mare." He said in an almost sarcastic manner, before opening a door in front of them, spilling soft light into the corridor. He walked in, and Twilight followed, her eyes taking a second to adjust to the new light.

There was a sudden bang to Twilight's right, followed by column of fire shooting a meter into the air. She jumped just as high in shock, then stood there as her nerves were completely shot. Dr Atom looked around at her, seeing her shaking,
"Oh.. are you cold?" He asked looking a little perplexed. Twilight glared at him for a second before realizing he was serious.
"Er... No... I'm ok..." She said a little confused. 'He didn't even notice that... yet he could tell all that about me before... this pony seems like he's the complete opposite of... himself...' she thought as he walked across the room toward the telescope itself.

She looked about the room slowly. It was covered in clutter, in fact every corner of the huge room was covered in something. Be it a desk, a strange piece of machinery (Like the one beside her that seemed to emit a large plume of fire every few minutes), or even... a bed? 'He sleeps in here!? How can he with all this machinery going?' she wondered to herself. She followed him across the room slowly admiring all the specialist equipment he had, at least the stuff she actually recognized. In fact, some of the things here she couldn't even figure out a use for.

Dr Atom was waiting for her by the telescope.
"Well, here you go. She's old, so be gentle." He said moving out of the way so she could get in. She sat in the chair and looked at the control panel as Dr Atom trotted away and started to work on some machinery. She stared at the different buttons, joysticks and dials.

"Er... Doctor, I have no idea how to work this.." Twilight said quietly. He didn't seem to hear her. She waited a second, and then tried to get his attention again. "Doctor?" Again, no response. "DOCTOR!" Dr Atom jumped a little and looked over.
"Oh, sorry, what is it Twilight?" She gave an irritated look, and then looked at the control panel.
"Well, I don't know how to use this, I've only ever- GAH!" She cried out as she turned around and he was right behind her. She hadn't even heard him move.
"Oh, of course... why would you? Sorry, Here, this.." He proceeded to describe what each of the controls did in detail.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~Just Over An Hour Later~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Twilight placed her hooves on the controls and started to direct the telescope towards the area of the sky she had seen the night before, but something was strange. Instead of the telescope moving, it looked like the sky was rotating above her. It took her a second to realize, that it was in fact the entire room that was rotating with the telescope. She was amazed at how smooth it moved. 'He must work hard to keep it working like this.' She thought looking over at him, unphased by the movement, despite all of the equipment wobbling slightly.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~After About Half An Hour~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Twilight finally managed to locate the star again. She hadn't thought to write down the exact position, so it had took longer than expected. Dr Atom had come over to check on her a few times, and had even brought her a cup of tea at one point. She was sipping on the tea when she spotted it, recognizing it immediately. The image of the star was burned into her mind from the night before. She quickly put the cup down and started to focus in on it, looking at the display in front of her. There was something different about it though. It didn't look like other stars, there was something off about it. As she zoomed closer she could see the star fluctuating and wavering.

She was perplexed by this, so she turned to Dr Atom, who was now head first into one of the larger machines, his back legs sticking up into the air,
"Er.. Doctor?" She asked, not sure what she was interrupting. His head popped up.
"Did you find it?" He asked with enthusiasm as he jumped down from it and trotted over.
"Yeah, this is it, but there is something weird about it..." Twilight said uncertainly. Dr Atom stared at the screen, and after a minute his eyes widened
"Oh my... Well that explains why it was that you could only see it recently. Twilight, that star is going Supernova!" He said excitedly, his horn glowed and a notepad and pen shot in front of him. The pen scribbled away enthusiastically as the Doctor looked between the notes and the screen.

"Atom? What is a Supernova... I'm sure I've heard of it before..." Twilight interrupted him a little, trying to remember what it meant.
"OH! Well, in short, sometimes when a star is about to die, it will explode outwards instead of becoming a dwarf star. Basically, it explodes with a huge amount of energy, which is why it is only now bright enough to see!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Throughout the night ~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dr. Atom continued to explain the Supernova enthusiastically. Twilight was fascinated by how much he knew about it, and soon the the conversation moved on to other topics. Neither noticed as it got later and later, and while Atom was explaining about black holes, she heard birds chirping outside. It took her a moment to register what it was, but then her eyes spotted the first signs of sunrise.

Her eyes widened as she realized it was morning, "Oh Celestia! I Completely lost track of time!" She cried out, stopping him mid-sentence. He sighed lightly as she jumped up and ran for the door.
"WAIT! You can't leave yet!" He shouted to her, just as she reached the door.
"What do you mean? I have to get back to Spike!" She said worriedly as she went to open the door. But the door handle wouldn't turn. Atom grinned
"I told you that you couldn't leave yet." Twilight's original fear rose up, and Dr Atom stared at her with his piercing gaze. She was trapped!

Chapter Three: Doctor Doctor

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A Distant Star
Chapter Three: Doctor Doctor

Last Chapter:Her eyes widened as she realized it was morning, "Oh Celestia! I Completely lost track of time!" She cried out, stopping him mid-sentence. He sighed lightly as she jumped up and ran for the door.
"WAIT! You can't leave yet!" He shouted to her, just as she reached the door.
"What do you mean? I have to get back to Spike!" She said worriedly as she went to open the door. But the door handle wouldn't turn. Atom grinned
"I told you that you couldn't leave yet." Twilight's original fear rose up, and Dr Atom stared at her with his piercing gaze. She was trapped!

Dr Atom slowly approached Twilight across the room. She watched terrified, her body frozen. She was backed into a corner with nowhere to go. Suddenly the machine by the door fired off another column of fire, surprising her into action. She jumped for the door, trying everything to unlock it. Every spell that could help, and even shear force, but she froze still when she noticed that Dr Atom's shadow had been looming over her for some time. She slowly turned around shaking, he was looking down at her, the light glinting off his glasses, giving him a sinister air. He slowly leaned down and whispered in her ear.
"Are you done yet?" He asked in a cold flat tone. His horn began to glow and she scrunched her eyes shut, expecting something horrific to happen to her. Perhaps some kind of dark, torturous magic, or perhaps something even worse...

Twilight heard a mechanical sound to her left and opened her eyes to see a lever surrounded by the dark aura of Dr Atom's magic. Suddenly the floor shuddered and began to move. Dr Atom chuckled in Twilights ear, and she looked back at him confused.
"Hahaha, the door needs to be lined up with the exit after you rotated the room." He said with a little laugh, and then frowned. "Twilight, you are shaking like a leaf, I think you need to get home and rest. I'll walk you home. Even on the edge, the Everfree forest is not a safe place." He said almost protectively of her.

Twilight rolled her eyes a little thinking Atom had just missed the point again, but then realized how tired she really was. With a proper amount of sleep she should have noticed the door was still out of place, and she wouldn't have jumped to conclusions. Just thinking about it made her yawn loudly, and she half expected Atom to respond in the same way, but he didn't. In fact, there was no sign at all to suggest he was even tired a little. She suddenly realized she had been lost in thought for at least a few minutes, and that Atom had been waiting patiently for her to finish her train of thought and respond. She mustered up the best smile she could manage. "Y-yeah, I would like that. I should probably head home now, Spike is probably worried sick." She said this as she headed towards the door with Atom following.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~About Half An Hour Later~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They walked out of the edge of the forest and into the outskirts of Ponyville. They walked slowly given that Twilight was so tired she could barely stay on her hooves. They had talked a little on the way, but now Twilight was simply too exhausted too keep up any kind of conversation. It was now starting to get properly light, and there were even a few Ponies about running their early morning errands, most still looking a little groggy. Though Twilight barely noticed, her mind was now a blur of exhaustion, only able to keep going due to the rhythmic movements of her legs and the familiar route she was now on. Dr Atom didn't seem to tired at all, and walked by her silently, but carefully, keeping an eye on her and making sure she didn't topple when she lurched too far to one side. That and making sure didn't walk into anything. Finally they made it to her front door. Her horn glowed weakly and the door swung inwards. Twilight was about to walk in when she suddenly felt a gush of air and looked up.

Her tiredness disappeared with surprise as large rainbow blur collided with her and tackled her to the ground.
"OHMYGOSHTWILIGHTAREYOUOK?!" A certain cyan pony shouted down at the unicorn pinned underneath her. Twilight just stared, a little irritated.
"Dash. I'm fine... but could you please get off me?" She asked. Dash laughed nervously and got up, then finally spotted Dr Atom Discharge standing looking at the two. Rainbow Dash nearly jumped out of her coat and stood between Twilight and Dr Atom defensively.
"STAY BACK! I WONT LET YO~" She was cut short by Twilight placing a hoof on her shoulder.
"Dash, it's ok, he's not a bad pony."

Rainbow Dash stood there looking a bit dumbfounded. She blinked a few times.
"Wait what's going on here? If he's a good pony, then why do you seem like you are about to collapse? Are you sure he didn't do anything to you Twilight?" She asked looking Twilights eyes.
"Yes Dash, he didn't do anything. I am just tired because I was up all night." She said, and then noticed a startled look across Dash's face.
"Wait... you were up all night? You mean you two were Fu-"
"NO! Not like that! We just talked!" Twilight interrupted quickly, making sure that the thought was banished before it was fully formed.

Still Twilight couldn't help the blush rise to her cheeks, which, added to the fact Atom was now blushing and fidgeting, made sure the idea was firmly locked in Dash's mind. She just rolled her eyes.
"Sssuuuuurrrrreeee, you just talked, right." She said sarcastically, making both of the ponies in front of her blush more. Twilight couldn't deal with it in her current state and just glared at Dash.
"Oh Shush, stop it, I need to go and sleep!" She said impatiently as she pushed past Dash and into the house, calling "Goodnight Atom, I'll probably be back tonight." as she slammed the door. Atom just nodded and turned to leave seeing that same cyan pony blocking his path.
"We need to talk mister!" She demanded.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~About Half An Hour Later~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Atom was almost home. Rainbow Dash had insisted on coming along, but had said nothing yet. She eventually spoke.
"So you didn't actually-" Atom turned quickly to look at her and cut her off in a cold tone.
"No, we did not, we just talked about stars that's all that happened." He said in an irritated voice. As he reached his door and started to open it, then Dash piped up again.
"You know, I don't trust you, even if you have tricked Twilight, I wont be-" She was cut off by Dr Atom Who turned around quickly his eyes aflame with fury.
"WHY DO YOU PONIES HAVE TO KEEP THINKING OF ME AS EVIL!! I AM NOT A BAD PONY! I'M JUST DIFFERENT, BUT NONE OF YOU SEEM TO UNDERSTAND THAT!" He screamed at her before turning away and walking in, muttering as he did "Twilight is the first pony to understand me..." just before the door slammed and locked, leaving Dash there, startled.

Twilight had barely made it up the stairs to her room. She stumbled over to her bed and fell head first onto it, sprawling across it and falling asleep almost straight away...

She was in her room, and looked out of the window to see it was night. The stars were beautiful, brighter than she had ever seen them before. She ran to her telescope and looked through it, and saw something she had never seen. She called out "SPIKE! Come look at this!" She looked around, and she was in the observatory, by the large telescope, the room was in darkness, except for the light of the stars which only seemed to shine on her. The machinery was nothing but dark blobs in the darkness, ominous lumps of deeper shadow. Suddenly one moved out of the corner of her eye, moving slowly among the others, slowly weaving it's way towards her. Whatever it was, it scared her, filled her with a fear like never before. She tried to back up, but couldn't move, she was rooted to the spot, trapped. It got closer and closer, until all of a sudden, it was at the edge of the shadow. She still couldn't clearly make it out, it was a solid wall of shadow. She was terrified, but then it stepped into the light and became sharp and clear. It was Atom. Suddenly, all of her fear was gone. He slowly moved forwards towards her and she moved closer to him. They met in the middle, close, looking into each other eyes. She felt her heart flutter, and then he said in a soft gentle voice.
"Twilight... I love you." He leaned in and kissed her softly...

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Authors notes

Ok this is again a little short, and I'm sorry, but I just felt it was a good place to leave it, I hope to make the next one longer, and hopefully add a little more excitement

Chapter Four: Knock Knock

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A Distant Star
Chapter Four: Knock Knock

Last Time Twilight had barely made it up the stairs to her room. She stumbled over to her bed and fell head first onto it, sprawling across it and falling asleep almost straight away...

Twilight gently awoke, her lips still pouted, kissing against the fleeting remnants of her dream. As the feeling slowly dissolved she opened her eyes and stared up at the ceiling where she had expected her new friend to have been. It took her a minute to figure out what had just happened, and then she blushed deeply, realizing what she had been dreaming about: Do I really feel that way about Atom... I have read about this kind of thing, but that was just fiction... It was just a dream... right? Right! I had a long night, and needed sleep! That's it! Still... why was it so dark to begin with... oh stop it Twilight, you are just scaring yourself! She thought, finally managing to fight down her run away thoughts. She always had a habit of over thinking things, and she agreed that this was exactly what was happening.

She slowly got up, her legs very stiff. She must have been sleeping for a long time, but when she looked out the window she was confused. It looked almost the same time she had gone to sleep... wait... no... it was earlier. Then she gasped in shock as she realized she must have slept for the full day! Which meant she hadn't gone back to see Atom again like she had promised... Spike walked in to find Twilight, finally awake, running around her room in panic... again... "Oh no! I slept through when I was meant to meet him! He was probably up all night waiting for me! NOW HE'LL HATE ME!" She screamed, panicking.

Spike just rolled his eyes and then hopped on her back
"Oh don't worry Twilight, I'm sure he'll understand, friends always do. You should know that after all the studying you have been doing." Spike said calmly, trying to soothe her. That determined look in her eyes that Spike had seen a hundred times, and that rarely ended well, flashed up now.
"You're right Spike! I'll go and apologize right away!" She announced as she galloped towards the door.
"BUT TWILIGHT!..." Spike said, then sighed as she bolted out the door ".. you haven't even brushed your mane yet..." He said in an exasperated tone

It was true, she hadn't brushed her hair, in fact the puffiness of her hair rivall\ed that of Pinkie Pie's glorious mane. Her sustained gallop was not helping the situation either, as sped through the forest the branches tugged and pulled at her hair leaving twigs and leaves scattered throughout it. She arrived at the observatory door and knocked, the door opened almost instantly.
"I WAS ONLY THERE FOR-! Oh, Twilight... sorry, I was expecting somepony else, come- er... what happened to your mane?" Atom attempted to explain, seeming a little unnerved. Twilight raised an eyebrow curiously, but then took on board the last part of what he had said and quickly looked up to see her mane was a mess of branches and hair, twisted together into a large puffed out cloud.

She squealed and tried frantically to hide it, an attempt that obviously wasn't going to succeed. Atom simply chuckled lightly.
"The bathroom is the second door on your right, you can sort it out in there. I'll be in the observatory room." He said with a small smile, moving to the side as Twilight dashed inside. Once in the bathroom she managed to pull all of the branches out of her mane with magic, the glow of her horn shining through the knots of her mane. Finally, she managed to find a comb in the cupboard and brush the knots out, much to her discomfort.

She finally walked out into the main room to see Dr Atom still working on the same machine as last timewhen, as always, the machine to her right boomed and sent another column of fire into the air, causing her to jump a little and then giggle slightly. She trotted towards Atom, who was waist deep into a machine. He was obviously trying to fix it, when there was a loud crash and he shot out, past Twilight, into the far wall, with a trail of smoke behind him. He stood up as if nothing had happened and smiled.
"So I see you fixed your hair then" he said, commenting on her hair while his was still alight, though it soon soldered down, leaving his mane a little blacked but overall not too damaged.

Twilight just stood there once again surprised by this odd unicorn.
"Er... yes, yes I fixed it." She said quickly regaining her composure and giving a smile.
"Ah, thats good, so what did you come for then Twilight? It's too light to use the telescope properly." He said looking up at the larger telescope that dominated the room and extended up through the roof. She blushed a little
"Well... actually.... I came to apologize for not turning up last night like I promised... I kinda just woke up..." She said, her blush growing. Atom looked back at her with a warm smile.
"Ah, don't worry about it, I was only half expecting you. I thought you would be a little tired to spend another night here." He said... completely lying; He had been up waiting for her to come all night, and had started to worry towards the end...

Twilight was glad that she hadn't upset him, though something was a little off about his response. She couldn't quite put her hoof on it, but she quickly disregarded it as her having just woken up so she just smiled warmly back. Atom opened his mouth to say something when there was a knock at the door which echoed through the room and a flash of terror crossed his face for a moment. "I-I'd better get that, er, you stay here, I'll be right back." he said nervously and quickly galloped towards the door leaving Twilight reasonably confused. Atom walked back in a moment later leading a rather uncomfortable looking, obviously unhappy being in such an untidy environment.

"Ah! Twilight my dear! Spike said I could find you here." Rarity said walking up to Twilight slowly, obviously trying to stay as far away from any of the machinery as possible.
"Oh, of course! You needed me to model today didn't you?" Twilight said with a little smile, trying to hide her nervousness. Rarity's eyes lit up "Yes! I thought maybe you'd forgotten. It's such a shame that Fluttershy was busy... she never did say what she was doing... oh well, it can't be helped. Anyway, there's no time to waste, we must be on our way!" She announced as her horn glowed lifting Twilight off her hooves. She galloped towards the door with Twilight hovering just behind her.
"BUT RARRRRIIIITTTTYYYYY!" Twilight cried out as she shot out the out the door. Atom simply chuckled and called out the door "Goodbye Twilight, I'll see you tonight." He said, watching down the corridor until the door at the far end closed. His smile quickly dropped and he sighed, and sat down. Wondering, and dreading, if he would be getting any more less than desirable 'Visitors' today...

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Okay okay, I know that was awful, but I am going to do better on this next one, I'm really sorry

Chapter Five: A Wrong Turn

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A Distant Star
Chapter Five: A Wrong Turn

Last Time: "Ah! Twilight my dear! Spike said I could find you here." Rarity said walking up to Twilight slowly, obviously trying to stay as far away from any of the machinery as possible.
"Oh, of course! You needed me to model today didn't you?" Twilight said with a little smile, trying to hide her nervousness. Rarity's eyes lit up "Yes! I thought maybe you'd forgotten. It's such a shame that Fluttershy was busy... she never did say what she was doing... oh well, it can't be helped. Anyway, there's no time to waste, we must be on our way!" She announced as her horn glowed lifting Twilight off her hooves. She galloped towards the door with Twilight hovering just behind her.
"BUT RARRRRIIIITTTTYYYYY!" Twilight cried out as she shot out the out the door. Atom simply chuckled and called out the door "Goodbye Twilight, I'll see you tonight." He said, watching down the corridor until the door at the far end closed. His smile quickly dropped and he sighed, and sat down. Wondering, and dreading, if he would be getting any more less than desirable 'Visitors' today...

Twilight dragged her hooves back to her house. After her recent ‘irregular’ sleeping pattern, The fashion show (Which had somehow gone completely smooth), and her mad gallop into the forest in the morning, she was out of energy. She was almost at her door when Pinkie bounced in out of nowhere.
“HI TWILIGHT!” Pinkie Pie sang, energetic as always. Twilight wondered where all of her energy came from, and why it was so contagious. She perked up a bit and grinned
“Hi there Pinkie, what brings you to the library?” Pinkie sucked in a gasp of air before very (very) quickly responding: “Well I haven’t seen you in a while and I was just baking some cupcakes and thought ‘I wonder how Twilight is and then I realized I hadn’t seen you in soooooo long, so I came over to see how you were! Sooooo…. How are you?” She asked in her musical voice.

Twilight giggled a bit at Pinkies usual hyperactivity.
“Well I am pretty good. Tired though, I just did a fashion show for Rarity. It doesn’t help that I spent the whole night at my new friend's house.” she said, blushing, but jumped a bit as Pinkie gasped loudly.
“YOU HAVE A NEW FRIEND!? Do I know them? Do I? Do I? Do I? Are they new!? Oh no! If they are new they won’t have met anypony yet! I need to throw them a party!!!!!” She chimed in excitement, bounding around in every direction. She had been talking so quickly that Twilight hadn’t been able to get a single word in, and still wasn’t able to as Pinkie resumed her high speed rambling about the party.

Finally after 5 minutes Twilight finally saw an opening and took it.
“PINKIE! He isn’t new! He’s been here longer than I have!” she shouted to make sure she cut off whatever Pinkie Pie was about to go into. Pinkie Pie looked around at her quickly.
“It’s a HE!? Oooooh! So you finally got yourself a coltfriend! What's he like!? What’s his name!?” Twilight blushed deeply at the use of the word 'coltfriend.'
“Piiinkie! He isn’t my Coltfriend! We only just met! And his name is Dr Atom Discharge. He’s the unicorn living up in th- Pinkie?”

Pinkie Pie had frozen at the name. It was the most still Twilight had ever seen her.
“Er… Pinkie?” Twilight asked, rather confused. Pinkie suddenly flopped to the floor, looking very depressed.
“He… he never came to the party I threw for him…” she said in a sad, flat tone, as if on the verge of tears. Twilight knew she had to do something the cheer the party pony up.
“Oh, Pinkie, I’m sorry, he is nervous around new ponies. I’m sure if you threw a party I could get him to come, I’ll tell him to come in a day or two, or ma-“

“A DAY OR TWO!? We’ll have it TONIGHT! Give me three hours!” Pinkie exclaimed, bouncing into the air with glee, startling Twilight. She sheepishly tried to push the date.
“But.. what if he is busy… or he doesn’t want to go out tonight … or-“ Pinkie cut her of once again.
“Oh silly, he’ll listen to you, you are his friend.” She said happily, and just as Twilight is about to speak again Pinkie chirped up… again… “Ok, well I have to get a party ready, bye Twilight!” She dashed off, leaving Twilight to stand there with her mouth still half open.

Twilight sighed and set off towards Atom’s observatory. She had been hoping to spend the night at the observatory with Atom… but then she reasoned that this could be a good chance to spend some time with him out of the observatory, with others. She wanted to know as much about him as she could. He was so mysterious, nopony knew much about him. He was a puzzle she had to solve, something she had to study, and the more she seemed to hear about him, the more she wanted to find out… and Pinkie's statement hadn’t done anything to reduce the number of questions she had. 'Why hadn’t he gone to the party? Everypony goes to Pinkie Pie's parties…'

She shook herself out of the thoughts as she realized she had been wandering for quite a while. She looked around, puzzled for a second before recognizing the trees of the Everfree Forest. ‘I must be close…’ she thought, before viewing her surroundings… she didn’t know this path… in fact, she had no idea where she was… ‘Oh no… I must have taken a wrong turn…’ She looked around frantically before stopping herself and taking a deep breath.
“Alright Twilight, calm down. Think this out logically. We’ll just turn around and follow the path back…” She said to herself, trying not to lose her nerve. She turned around and started to walk back along the path, but then came to a junction and paused.

She stood staring at the junction for about 5 minutes, looking between the paths. She had absolutely no memory of which one she came from, and was slowly imagining more grave and horrifying consequences of picking the wrong path. Her mind wandered much further than it should have. Just as the most terrifying of these imaginings ended she was a loud and unnatural noise emanating from one of the paths. This subsequently kicked her overly inflated sense of fear into overdrive. Her muscles tensed as she jumped into the air and galloped in the opposite direction… further into the forest…

After several minutes of racing through the forest, her muscles burned and she was completely out of breath. She slumped to the ground. Completely exhausted, and barely able to move, she just laid there and panted. She would have passed out if not for the sheer force of terror that kept her eyes wide open. After what felt like an eternity to Twilight, she regained feeling in her limbs and slowly got up, aching all over, and looked around in an attempt to get her bearings. She could tell it was still early afternoon from the sun, but she wasn’t sure how far into the forest she was. She decided to try to head back towards Ponyville by following the sun. But soon the trees became too dense to see it's light and she started to get worried again.

It got darker and darker as she kept walking until she could barely see. She stopped and looked back towards the lighter area of the forest. Suddenly a shadow darted across her view. She backed away a bit, turned, and kept going. Quickly. It didn’t get any darker, but the dot of light showing where she had come from slowly faded into nothing, making it impossible to tell if she was heading in the right direction. The fact the darkness meant she couldn’t even distinguish each tree from another didn’t help the case; they simply blended into a solid wall of mass.

As she went deeper the air started to get unusually moist and stuffy. This puzzled her a little, so she moved to wall of trees for guidance. Her hoof was met with the unmistakeable clack of her hoof hitting damp rock. She started with surprise, causing her hoof to slip form the wall, making her stumble. She tried to right her balance, but ended up stumbling the other way, her legs getting in the way of each other. Her hoof met air where the ground should have been and she slipped, tumbling head over hoof off the unseen cliff.

She fell for what felt like minutes until she collided with something that felt solid but quickly gave way. She slowly started to sink. Her mouth quickly filled with water, causing her to come quickly to the conclusion she was in a body of water. She quickly clamped her mouth shut to save what air she had left. She opened her eyes trying frantically to find which way was up, and she happened to see a flicker of light above her. She quickly started to swim upwards as fast as she could with her limited aquatic skills. Seconds ticked by as she frantically reached for the surface, as her vision started to darken and flicker as she began slipping out of consciousness.

She felt the sting of cold air as she surfaced. She gasped for air, but for a moment only water filled her lungs. After a coughing fit that made colors and shapes swim across her eyes, she gasped again, finding the sudden intake of air a shock as it stung her lungs. Her eyes swam again. After a short she was able to breathe more easily so she looked around, seeing the cave light dimply with a kind of glowing stone. As she turned her head she spotted a small sandy shore within the cave and started to swim toward it. A task that would normally be relatively simple burned at her lungs and made her muscles cry out in protest.

She dragged her self ashore, panting heavily and collapsed with her legs still dangling in the water, gasping for air. She laid there for several more seconds until her breathing return to normal. She sat up and looked about the cave, seeing a small passageway behind her, just big enough for her to fit through comfortably. She moved along to look across the rest of the cave and spotted the cliff she had fallen from... in the large alcove a shadowy silhouette stood, staring at her, about 8 hooves tall. It had a lean build, with what looked like arms hanging down by its arms. While she was still studying it she saw it silently lurch forwards and dive into the dark depths of water below just where she herself had landed only minutes before. She immediately spun around and galloped into the passage way behind her.

She galloped through dark tunnels, the rhythmic sound of her hooves against the floor playing in stark contrast to the chaotic scuttling sounds of the creatures advance. She was racing through the passageways and tunnels but the creature continued to gain ground. Her muscles screamed out at her, her lungs burned, and she was slowing down. Before long it would catch her…before long it would all be over… all because of a wrong turn…

She rounded a corner and went straight into a solid wall, it was a dead end. She tried to retreat back into the main tunnel, but the creature was already in the entrance. The sinister being was shrouded in shadows. It moved slowly toward her as she cowered away against the wall. Each step it took made an eerie clacking noise, each one counting down the seconds she had to live. She sobbed quietly in fear. This was it. She was too exhausted to do any magic. She was defenseless, this was it… the end… she wished she could see her friends one last time… Pinkie Pie… Rarity… Applejack… Flutttershy… Rainbow Dash… Atom… ‘If only Atom were here, he’d know what to do… he’d find a way out’ she thought sadly,
“Oh Atom, I wish you were here…” Were her last quiet words before the creature raised its razor sharp hooked claw for the single killing blow…

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Ok, Finally done! I think this is much better, I tied to balance pace with description

Chapter Six: The Party

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A Distant Star
Chapter Six: The Party

Last Time: She rounded a corner and went straight into a solid wall, it was a dead end. She tried to retreat back into the main tunnel, but the creature was already in the entrance. The sinister being was shrouded in shadows. It moved slowly toward her as she cowered away against the wall. Each step it took made an eerie clacking noise, each one counting down the seconds she had to live. She sobbed quietly in fear. This was it. She was too exhausted to do any magic. She was defenseless, this was it… the end… she wished she could see her friends one last time… Pinkie Pie… Rarity… Applejack… Flutttershy… Rainbow Dash… Atom… ‘If only Atom were here, he’d know what to do… he’d find a way out’ she thought sadly,
“Oh Atom, I wish you were here…” Were her last quiet words before the creature raised its razor sharp hooked claw for the single killing blow…

The claw glinted as it raced towards her. Her life flashed before her eyes and the world slowed to a near standstill. The hooked claw that signaled the end of her life filled her view, the last thing she would ever see… dying alone in a dark cave torn apart by an unnatural creature… When the claw was but an inch away, there was an intense flash of light and what sounded like a clap of thunder, leaving her momentarily blind and deaf. When her vision returned she could see the dim glow of flickering light from the creature now sprawling on the floor in a silent struggle between it and the flames now engulfing it.

Her hearing slowly returned, filling her ears with the sound of the creature's dying screams. She investigated the creature more closely; it was a tall mantis-like creature with flailing tentacles on its back. A familiar voice filled her ears.
“Your wish is my command M’lady.” Atom stood at the junction leading towards the dead end. Twilight stared at him blankly, her mind unable to comprehend the recent string of events.
“W-What..?” Atom shuffled awkwardly.
“Er… you know… because you said ‘Oh Atom I wish you were here…” He tried to explain but Twilight shook her head.
“N-no no… I mean what are you doing here… why aren’t I dead… I… but… the…” She said faintly as her eyes rolled back into her head and she collapsed on the cold stone floor.

She groggily woke up and looked around. She was in an unfamiliar bed in a room she had never seen before. It was messy with bare walls of concrete and a door in one corner. She got out from under the covers. The last thing she could remember was that terrible claw racing toward her. She shook her head, trying to regain a memory of how she had gotten there, and exactly where that was. She went through the door and was met with a familiar setting; Atom’s Observatory. She saw him over by a piece of machinery taking notes. He looked over in her direction and their eyes met. His relief was evident in his expression.

He galloped across the room, even jumping over one of the larger machines in his way, skidding to a stop in front of her.
“Twilight! Are you okay? I was so worried!” He said, his nerves thoroughly wracked. Right then the memories flooded back to her of how he had appeared at the last minute and saved her. She jumped forwards wrapping her forelegs around him in a hug. He gently placed his forelegs around her and returned the favor.
“Oh Atom, I was so scared! I thought I was going to die! How did you know I was in trouble?” She asked pulling back and looking at him with curiosity and gratitude.

He smiled and chuckled a little.
“Well I saw you walk right past the observatory and head into the forest, so I decided to follow and make sure nothing happened. You seemed a little…out of it…” He rubbed the back of his neck.
“Oh… I see… wait… then why didn’t you help me when the creature first came after me?”
“Mainly because I couldn’t keep up. You are a very fast runner. If I’d been going as fast as you I wouldn’t have had the energy to use magic, and we both would have died…” Twilight blushed a little, clearly embarrassed.
“Y-yeah… I should have thought of that myself.” She blushed more and looked away, looking out the window to see the sun setting.

She then remembered Pinkie's party for Atom.
“Oh my gosh! What time is it!?” Atom, a little startled by her sudden outburst, answered her query.
“Er… it’s about 7, why?” She gasped and grabbed him by the hoof and started running towards the exit, dragging him behind.
“If we don’t hurry we’ll be late!” She cried out, running outside and towards Ponyville dragging an outright flabbergasted Atom by his foreleg.
“Late for what!?” He cried out, completely discombobulated by the sudden haste.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~At The Party~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“HI THERE! It’s so nice to finally meet you Atom! I’m Pinkie Pie, and I threw this party just for YOU! I was soooo sad when you didn’t come to your first party, but you’re here now and now I’m really happy so that makes everything okay! I was worried when you didn’t show up last time, I mean who doesn’t turn up to their own party!? I mean I guess some ponies…” She rambled on at great speed, thus causing Atom’s already uncomfortable mood to spiral into complete nervousness. He looked to Twilight for help, but she simply smiled and shrugged. “… and that’s why you should never feed alligators raisins.” Pinkie Pie Finished. Atom blinked for a second, then he took her hoof and shook it gently.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you too Miss Pinkie.” He said with a smile.

Pinkie bounced off into the party. Atom sighed in relief and went over to see Twilight, and she smiled as he approached.
“Hey Atom, I want you to meet a good friend of mine. Fluttershy, this is the stallion I was telling you about.” Fluttershy, obviously a little nervous around so many ponies looked up at Atom. She saw looming over her and spoke in a tiny voice.
“H-hello… I’m Fluttershy… it’s nice to meet you…” Atom smiled and gently took her hoof and shook,
“I am Atom, it is a pleasure to meet you.” He said softly, allowing Fluttershy to feel more relaxed. She gave a little smile, but an unusually loud bass note caused her to squeak in surprise and curl up into a ball.
Twilight chuckled a little next to Atom, and he looked up.
“Oh don’t worry, she’s always like that, that’s just Fluttershy’s way” She whispered in his ear with a small smile, apparently having recovered from earlier events. Normally he would have thought that strange, but Pinkie Pie seemed to radiate energy, giving everypony a burst of life. Even he was starting to get into the party, and he was most certainly not the party type.

Atom Smiled and chuckled lightly, starting to relax a little, when an Orange Earth Pony with a blonde mane and three apples as her cutie mark trotted up to Twilight and gave her a hug. She looked over at Atom and smiled warmly.
“Awwww, you must be Twilight’s Coltfriend. Dash told me all ‘bout it. Y’all make such a cute couple!” She said happily, flashing a big grin. Both Atom and Twilight froze and blushed brightly and started rambling almost in synch.
“We’re not Dating! I wouldn’t… I mean I would but… I… Er… well we just met, and er…. “Atom stuttered, blushing so hard it turned his coat a lighter shade of red. Twilight’s face was heated with the fires of a thousand embarrassing suns.

Applejack looked confused for a moment then frowned.
“That Rainbow Dash!” she shouted. At that instant a loud rolling laughter sounded across the room. Dash was hovering in the air, leaning back, clutching her belly with laughter. Atom scowled and a red aura appeared around one of Dash’s wings, holding it in place. This made her loose balance and fall into the punch bowl below with a large splash, making every pony in the room laugh even harder, including the now dripping Rainbow Dash. Atom smiled victoriously, a smile that soon faded at Applejack’s next comment:
“Ha ha ha, but still, you two would make a cute couple.” Both Atom and Twilight just stood there blushing awkwardly.

After a few minutes of blushing with the awkwardness almost reaching unbearable levels, Pinkie Pie bounced up to the two.
“Aww come on, stop standing around like silly fillies! It’s a party! Come on! It’s time to dance!!” She said in her usual over energetic manner. Before either could protest she literally dragged them both onto the dance floor and then bounded up to the DJ booth where DJ Pon-3 was handling the tunes. Atom looked over at the DJ and frowned.
“How the hay did Pinkie Pie get Vinyl Scratch to DJ for the party!? You need to book her weeks in advance!” Twilight just giggled.
“It’s Pinkie Pie, you learn to just accept these things. Now… let’s dance” Twilight said with a little blush which was returned by Atom.

They both slumped down on the seats by the side of the dance floor, laughing to with each other. Atom had made a complete foal out of himself when his front hooves hoof slipped out from under him. He landed flat on his face with his flank sticking in the air, so they had decided retire from dancing.
“Ha ha ha, I always did have four left hooves” he joked and Twilight chuckled along. They both sat there catching their breath for a minute before Atom spoke up “Hey, should we go get some food, there seems to be plenty food up for grabs.”

At the snack table they both admired the huge array of sweets and pastries that were laid out. They hadn’t been able to get a clear view before, but now they were in front of it they could see how much there was, each treat looking more appealing than the last. They both filled their plates and returned to their seats and started to chat on happily. Twilight did most of the talking, and that was mostly just describing her friends, what they did, and what their personalities were like.

They talked for hours, just chatting on as the party slowly died down. Twilight was getting more and more tired after her stressful day, but tried to hide it from Atom. She didn’t want to leave just yet, but eventually she couldn’t help but let a large yawn escape. Atom smiled.
“Alrighty Miss Sparkle, I think it’s time I walked you home.” He said with a little chuckle. Twilight tried to protest, but was cut off by another yawn, which pretty much made any point she was about to make useless. She then resigned to head home with Atom.

They walked through Ponyville, a light breeze stirring the warm summer air. It was once again a clear, beautiful night. The stars shone in all their radiant beauty, framing Luna’s magnificent full moon as it hung in the sky. Both of the unicorns were looking up at the sky in admiration as they walked. They both looked down at each other at the same time and shared a smile. As the library came into view, hey both slowed down, neither wanting the beautiful walk to end. Despite their best efforts, they still arrived sooner than they would have liked.

Twilight turned to Atom once they reached the Library, and smiled.
“I’m glad you could come tonight, I really enjoyed myself.” She said happily.
“I had a good time too…” Atom said with a warm smile. He quickly kissed her on the cheek. “Goodnight Twilight.” He said softly, she blushed brightly, and smiled. She didn't trust her mouth to work right when she was so tired. She turned away and opened the door, but just as she was about to walk in Atom spoke quietle]y. “Twilight…” She turned back.
“Yea-” Her words were cut off as his lips met hers as they slowly, softly kissed under the stars….

~~~~~~~~~~~~~The Next Morning~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Twilight woke with a small smile on her lips as she remembered her kiss from the night before. They had parted ways after without another word. They had no need to speak, the smiles on their faces had been enough. Twilight climbed out of bed and was walking down the stairs into the library when there was a loud, slow knock on the door. “Who could that be…” she asked herself, going to the door and opening it. Looming over her were two of Celestia’s Royal Guards with a stern look. “Miss Sparkle, we need to ask you some questions about the movements of one Dr Atom Discharge…” Twilight’s heart stopped in her chest as she heard those words
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Okie Dokie Lokie, now please cut me a little slack, while I have been putting my best into this I have been pretty ill that last few days, so... if there is anything wrong tell me :P

Chapter Seven: Secrets and Lies

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A Distant Star
Chapter Seven: Secrets and Lies

Last Time: Twilight woke with a small smile on her lips as she remembered her kiss from the night before. They had parted ways after without another word. They had no need to speak, the smiles on their faces had been enough. Twilight climbed out of bed and was walking down the stairs into the library when there was a loud, slow knock on the door. “Who could that be…” she asked herself, going to the door and opening it. Looming over her were two of Celestia’s Royal Guards with a stern look. “Miss Sparkle, we need to ask you some questions about the movements of one Dr Atom Discharge…” Twilight’s heart stopped in her chest as she heard those words...

Twilight sat silently In the carriage on the way to Canterlot, one of the royal guards either side of her. Her mind was still whirring over what had just happened: When the Guards had arrived she had refused to answer any questions until they told her what was going on. At that point they had insisted she came with them to Canterlot for a meeting with Princess Celestia. That had been about half an hour ago. Since then the sinking feeling in Twilight’s gut had done nothing but grown bigger. She could tell that whatever this was, it was big.

Twilight was marched through the unusually quiet palace and into the long throne room. The Palace had a strange atmosphere to it; a frightening mood. It was almost empty save for the guards, the number of which seemed to be double that of normal. The throne room itself was lined with guards. Their cold, serious eyes were unblinking. Twilight slowly marched up the main throne room with a guard either side of her. She felt as though every set of eyes in the room was on her, making her feel more and more apprehensive.

As she started to climb the stairs towards the two thrones she studied the princesses. Celestia looked like she hadn’t had a wink of sleep all night. Her eyes moved around the room nervously as if sure something would jump for her any minute. Her tail and mane twitched sporadically as her eyes darted to Twilight, looking into her with a piercing gaze instead of the warm caring look she usually found in the eyes of the mentor she knew and loved. This was not the same pony.

On the other hand Luna was sitting in her throne, her appearance equally haggard. She seemed less paranoid, and instead of her eyes suspiciously moving about the room, hers were fixed on her elder sister in a worried look of deep concern. When Twilight approached Luna looked at her with a pleading gaze, one that filled Twilight with worry and concern of her own. Something was definitely wrong here.

Celestia’s gaze softened a little as Twilight grew closer, obviously burying whatever emotions that had been plaguing her behind the wall of her Regal demure.
“My Faithful Student..” She said in her usual soft and kind voice, but the slight waver betrayed to Twilight that the Princess was in all but a kind mood. “… I am so glad to see you again… how are you feeling?” Celestia said in the same tone. At first Twilight had recognized it as the usual voice of her mentor and friend, but as the conversation slowly continued, and the air of tension grew, Twilight could tell something was amiss. The usual warm manner of the Princess was replaced with a colder more serious one.

As the conversation continued to go nowhere fast, the Princess continuing to spout simple small talk. Twiligh'ts apprehensive mood did nothing but grow worse, as did her frustration. Finally she had enough.
“Princess! Can we please get to the point? Why am I here? And why will nopony tell me what is happening?” The Princess jumped a little, betraying her discomfort before regaining her composure.
“You are very right Twilight, we should get down to business. I won’t waste your time with pointless storytelling, I’ll just cut to the chase. This Scientist you have met, Atom, he is dangerous, very dangerous… “ She paused to let the information sink in. “I thought, I hoped, he had left and moved to a far-away place, but every now and then I would receive news of a sighting. Though none of those were particularly reliable, this is the first solid lead we have had in years…” She said, sinking into thought. Twilight was startled and confused. She spoke up after about a minute
“B-but Princess… why are you trying to catch him anyway…?” She was still trying to piece the information together.

Celestia’s demure became sombre at the question.
“He is wanted for… high treason… Twilight… he tried to kill me.” She said in a pained voice, again pausing momentarily “He was banished from Equestria… upon penalty of death if he returned. He disappeared for several years… but in the past few years he seems to have come back… overall there have been twenty sightings of him in the last three years… twenty one including last night’s sighting of him… with you…” She said, once again pausing as Twilight took a step back a little. Twilight did not like this Celestia… she was colder, and Twilight didn’t know what she was willing to do any more.

Celestia gave a deadpan look.
“Twilight, I’m not going to have you hung in chains, you didn’t know who he was. But I need your help. He is a danger Twilight, and he can’t be allowed to roam free in Equestria. I need you to help us catch him off guard, or he will get away. He trusts you, doesn’t he?” Twilight simply nodded in response, her mood sombre and her emotions confused. “I thought as much. The plan is, you will take a contingent of the royal guard to his-“ Celestia was cut off by Twilight.
“No.” She said “No, I will not march a small army to his front door… just let me go with two of the guards, I’ll convince him to come quietly… there’s no need for bloodshed.” Twilight was almost desperate. Celestia thought for a moment before nodding decisively.
“Very well, but you had best be right, or we will have lost this opportunity.” She said seriously.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~ An Hour Later ~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The carriage shuddered slightly as it glided through the air, disrupting Twilight’s thoughts momentarily, before they returned to contemplating what she was going to do. On the one hoof, she could do as Celestia asked, he must be dangerous to have the Princess so worked up… On the other hoof, Atom trusted her. She couldn’t just betray that, and then there were her feelings for him; though they had only just started to develop, she didn’t want it to end there. She sighed, deeply uncertain of what course of action to take. The pros and cons of each situation ran in endless circles in her mind, making her more and more frustrated, until finally she had to stop and take a deep breath. Alright, this is getting me nowhere, I need to stop and think this one through. Celestia obviously isn’t telling me everything, so I should hear Atom’s side of the story before deciding anything. She nodded, happy with her plan, though not with the situation.

When they finally touched down on the edge of the forest, Twilight took a deep breath before dismounting the carriage. She walked down the old road into the forest, going deliberately slowly to delay the inevitable. Eventually she reached the Observatory and knocked on the door. As always, it opened inwards with a glowing read aura. She walked into the empty corridor. When the two guards tried to follow they collided with an invisible barrier, which rippled red, a ripple that, to the guards, could be seen spreading over the whole structure. The door glowed and slammed shut, sealing. Twilight hear muffled shouts from outside. She sighed and continued down the corridor cautiously. She walked into the main room to see Atom standing in the middle of it looking at her with a blank face, his emotions unreadable.

Atom walked closer.
“Twilight, why are there two of the elite royal guard outside of my home?” He asked in a flat tone. Twilight normally would have been intimidated by this, but today she wasn't putting up with any of it.
“Why the hell did you not tell me you were wanted for HIGH TREASON!?” The last two words she screamed at him, startling him slightly.
“How do you know that? And how much do you know?” He asked in a serious and commanding voice. This time Twilight did feel intimidated, worried as to how he would react. She stammered a little, now nervous. He was obviously angry, which scared her. She slowly began to explain what had happened at Canterlot.

By the end Atom was facing away from her, his face unreadable.
“Why did you agree Twilight? You could have said no… “ His voice showed the hurt he was feeling. She replied in a desperate, almost pleading manner.
“Atom… how was I supposed to say no to my Mentor? She has been like a mother-“ She stopped as Atom swiveled around with wide eyes
“WHAT!? You are Celestia’s student!? And you never thought to mention this before!?” Twilight raked her memory, and realized it simply hadn’t come up.
“Well it never came up! Anyway! Who are you to talk!? You never thought to mention you were banished from Equestria, upon pain of death for high treason for trying to KILL THE PRINCESS!?” She screamed at him. His head dropped at her words.
“I didn’t try to kill her… it was-“ His sombre words were cut off by a large Explosion emanating from the door at the end of the corridor, which caused the whole structure to shake, streams of dust floating down from the gaps in the brickwork in the ceiling.

Atoms mood grew grave, and he looked at Twilight seriously.
“Twilight… you have to make a choice… you can side with the Princess in which you can stay here and you’ll never have to hear from me again, and you won’t be dragged further into the situation.” The structure shook again with a second larger bang, strain started to show on Atom’s face as he struggled to maintain the shield. “Or… you can come run away with me… we’ll be on the run from the Royal guard… but you can hear the full story that was and… well… we’ll have each other…” he said, his eyes and voice softening, as he looked at her with caring in his eyes. Twilight looked back into his eyes with the same look. Her mind was at war. On the one hoof, she could get out of this terrible situation and not have to look back… but she would have lost Atom, and she would never know the truth. On the other hoof, she could live a life on the move with danger lurking close behind, but she would know the truth. And she would be with Atom, whom she had come to care about more and more over the past few days…

There was a Third bang, and a few bricks flew loose, Atom gasped as he let the spell go, unable to maintain it. He looked at her with pleading eyes.
“Twilight, you have to choose. Now. But know that, no matter which you choose, I will understand.” He said somberly. Twilight was being torn in two, she simply couldn’t decide. There was a deafening explosion and the wall exploded inwards, bricks being deflected by the barrier Twilight had instinctively formed around herself. The room was filled with smoke, and Twilight could see very little any further than Atom. Then a tall shadow formed in the smog, soon forming into Celestia. She stepped out of the shadows, followed a moment later by a line of guards who circled around Twilight and Atom, surrounding them.

“Move away from him Twilight.” Celestia Demanded in a cold, hard tone.
“You have to choose now.” Atom said quietly to her, in an urgent tone. Twilight looked at Celestia, seeing the cold, angry eyes instead of the eyes of the mentor she had once known. She then looked at Atom, his eyes filled with caring and concern for her. At that instant she knew which path to follow.
“Twilight, step away from him THIS INSTANT!” Celestia bellowed, her horn starting to glow. Twilight looked back at her with sadness in her eyes, and then stepped backwards, towards Atom. Celestia screamed in fury and launched a ball of pure energy at the two Unicorns. In the instant before the projectile struck there was a blinding flash of light. Both of Atom and Twilight were gone, and the projectile flew through the space they had occupied only moments ago, exploding on impact with the ground with a small fiery explosion. Celestia screamed out, and then turned to her Captain
“Find them! They can’t have gotten far! Use as many Guards as you need, just FIND THEM!” \ While The Captain quickly started organizing the troops, Celestia turned back to the spot where they had stood and growled to herself. “I will find you Atom…”

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Author’s note:
Ok, don’t get the wrong idea here, I am not trying to make Celestia look evil, just showing that she is not perfect, and that even the princess can let emotions get the better of them (In a similar way to Luna/Nightmare Moon)

Additional notes: I just want to thank everyone who has kept going and reading, you have kept me writing, thank you all, I love you guys!

Chapter Eight: So Many Years Ago

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A Distant Star
Chapter Eight: So Many Years Ago

Last Time: “Twilight, step away from him THIS INSTANT!” Celestia bellowed, her horn starting to glow. Twilight looked back at her with sadness in her eyes, and then stepped backwards, towards Atom. Celestia screamed in fury and launched a ball of pure energy at the two Unicorns. In the instant before the projectile struck there was a blinding flash of light. Both of Atom and Twilight were gone, and the projectile flew through the space they had occupied only moments ago, exploding on impact with the ground with a small fiery explosion. Celestia screamed out, and then turned to her Captain
“Find them! They can’t have gotten far! Use as many Guards as you need, just FIND THEM!” While The Captain quickly started organizing the troops, Celestia turned back to the spot where they had stood and growled to herself. “I will find you Atom…”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Several Hours Later ~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was another clear night, though colder than the night before. Summer was drawing to a close. The glistening stars looked down over the tress of the Everfree Forest, particularly so over the small pool of flickering light located in one of the many clearings. Twilight gazed back at the stars close to a source of the light, a small fire giving off no smoke. It was magically maintained by Atom as he set up the tents. Twilight took notice of how easily Atom was able to maintain several spells at once. Usually a unicorn would have to concentrate completely on the spell they were doing, but Atom seemed to not even be paying attention to the magic. Her thoughts slowly drifted back to what had happened earlier that day. She had so many questions, but they had been moving for hours and hadn’t had a chance to talk.

Finally Atom sat down, sighing slightly.
“Twilight… I’m so sorry you had to be dragged into this, but-“ He was cut off by Twilight’s unusually sharp response.
“Cut the crap Atom, I came with you because I trust you, but that will only go so far.” She looked over at him with sadness in her eyes “I betrayed my mentor for you. I need to know more, I need to know what happened between you two… and more if possible.”

Atom sighed. This was the moment he had been dreading. He sombrely started the story, gazing into the night sky with a stony expression and deep, sad eyes that reflected the glistening the stars as he began to tell the tale that had started so many years ago.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~ So Many Years Ago ~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A young colt, with a deep crimson coat and a short horn poking out of an unkempt mess of a mane bounced up the steps of the royal palace in an energetic dance. This was going to be the best day of Atom’s life. Today he was going to get into Princess Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns; he could just feel it. His Father galloped up the stairs after the energetic colt trying to catch up to him.

Atom’s father, a large and muscled earth pony who had a deep blue coat and a picture of a wrench pasted on his flank, caught him just before he was about to barrel through the main doors to the palace.
“Whoa there son! Settle down, we can’t have you bouncing about like that in the entry examination, can we?” Atom looked back at his father and gave a big grin.
“Okay daddy, I’ll try to keep calm. It’s just so exciting.” The large stallion gently wrapped his forelegs around his boy in a loving hug.
“Oh son, I am so proud of you, your mother would be so happy with how well you’ve done were she still here…” The blue earth pony said gently, slowly stroking the young colt’s hair with a gentle hoof. The young Atom looked up at his father
“She is here Daddy; we keep her in our hearts.” The innocent colt wore a warm smile. The blue stallion looked down at his son with joy and pride. He couldn’t be more proud to have raised this wonderful boy.

Atom fidgeted in the waiting room. He wasn't nervous, he was excited. He was surrounded by several young colts and fillies, all shuffling in their seats. They were all dressed in similar smart suits and such, with critical parents mumbling angrily for them to keep still. All were completely over prepared and had probably been groomed all their lives for this opportunity. Atom on the other side was looking as scruffy as, if not scruffier, than ever, and it was obvious that some of the other parents didn’t approve. But everyone’s attention shifted as the first candidate was called in.

After a few moments there was a loud crash, and a scream and a large plume of smoke billowed out from under the door. A few seconds later a singed, and traumatized looking young colt marched out, nothing left of his pricy suit. Most of the other candidates started to panic, it was evident in their eyes. Obviously they had been expecting some kind of interview. Obviously they were wrong. The panic even showed on some of the parents faces. Atom’s dad leaned down and whispered in his ear.
“You know, if you want to back out now I’ll understand. Just the fact you got the opportunity is amaz-“ He was cut off by Atom’s hoof in his mouth.
“Dad, I’m not nervous, I know I can out do all of these snooty kids, don’t worry.” He said with a grin at his father after removing his hoof.

Atom’s dad looked down with a raised eyebrow.
“Oh really? Not nervous at all?” Atom grinned up at his dad.
“Well…. Maybe a little.” His grin grew and they chuckled together, getting more than one odd look from the overly serious parents. Which just made then pair laugh more. After a few more turns, each ending in a similar way to the first it was Atom’s turn. He jumped up out of his seat and bounced excitedly into the room, ready for anything that could be thrown against him.

As he bounced in he looked up to see the Princess herself talking to the moderators.
“My Princess, are you sure the [mumble] isn’t too much?” Asked the moderator to what appeared to be a rather disgruntled Princess Celestia.
“No, I am sick of stuck up children who practice and practice for this, but who have no natural talent.” The moderator let out a little sigh.
“Of course Ma’am.” He raised his voice a bit “Alright, the next candidate is Atom Discharge.” The moderator said as Celestia started to walk away. She looked back momentarily, and spotted Atom. She knew at once this colt was different. For once somepony not dressed up in unpractical and unnecessary suits and fancy clothing. She turned around and sat down next to the moderators, startling them slightly.
“I think… I will stay for this one… “ She said quietly, and turned her attention to Atom. The Head Moderator cleared his throat.
"Alright, we will commence the examination now. Are you ready?” Atom, with a determined look on his face, nodded sharply. The Princess was personally observing him. This was his chance to show what he could do. No matter what the Examination held, he would make sure he showed his best.

The Head Moderator nodded back, and then his horn glowed. A huge set of double doors started to form in the far wall. When they had fully formed there was a loud rumble and the doors bulged outwards slightly and began to glow. The moderators started to whisper among each other.
“He’s too young, we should call it off” One of the moderators whispered just loud enough for the Princess to hear.
“No… I think he is ready for this… go ahead with it, I want to see what he can do…” Celestia never took her eyes off Atom. The head Moderator hesitated, and then nodded, his horn glowing again. The door slowly opened, but were soon blasted to the sides by a torrent of fire. Out of the dark chamber behind the doors stepped a Dragon. A fully mature, thirty foot, deadly dragon.

Atom stifled a gasp. He had to act fast, so he ran head first at the dragon on pure instinct, and not a moment too soon as a missive torrent of liquid fire smashed against the spot he had just been stood on, scorching the ground. Atom looked back as he ran, seeing his father separated by a magic barrier. He looked like he had just been sent into shock. Atom looked forwards just in time to see the huge tail collide with him. When his sense had returned to him he realized he was clinging to the tail being swung high in the air. he let go and landed hard on the head of the dragon. Shaking himself off he saw the dragon crouch, and then it jumped up, and Atom dived into the crook of the dragon’s neck as the dragon smashed its own head off the ceiling in an attempt to crush him.

The dragon stumbled, dazed. Atom saw his chance and took it. His horn glowed bright red and a huge wave of energy collided with the dragons right leg, making it topple to the side. Atom leapt off as the dragon’s head as it collided with the floor, knocking it out momentarily. His horn blazed brighter as he used the dragon's tail to hog tie it's legs together. The strain showed as he slid the dragon into the room. He started to relax as he closed the doors, but then a roar bellowed out, blasting Atom into the far wall as the Dragon started to pry the doors apart

Atoms eyes narrowed and he charged forwards, his horn glowing more and more. He raced forwards, and his eyes glowed just before the impact. When he collided with the dragon there was a blinding flash of light and a huge boom that shattered several windows. When the light had faded the Moderators could see Atom laid on the floor panting heavily. The last thing Atom saw before blacking out was his father galloping up to him.

“I told you he was too young!” said one of the Moderators
“Perhaps you are right, but I didn’t expect him to actually seal the door shut.” Said the Princess. Atom heard the voices and started to come around. Realizing where he was he quickly sprung up out of his father’s forelegs, but had to stop and wait for the room to stop spinning before he continued. When he felt balanced enough he looked around to see everypony had come down from the stands, even the Princess. Everypony was looking at him, and he felt a little intimidated. For a few awkward moments nopony spoke. The Princess stepped forwards and offered Atom a hoof. “Welcome to Princess Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns.”

Over the next few years Atom studied in the School, becoming top in his class, and even graduating early to start researching into magic directly under the princess herself. But a few months into his research he made a discovery about the very nature of magic itself, a discovery that started a cascade of events to follow.

A teenage Atom, covered in soot from head to toe, galloped down the corridor towards the throne room. Smoke was still streaming from his unkempt hair. He barrelled into the throne room and slid across the floor. He continued past the throne and through the door to the right of it, bounding up the spiralled stairs to the Princess' room. He slid to a stop as the guards lowered their wings to block the way.
“Who goes there?” One demanded. Atom slid his goggles up with his hoof.
“Come on guys, it’s me, this is important.” One of the guards chuckled
We didn’t recognize you behind all the soot. Alright, we’ll let you in. Princess! Atom is here to see you!” The guard called through the door.

The door opened inwards and Atom galloped into the room. It was a usual scene for him; the beautiful glass ceiling showing the sky in all its beauty, the marble walls inscribed with gold, the beautiful oak furniture that had been warn smooth with use. The Princess was at her desk with a small stack of papers in front of her.
“Princess, I did it! I finally discovered how magic functions! You have to see this!” Atom literally dragged the Princess back to the lab and showed her a black board covered in equations. “It’s all about resonance! Everypony has natural magic in them, and when the soul is vibrating at the same frequency as the natural magic we get an effect! For example when Cutie marks come about! But unicorns can make our souls resonate in different ways! We each have a specific resonance related to our special talent! Like when you raise the sun!”

Atom was getting more and more excited, bouncing about Celestia. But the Princess stopped him with a hoof and gently looked into his eyes.
“Atom… have you tried this…?” Atom could see the seriousness in her eyes and instantly calmed down.
“Y-yes… I… I tried to… it was a little unstable and… well..” He gestured to his soot covered body.
“Atom, you have to Promise me you will never try this again… okay? It is dangerous and I don’t want you getting hurt.” She had a soft and caring look in her eyes.
“O-okay princess… I won’t try again.” He felt a little down. He had been working for weeks, months on this…

The princess soon left, and Atom went to shower off but as the soot washed away he saw it… his cutie mark. He must have gained it after the explosion… That was it… this was what he was meant to do… and not even the Princess would stop him.

Over the next few months he started to work on how to increase power and control. He discovered more about the nature of this effect, and that there were in fact levels of resonance, each requiring several times more energy than the last. He struggled to find a way to break past the first level of resonance, until one day he found a way and set into motion a plan to show the Princess how useful this really could be.

One of the royal guards rocketed through the palace. He raced to the throne room, charging through the main door and past the line of people who were being entered for the school's entry examination and up to the Princess herself.
“M’lady! You have to come; somepony has broken into the test chamber!" Celestia looked seriously at the guard, nodded and followed him quickly to the secret elevator that lead down to the secret magical test room below the palace. As they were going down in the lift the Princess was hoping that it wouldn’t be who she feared… even though, in her heart, she knew.

The magical testing room had been built many, many years ago, before Luna had become Nightmare moon. It had been used as a room for the Princesses to test new spells and such… very few people knew about it…

Celestia stepped out of the elevator and it instantly closed behind her, trapping the Princess in and the Guard out. She walked forward towards the test area, and looked through the glass panel to see Atom there. He had bags under his eyes and he seemed very fidgety. She placed her hand on the intercom button.
“Atom, what are you doing here? Please… if this is about the resonance stop… please… it isn’t safe and I don’t want-” She was cut off by Atom.
“Cut it princess, you didn’t see the potential in this, but I’m going to show you now! You will see the power we can harness!” As he finished talking a warning light and siren started to signal the beginnings of the test. “If I feed the energy back on itself I can increase the output exponentially. Celestia’s eyes widened. “ATOM! STOP! If you do this you could kill us both! It’s too much power!” The Princess shouted, trying to reason with him, but he had already started.

His horn started to glow, getting brighter and brighter, more and more power building up. He felt himself hit the first level of resonance, and started to feed the energy back into himself until eventually he managed to hit the second resonance. A beam of pure energy shot out of his horn, destroying anything in its path, picking matter apart atom by atom. But something went wrong. A powerful wave of energy caused him to lose control. The beam started to waver and expand. He felt the energy of the universe flowing through him and had no way to control it. He tried to regain control but it burned at him, it burnt him up from the inside. Finally another wave of energy rocketed through his body and up his horn, he felt a line of fire race up his horn. There was a massive crash as energy exploded outwards in a searing light and intense sound. Everything went black.

Chapter Nine: An Unexpected Guest

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A Distant Star
Chapter Nine: An Unexpected Guest

Last Time: His horn started to glow, getting brighter and brighter, more and more power building up. He felt himself hit the first level of resonance, and started to feed the energy back into himself until eventually he managed to hit the second resonance. A beam of pure energy shot out of his horn, destroying anything in its path, picking matter apart atom by atom. But something went wrong. A powerful wave of energy caused him to lose control. The beam started to waver and expand. He felt the energy of the universe flowing through him and had no way to control it. He tried to regain control but it burned at him, it burnt him up from the inside. Finally another wave of energy rocketed through his body and up his horn, he felt a line of fire race up his horn. There was a massive crash as energy exploded outwards in a searing light and intense sound. Everything went black.

Atom slowly woke up, his whole body burning with pain. He opened his eyes, the light searing at first, but he forced himself to keep his eyes open until they adjusted. He saw the ceiling of his room in the palace, he tried to remember how he had gotten there. The memories flooded back into his head, and his eyes filled with tears. He had let his desire for answers get the better of him, and it had evolved into a primal lust for power that had put not just himself in danger, but Canterlot itself.; there must have been some serious structural damage done under the city. But worst of all… he had put Celestia in danger… his mentor, the mare who had shown nothing but support and kindness towards him… the closest thing he still had to a mother.

It would have been easier to give in to the sadness and simply cry, but Atom had to see what was happening, to make sure that the princess was okay. He staggered towards the door. His horn glowed to open it, but instead of the door glowing a line of pain shot up his horn. A pain so intense it obliterated what energy he had left, causing him to fall to the floor and writhe in pain until he passed back into the darkness of unconsciousness. His last sensation was a warmth running down his forehead.

Atom woke to two guards looming over him.
“Atom Discharge, stand up. We are here to take you before the Princess.” The guard ordered him. Atom staggered too his hooves, his legs cramping as he did. The two guards then positioned themselves in front and behind him, and started marching towards the royal throne room. Atom’s heart sunk as the doors opened to the throne room; the princess had a hard serious look on her face. Atom looked out of one of the windows and saw the candidates for the school. It couldn't have been more than a few hours since the explosion.

He turned his head towards the Princess as he approached. She bore a serious demure, more serious than he had ever seen her.
“Atom, I am so disappointed… I have let things slide in the past… But this is too big… this cannot go without punishment. Not only have you specifically ignored royal orders, you have caused major structural damage to Canterlot. We are very lucky that the city is still stable after the huge amount of solid rock you disintegrated. But worse still… You have assaulted myself… I am lucky my magic was able to hold against that blast. Atom, that means you are going to be charged with treason… “

Atom took this news silently, knowing he had messed up… he was scared.
“Atom; I cannot ignore charges like those, not even for you, not without undermining the entire legal system.” Hundreds of thoughts were passing through his head as he heard this. What would happen to him? He had heard rumors about things like this… and about the sculpture garden… He couldn’t let that happen, he had to get out, but h-

There was a loud noise similar to that of thunder. Everypony in the room recoiled… everypony but Atom. He knew this was his last chance to get out. He spun around and bolted out the main door into the courtyard, and saw a huge shockwave bearing every color of the rainbow spreading across the sky. He stopped in the court yard and gazed at it for a moment before looking back to see the guards start to take chase. There was another crash, this one much closer. Atom's head swiveled up to see a purple and green dragon burst up through the roof, causing the guards to stall again. Atom barreled through the main gates and out of the palace.

Celestia watched him go and sighed. She stood up and headed towards the examination room as the guards ran about trying to find out what had happened. As she walked thoughts raced through her head. She had to make sure Atom was caught… she couldn’t let the covenant know about this… if they did… who knew what would happen. As she was walking down the corridor she saw the captain of the guard who was running around just as panicked as the rest, trying to get into the examination room.
“Leave it Captain Blade, I’ll handle this. I need you to lock down the city and capture Atom. Make sure he doesn’t get away!” She said authoritatively, and marched into the room.

Atom raced through the city towards the main gate. He had to get out before the city was locked down. He saw the main gate and pushed harder. Word must have reached the guards there; the gates were slowly swinging closed. He galloped faster and faster, trying to slip through just before they slid closed. He didn’t; he collided with the gates as they fell into place, rolling back several feet. He shook his head and looked back up at the gates, and then blinked a little in disbelief. In the gates there was a smaller one pony door. He went over and tested it, and it swung limply on its hinges. He went through almost laughing and kept galloping onwards.

One of the guards who had ran down watched, also in disbelief. He blinked a few times and then face-hoofed, but was almost knocked down as the Captain of the guard barreled past at full speed. The armored earth pony charged towards the escaping unicorn. Atom looked back to see The Captain and sped up, trying, in vain, to outrun him. Atom turned around to confront the captain as he realized he could not out run him.
“Atom! Come back with me now! If not she’ll send the rest of the Guards, and we both know they will not go easy on you!”

Atom looked at him with desperation in his eyes.
“Please Blade… we’ve known each other for years… we are friends. I need your help… please… for a friend.” Atom pleaded with the captain. Blade looked down. It was true, over the years they had been good friends. Atom was one of the few ponies in the castle Blade could really talk to without having to look up to or having to give orders to. He sighed heavily and looked back up at Atom.
“Alright, get out of here, I’ll make up an excuse. Go on! GET!” He shouted authoritatively. Atom nodded and galloped off.

Over the next few months he hid out in different towns around Equestria, and eventually learned from a trusted friend that he had been officially banished. And so it became too dangerous to stay. At first he tried hiding out in more inconspicuous places such as caves and forests but it was simply too difficult to keep himself hidden. And so he decided to move, and eventually found himself in Griffon country where he worked as a scientist at a university where he managed to gain his title as Dr.

Eventually, Atom was betrayed by someone he had trusted, someone who had heard about the bounty that had been put on his head, someone who preferred money over loyalty. And so Atom was forced to move on once again, deciding to return to Equestria. Hoping the Princess would be looking further afield, he had decided to enter via a most unregulated route; the Everfree forest. After a while he happened across the old abandoned observatory, which he managed to make functional, and the quaint town of Ponyville. It was perfect. He could quietly live on the border to Equestria without raising suspicions, so long as he kept out of the way of the village as much as possible.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In the Present~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Atom finished and continued gazing at the fire. They both sat in silence for a few contemplative minutes before Atom spoke up.
“What I did was wrong… and I am sorry for dragging you into it… if you wish to go and tell the guards where I am… I will understand…” He said in a slow sad tone. He continued to stare at the fire until he felt Twilight’s hoof on his shoulder. He turned to look at her and their lips met.

Although surprised at first, Atom sank into the kiss. They held on for a few minutes before Twilight pulled away and looked into his eyes. He looked back, captivated by the kindness that radiated from her beautiful purple eyes.
“Atom, I chose to come with you because I care about you, and I will stand with you until it is over." Atom smiled warmly.
“Thank you… I don’t think I could keep running without you… I L-“ Both froze as they heard the noise the un mistakable beating of wings, both felt their hearts sink with worry.

“Quickly cover the fire Twilight.” He ordered quietly. As Twilight did as she was told Atom used his magic to pack away the rest of the camp. They heard the noise again and saw a silhouette glide across the stars, coming down to land near the camp. It was followed by the noise of galloping hooves heading towards them. They looked at each other and nodded. They turned and galloped away at full speed, hoping to out run the pursuer.

As they powered through the forest it became increasingly obvious that the pursuer was not only failing to fall behind, but was actually catching up. Atom looked to Twilight and gestured to the left and they both quickly changed direction, hoping to lose whoever was following them. This was to no avail as they heard the pursuer skid and change direction.

By this point both Atom and Twilight were starting to slow but one tailing them was still going strong, with well trained endurance. There was no way they could outrun, outlast, or outthink this pony. Atom and Twilight knew they were left with little chance to escape.

Suddenly Twilight fell, her hoof having hit a protruding root and caused her to trip, skidding across the ground to stop in a jumbled heap on the forest floor. Atom stopped, skidding several feet and sending up a shower of dirt. He galloped back to her and helped her out her position.
“Twilight, are you okay!?” He said with quiet urgency.”

Twilight grimaced as she moved her hoof.
“I think it’s sprained…” She said desperately. The galloping was getting closer. Both Atom and Twilight knew it was over. They would be captured and put on trial, and then who knows what would happen. Atom looked to Twilight with love in his eyes and then leaned in to kiss her gently. Twilight lovingly kissed back.

They waited there for the pursuer to find them as the galloping slowly got louder. The pursuer slowed to a trot, approaching the clearing where Atom and Twilight laid together. A silhouette slowly formed along the treeline, and then the figure was illuminated as it stepped out into the light of Luna’s moon.
“Atom… I knew I could find you here.”

Chapter Ten: Hatchlings

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A Distant Star
Chapter Ten: Hatchlings

Last time: They waited there for the pursuer to find them as the galloping slowly got louder. The pursuer slowed to a trot, approaching the clearing where Atom and Twilight laid together. A silhouette slowly formed along the treeline, and then the figure was illuminated as it stepped out into the light of Luna’s moon.
“Atom… I knew I could find you here.”

Before them stood, clad in a tight, blue flight suit was a Wonderbolt; Soarin. Twilight gasped and tried to back away but her hoof tinged and she grimaced. She knew that the Wonderbolts were the most elite of Equestria’s air force, under the direct command of Celestia herself. She started to shiver a little with fear; there was no way of getting away now, but stopped when Atom sighed in relief.
“Twilight, this is Soarin, he’s a good friend of mine… kind of an inside contact.” Atom explained with a warm smile. He gently helped Twilight to her hooves, before shaking hooves with Soarin. “Soarin, it’s been too long old friend. Now, what’s the latest?”

Soarin opened his mouth to speak, but a shout from across the forest got his attention.
“Sir! I’ve found a camp! It’s still hot, can’t be more than half an hour old!” Both Atom and Soarin looked at each other and started to move. Atom quickly placed Twilight onto his back and dashed off with Soarin, running alongside each him.
“Atom, we both know there is only one place to hide around here!” Atom Glared at Soarin.
“No, I don’t care how far we have to run, but that place is just too dangerous, I won’t chance it with Twilight.” Atom continued to glare at Soarin.

“Atom, that nest was cleared out years ago… I’m pretty sure. It’s that or get caught!” He looked seriously at Atom. “You were never one for endurance Atom… with a mare on your back there's no way you'll last all night.” His voice held a regretful tone. Atom kept running silently for a few minutes then let out a long sigh.
“I guess it’s our only hope..” Atom said as they both changed direction and headed towards a rocky formation. As they approached the formation a small opening became apparent in the moonlight, and both of the stallions slipped inside and slowed, moving through the twisted corridors of natural stone.

Soon, after the path had slopped down for a bit they came into a large open cavern. It was huge and dark. The three moved deeper in and set up a small fire, creating a minuscule pool of light, the edges of the cavern still very much shrouded in darkness. Twilight laid back as Atom tended to her hoof and Soarin kept the fire going, while cooking some food after their run. When Atom was done he gently pecked Twilight on the lips and helped her up.

“Wow… it’s… so dark… where did you bring us?” Twilight asked the two. Soarin and Atom glanced at each other.
“Well.. it’s an old cave system, supposedly abandoned for many years. But ponies are still hesitant about it. It’s not really the time to talk about that though… it is much too late, and we have travelled much too far today. We should rest. I’ll take the first wat-” Atom was cut off by Soarin.
“Oh no you don’t! I’ll take first watch, you’ve had a much too exciting day. And I know what your sleeping habits, and thus I know you haven't slept for days anyway!” Atom rolled his eyes.
“Fine Mummy, I’ll go to bed.” Atom said in a dry tone.

Soarin gave a little grin.
“Good boy, don’t forget to brush your teeth.” He gave his best housemare voice, prompting a deadpan look from Atom. Twilight giggled.
“Don’t be like that Atom, at least you have somepony to snuggle up with.” Twilight winked at Atom before sticking her tongue out at Soarin, who gave the same deadpan look he had recently received. His response was a mumbled; “Touché.”

Atom grinned and laid down next to Twilight, kissing her gently before draping his foreleg over her and pulling her close. They fell asleep almost instantly, drifting into a very calm slumber. Soarin watched the camp all night, not having the heart to wake them. As the hours rifted by, the only sign that day was coming was that the entrance to the cavern glowed ever so slightly. The cavern itself stayed dark, seeming to absorb any light that entered into it, even the small circle of light from the fire was no more than a meter wide.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In The Morning~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Finally, when it seemed to be as light as it was going to get inside the cavern, Soarin woke the two slumbering ponies.
“Come on Guys, we had best get moving.” Soarin nudged the two gently. They both woke up and stretched. Atom got up and helped Twilight to her hooves. They looked around.
“So… Does this place ever get light? We can’t even see where things are.” Atom said gazing into the darkness.
“Well I can fix that!” Twilight said energetically, her horn glowing before releasing a wave of light that spread across the cavern.

No one blinked for a second, as they all got a glimpse of the enormous cavern, and at what was in it. Although the light only lasted a few seconds before fading, they all saw it. The walls and roof of the cavern were covered in odd shapes... something was definitely wrong.
“Oh… shit….” Atom said. “I thought you said they’d cleared it!” Atom looked angrily at Soarin.
“A-apparently not.” Was all Soarin could muster.

Twilight was looking shocked and confused.
“Er..W-what are the-” She stopped talking as the Cavern started to light back up, a low, eerie glow emanating from the odd shapes… the eggs.
“Twilight…. They are wild Dragons… Wild Dragon eggs to be exact… one major difference between domesticated dragons, such as Spike, And wild dragons is-” A loud splintering sound echoed throughout the cavern, emanating from one of the eggs. “- Is… they will hatch when exposed to any kind of magic… We have to move… NOW!” He shouted causing the all three ponies to start sprinting further into the cave.

In retrospect running deeper into the cave may have been a bad idea, but at this point they were running mostly on instinct, as the sounds of cracking and shattering increased into a chaotic symphony. All three ran at full speed through the caverns, and then…. Silence… nothing but the sounds of their hooves. They all stopped and listened closely, and only their breaths could be heard. A single screech echoed throughout the caves, followed a moment later by the sounds of thousands of tiny claws skittering across rock, the sounds building together into a terrifying orchestra that filled the hearts of the three ponies with the cold stabbing knife of fear. They quickly got moving again, the sounds of galloping mixing into the wall of noise following behind them, steadily getting louder.

Atom’s horn glowed and a ball of fire formed at the tip of his horn, which he launched back into the tunnel by whipping his head around. The bright projectile illuminated the tunnel behind them, showing that, from about 5 metres behind them and back; every inch of the walls of the tunnel was covered in a writhing mass of scales. All three gasped and sped up, but they were starting to tire, Soarin most of all due to his lack of sleep.

The Fireball hit the mass and exploded, knocking several off the walls. Atom launched a second at the ceiling, causing part of it to collapse, knocking several more down, but then there was a shudder, and a large crack ran along the roof of the tunnel. It stretched ahead of them, and the cave started to fall apart, rocks dropping out of the ceiling forcing the three to move quickly to avoid them.

Then, suddenly, Soarin fell, rolling head over hooves and coming to a stop. Atom ground to a halt and started to run back for Soarin. A slab of rock fell into his path, blocking it completely. Atom kept going and rammed into the rock, and then pulled back and rammed again, trying to move it, or break through.
“NO! NO! NO! I’LL GET TO YOU!” Atom screamed, even though there was no way Soarin could have heard. He continued ramming until he slid to the ground in despair.

Twilight galloped over and got him onto his hooves.
“Atom! We have to get to safety!” Atom looked up at her, his eyes desperate, but when their gazed locked his eyes filled with fire and determination.
“You're right. Soarin is strong, he’ll find a way out. We have to move before the Hatchlings find another way around.” The two started to gallop further down the tunnel, which had become a twisted maze of stone.

Eventually they came out into another cavern, smaller than the first, but lighter. There was a crevice in the ceiling letting in streams of sunlight from the surface. They wandered further in, carefully though. While the sounds of the Hatchlings had long since faded, they still didn't know what they might find. Though with the light it was easy to see they were alone, the large cavern widened and then thinned again, leading into a tunnel just as high, but thinner than the main cavern. Just after the entrance into the tunnel it seemed to bend.

They headed towards the tunnel, it being the only other exit to this cavern. But when they were half way across the chamber a thundering rumble sounded, and formed into a growl. A loud. throaty, though still obviously female, voice rang out across the cave from the tunnel ahead of them:
“You trot into my nest, awaken and hurt my children, destroy my tunnels and stride into my home… How dare you… insolent little morsels…”

The ground shook and from the tunnel snaked a massive dragon, larger than either had ever seen. Both took a step back automatically, and turned to try to retreat to see the entryway swarming with Hatchlings that seemed to be leaking from the very walls. They crawled out of crevices and slowly started to move in towards them. Atom took a defensive stance, prepared to protect Twilight until the end.

“Oh… how precious, you think you can fight us off? No… you intruders shall become my children’s first meal.” The Nest Mother dragon said in a menacing tone, and the Hatchlings started to charge forwards, quickly covering the distance. Atom braced himself and then let out a shockwave knocking the first wave of the horde back, and casting spell after spell to keep them at bay.

Over the sounds of the spells there was a sudden sound of rushing air as a blue blur blasted through the crevice in the roof and landed next to them. Soarin stood regally.
“Alright guys, time to get out of here.” He said with a determined grin. But Atom replied with a chilling reality.
“Since we walked in here they have been scaling the walls to reach that crevice… there is no way you can get us both up there before they cut us off… in short, you’re only getting one us out of here…” He was no more pleased to say that than anypony else was to hear it. He continued launching spells at the oncoming wall of razor sharp claws and ravenous maws.

Atom focused for a moment and a force field formed around them and he sighed.
“Soarin, take Twilight to the Princess; I should never have put her in danger like this. Twilight, tell the Princess that I made you come, she’ll believe you.” He said solemnly, and then with a little smile he kissed Twilight gently. “I love you Twilight… I have since the moment I met you.” Twilight was lightly crying.
“I… I lo-“ Atom stopped her by placing a hoof on her mouth gently and smiling.
“I know.” He said softly, and then turned to Soarin. “You’ll have to launch the moment I let the force field go. Make sure she is safe.”

“NO! I won’t leave you Atom! I can’t! I..” Twilight kept protesting but Soarin managed to wrestle her onto his back. He looked back at Atom and spoke semi seriously.
“You’d better make it out of this you jammy bastard. I’m ready.” Atom nodded.
“Three… two… one… NOW!” The force field collapsed and the hatchlings pounced at the three, but before they were even close Soarin was halfway to the cavern roof.

The Nest Mother tried to swipe at Soarin but he was able to swerve out of the way. Twilight looked back to see the Hatchlings get closer and closer to Atom, but just before it seemed they would over run him Soarin and Twilight burst out into the full glare of the sunlight. They raced off at full speed away from the cavern over the rolling chaotic forest towards Canterlot. Twilight could barely see through the tears flooding her eyes and falling into the forest below…

Chapter Eleven: The Wait

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A Distant Star
Chapter Eleven: The Wait

Last Time: The Nest Mother tried to swipe at Soarin but he was able to swerve out of the way. Twilight looked back to see the Hatchlings get closer and closer to Atom, but just before it seemed they would over run him Soarin and Twilight burst out into the full glare of the sunlight. They raced off at full speed away from the cavern over the rolling chaotic forest towards Canterlot. Twilight could barely see through the tears flooding her eyes and falling into the forest below…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Next Day~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Twilight sat in her Library on her bed, it was early in the morning. It was still dark, though the first hints of the orange sunrise were starting to creep across the horizon. Twilight hadn’t slept at all that night; she couldn't get thoughts of Atom or of what had happened out of her head. What her friends had said when she had gotten back… how badly she had wanted to protest as they called Atom all kinds of things… but she couldn’t. She had to keep up the lie that she had been forced to tell… she felt as though she was betraying Atom by letting them say such things… and the last she had seen of Atom… it was all tearing her up… she was a mes

She sighed and pulled herself off the bed. If she was up she may as well do something. She got up and started to make some coffee, trying to take her mind off things, but failing completely. No matter what her thoughts kept returning to Atom. She thought back to the last thing he said to her.
“I love you Twilight… I have since the moment I met you.” She broke down in quiet tears as she remembered his words. She wanted to hear him say them again. She would give anything if he could just walk through that door unharmed and lovingly embrace her, but as she kept looking at the door, her vision slowly blurring from the tears, it remained despairingly motionless.

When the crying had finally subsided she got back to her hooves and finished the cup of coffee. She sipped it, though not really tasting it. She went through to the main room of the library, pulling out a random book, and starting to read, though she didn’t pay much attention to it, often having to reread lines because she simply hadn’t taken in the information. She felt numb, she felt cold, but worst of all… she felt alone.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A Few Hours Later~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Twilight was slowly walking around the town, still hoping to lose the sadness and dread that filled her. She wasn’t heading anywhere in particular, just wandering aimlessly. She sighed heavily, she couldn’t fight the feeling, she couldn’t take her mind off it. She changed direction and slowly started to walk towards the Observatory. If she couldn’t fight it, she may as we embrace it… maybe this feeling would go away sooner if she did.

Twilight kept going, feeling the dread building inside her. She had known she would have to go to the Observatory sooner or later, but she had been trying to put it off, knowing that what she would find there would not be easy to take. Unfortunately she knew she had to do it.

When she finally arrived she could barely hold back tears. What was left of the Observatory was little more than a burnt out husk of its former self. Little more than a steel cage of the main structure filled with rubble. The enormous telescope, once such an immense, almost intimidating structure now lay in two halves over the rubble.

Seeing the Telescope… the very reason she had met Atom… it brought back memories of that first night. Tears brimmed at the edge of her eyes, but with an immense force of will she managed to push back the emotions, and continue into the ruins. She followed along what had once been a corridor.

When she reached the end she froze in the doorway. Before her she saw her five friends sifting through the rubble. They hadn’t noticed her yet.
“.. If I get my hands on that bastard I’ll-“ Rainbow Dash said in an increasingly aggressive tone before being cut off by Rarity.
“Please Rainbow Dash, there is no need to be so uncivil. We-“ She stopped as she spotted Twilight.

After that last comment Twilight’s anger started to raise. She knew it wasn’t fair to her friends, but her emotions were so raw she couldn’t help it. Fluttershy, her usual timid and nervous self, approached slowly.
“Oh Twilight, you really should be resting, you’ve been through a lot.” She said nervously in a worried tone. Rarity, always her direct and confident self, had a follow up.
“She’s right dear, you go home and rest. Don’t worry, we’ll catch that brute.” She put a gentle hoof on Twilight’s shoulder.

Twilight angrily swatted the hoof away, startling Rarity.
“HE’S NOT EVIL!” Twilight bellowed before turning around and galloping away. Tears streamed from her eyes as she galloped all the way back to her library, through the door, past a rather confused Spike and into her room. She slammed the door before falling onto her bed and breaking down into uncontrollable tears. To many emotions were ripping their way through her for her to maintain her composure. She cried and cried, ignoring everything outside of her shell of misery until, eventually, she cried herself to sleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A Few Hours Later~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Twilight woke with a start to a light knock at her bedroom door. She slowly got up, her body stiff and tired. She walked to the door and opened it to see Spike shuffling nervously.
“T-Twilight… I-I hope you aren’t mad with me… I-I was worried… you haven’t seemed yourself… so I… I sent The Princess a letter… please don’t be mad at me…”

Twilight frowned. She knew he was only looking out for her... but she still didn't want the Princess knowing about this.
“What did she say?” Spike shrank back.
“Sh-she.. wants you to go to Canterlot… she’s worried… we all are… “ Spike said his voice slowly shrinking. At first Twilight was angry, but then realized if she were with the Princess, she’d find out more information about Atom quicker.

She smiled down at spike and nuzzled him.
“Thank you Spike, I think that may be a good idea… I think that I need to get out of here for a little while anyway. Did she say when she would send the carriage?” Twilight feigned happiness. Spike shuffled again.
“A-actually, they’re here now… that’s why I woke you up.” Twilight rolled her eyes and went to pack.

In a few minutes Twilight was packed. She quickly hugged Spike and got onto the carriage, the guard pegasi evidently impatient. As it took off she allowed the fake smile to drop off her face as she watched what she had come to consider her home shrink away. Again she pushed back tears as her emotions started showing through again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Next Day~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Twilight woke up, feeling a little more stable after a good night’s sleep. She slipped out of the large bed and stretched, looking around the ornate and almost regal room she had been given in Canterlot palace. She then noticed breakfast had been left on a table just inside the door, with a small note next to it. Twilight walked over and read the note as she started to eat.

My Faithful Student

I hope that you have slept well, I am sorry I was not there to greet you yesterday. As you can imagine my schedule is rather busy right now. If you are feeling up to it, I would very much enjoy your company in the main throne room today. If not, I have organized things so that you can have access Canterlot Library again, although, please do not disrupt the new Librarian. I hope to see you in my throne room, but if you are not feeling up to it I shall come and see you this evening.

Your loving Mentor,

Princess Celestia of Equestria

Twilight read back over the letter. it seemed to be a mess of caring feelings and masked anxiety. Twilight had known her Mentor for long enough to be able to judge her emotion, but this letter seemed muddled. It was obvious the Princess had conflicting emotions. Twilight sighed and finished her breakfast, trying to decide whether to go to the library or to the throne room. In the end she decided on the throne room. At least that way she could catch up on what was happening.

After Twilight was finished her breakfast she trotted down the long stairs that lead to her room and through the corridors of the palace. There were more guards patrolling the palace, and they all seemed completely focused. Where they were usually rather sociable with visitors, now they seemed… almost… scared.

When Twilight reached the throne room she came in via one of the smaller doors to the side of the room and slowly approached the two thrones. A second had recently been added for the return of Princess Luna, though at this moment it was empty. As she approached Celestia, the Princess turned from the pony she had been talking to and gave Twilight a smile. Though warm in appearance it was obvious to Twilight it was fake, since she returned one exactly the same.

Celestia gestured with her hoof at her guest, a brilliant white earth pony dressed in what appeared to be guards armor, though it had a more ornate design to it. He had a hard but kind face with a small scar down one eye. His cutie mark was visible on his flank-a pair of crossed swords.

“Twilight, this is Captain Blade. He is the head of the Equestrian Royal Guard, and a veteran of the Equestrian Military.” Celestia said in an official tone. Blade simply turned to Twilight and offered her a hoof.
“You can just call me Blade ma’am.” He bore a much more casual tone, shaking hooves with Twilight.
“I’m Twilight, it’s a pleasure to meet you.”
Blade nodded “Likewise.”

Blade turned back to Celestia.
“We tracked him to a cave, it seems to have been infested with Wild Dragons. He seems to have escaped, but judging from the blood, he won’t have gotten far.” At that, Twilight’s heart sank. Though she tried to hide it, her thoughts raced. She snapped out of it as she felt the gaze of the Princess and Captain on her.

“Miss Twilight… are you feeling okay?” Blade asked, concern evident in his voice and eyes.
“I… I am feeling a little light headed actually… perhaps I should have taken a day off…” Twilight said slowly, trying to make herself seem disorientated. She could process what she had heard once she was alone. “I think maybe I’ll get some food and just stay in my room for today… get some rest.” She said again trying to seem slightly ill.

Celestia nodded.
“Okay my student, I’ll let you rest in peace then. I hope you are feeling better tomorrow, I’d like your company here if possible.” There was that fake smile again. Twilight simply nodded.
“Okay Princess, I’ll make sure to get plenty of rest."

Twilight then headed to the kitchen, getting some lunch. She made her way to her room where she slowly started to eat, thinking over what she had heard. After a few minutes of thought she heard a knock at her door, making her jump a little.
“Er.. C-come in.” she said a little worried as to who it was.

Captain Blade slowly walked into the room.
“How are you feeling M’lady?” He asked kindly with a smile, to which Twilight answered, more reassured.
“Oh, hello Blade, I wasn’t expecting you to come up here. I am feeling a little better.” She gave a little smile, to which Blade nodded.
“Ah… good…” He said slowly. He looked out of the door, then closed it and locked it from the inside. He turned around and started to walk towards Twilight, his expression hard, and all signs of kindness gone.

“Listen to me young mare. You may fool the Princess with your story, but you don’t fool me! I know that you went with Atom of your own free will, I knew the moment you heard what I said, I saw it in your eyes!” Blade almost shouted. Twilight backed up against the back of the bed, Blade climbed up onto the bed and stood oppressively above her. “Tell me EVERYTHING you know about Atom and his movements. NOW!”

Twilight was terrified, and barely managed to sputter out a reply.
“I-I don’t know what you a-are talking about… I d-don’t remember anything ab-bout it…” Blade swung his head down so their faces were no more than an inch apart.
“Do NOT lie to me, tell me what you know NOW!” Blade was forceful, making sure she knew he wasn't playing any games.

Twilight gained a little courage and stared back into Blade’s eyes, almost challenging him with her gaze.
“I said I don’t remember!” she shouted back, just as forcefully. For a few moments, though if felt like an eternity to Twilight, their gazes were locked. Blade snorted and pulled away.
“So be it, but I will have my eyes on you little miss.” It seemed that venom was in his voice.

Blade slowly walked back to the door and opened it, turning to look back over his shoulder.
“Get better soon. Ma’am.” He said in his kind voice, his expression returning to normal. He walked out an closed the door. Twilight let out the breath she realized she must have been holding in. She ran to the door and locked it, and then climbed back into bed and huddled up, shaking slightly.

Over the next few days Twilight spent most of her time in the throne room, latching onto any information on Atom she could get. Slowly but surely the last of her hope was whittled away was she heard tales of bloody trails and unsteady tracks they were following. Every time that Blade entered the throne room he never took his eyes off Twilight when no one could see. Until eventually, three days later…

Twilight was wandering around throne room studying the stained glass windows. It was a slow day with very little information being delivered. But then Twilight was startled as the massive double door swung inwards and Blade marched in triumphantly. “Princess Celestia! We have found him! Though… I’m afraid the Timber wolves did as well… “ He spoke solemnly, and gestured to two guards outside, who slowly marched in.

Between the guards, stretched across the bloodied stretcher, was the twisted and broken body of Dr Atom Discharge. Twilight’s vision narrowed in on the still lifeless body, as she felt not only her heart, but her whole world shatter into a thousand pieces. No amount of will power could have held back her emotions. A single silent tear rolled down her cheek and fell; The small perfectly smooth droplet fell through the air for a few seconds. It burst as it impacted against the hard, cold stone floor…

Chapter Twelve: The End

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A Distant Star
Chapter Twelve: The End

Last time: Between the guards, stretched across the bloodied stretcher, was the twisted and broken body of Dr Atom Discharge. Twilight’s vision narrowed in on the still lifeless body, as she felt not only her heart, but her whole world shatter into a thousand pieces. No amount of will power could have held back her emotions. A single silent tear rolled down her cheek and fell; The small perfectly smooth droplet fell through the air for a few seconds. It burst as it impacted against the hard, cold stone floor…

The two guards slowly approached the Princess as Blade slipped away to stand by the still shell shocked Twilight. He leaned towards her and whispered in her ear.
“Young lady, you need to have more faith in him.”
Twilight turned her head to look at him, tears spraying out to the side.
“W-what do you mean? I-“ Twilight was cut off as the Princess spoke.
“Let me see him closer.” She walked down the steps towards the two guards. Princess Celestia leaned down and inspected the twisted body, but after a few seconds her eyes widened and she jumped back several feet. “NO! YOU FOALS!”

In that moment there was a blinding flash of light that made everypony, even the Princess turn away and shield their eyes. When they looked back Atom stood triumphant. The two guards were unconscious on the floor, and the stretcher in pieces.
“It looks like your guards need to get better at detecting illusions.” Atom said in a confident tone with a smirk on his face. The Princess was awestruck as was Twilight, though Celestia was the first to move. She stood up straight and confident, and then stared at Blade.

“You should have seen this… how-“ The Princess stopped talking as Blade strode over and stood by Atom with a smug grin on his face,
“Did you really expect me to betray my oldest friend?” Blade's tone seemed to mock the Princess as he went to barricade all of the doors to the throne room. Atom took a step towards the Princess. Twilight was still completely frozen to the spot, unable to even comprehend what was happening.

Atom began to talk, calm and collected.
“Princess, this has to end… I mean you no harm, I never have. It was a simple mistake, and it was years ago, I am older and wiser now. We have to stop this silly squabble before ponies start getting hurt. I just want to be able to come home. I haven’t seen my father since I was fifteen. I know things will never go back to the way they were, but please. Can’t we make amends..?” Atom almost pleaded to Celestia, who’s expression began to soften.

“Atom, you were my top student before Twilight. You were like a son to me. You were my friend. I’ve missed you so much these past few years.” The Princess said softly and kindly. But then, without warning, her expression hardened into one of grim determination. “But what you did, is unforgivable. You endangered the whole city and have endangered many more lives with this silly chase you have lead me on. Not to mention what you know… you are much too dangerous to have simply wandering around with your freedom. I am sorry Atom… but I cannot let you leave here.” Malice was evident in her voice as she spoke.
Twilight could do nothing but watch as the doors exploded inwards followed quickly by streams of guards. The guards quickly restrained the startled captain of the guard, but were having more trouble with Atom. He blasted them back with waves of magic that radiated from his horn, sending the guards flying into the air. As this commotion continued Celestia walked slowly down the steps. Atom turned to see the Princess at the last second, her horn glowing as a wall of magical energy hit him, sending him flying through the air and into the wall. He was instantly knocked unconscious.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A Few Hours Later~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Twilight was in her room, every emotion possible charging through her body: There was joy; He was alive. Sadness; he had been captured. Regret; if only she’d acted, she may have been able to help. She just didn’t know what to do. Everything around her had just been turned on its head and back again, everything she’d known shattered and pieced back together. Nothing seemed to make sense any more.

She sat up and looked out of her window. It was night now. She could easily sneak down to the prison. She got up, and looked out of the door, checking the corridor for any guards. There weren’t any so she slipped out. It was dark in the palace, and the only ponies who would be awake would be Luna and her guards. And that was who she would have to avoid. She kept close to the walls, but still trying to seem casual, in case she was seen.

In the end it only took about half an hour to get to the prison, and she didn’t bump into anypony other than the prison guard, who she knew, and who let her though without any trouble. She walked through the almost empty prison, filled only by the odd sleeping convict in one of the cells. Then she reached the high security area. Oddly there wasn’t a guard posted at the door, which made Twilight suspicious, but she had to keep going.

She had only been here once with the princess, but had caught enough of a look at the code the princess had used to get in. Twilight replicated it and the door let out a small clunk and then swung outwards. She crept in and shut the door behind her, the latch clicking. She hadn’t liked how the door sealed behind her the first time she had been here, nor did she like it this time, but she was on a mission. Thus she was easily able to ignore it. She sneaked through the corridors, with cells made of reinforced glass. This area was more busy, since most of the convicts here were on life sentences. The lights were on here, brilliant white; At first it hurt Twilight’s eyes but she soon adjusted.

What struck Twilight as she walked the corridors was how unlike most of Canterlot’s usual architecture this was. Obviously this area was modern and as up to date as it got, and for good reason. This area of the prison wasn’t even known to most members of the public, it was were the worst members of society were kept. She knew this was exactly where Celestia would be keeping Atom.

The prison was almost unnavigable, the glass cells making the lay out of the prison disorientating. Obviously meant to confuse anyone who did not know it’s true layout. Thankfully Twilight was an intelligent mare, and she managed to work her way through it, and memorize the way back out. Eventually she found Atom’s Cell, right next to Blade’s. They were busy trying to communicate through the glass by breathing on it and writing on it.

Twilight took note of the hoof marks on Blade’s cell, where he had obviously tried to buck his way out. This brought a pang of homesickness in her gut as it reminded her of exactly what Apple Jack would have done. She also took note of the strange engraved ‘Bracelet’ around Atom’s horn which, she presumed, was to prevent him from using magic.

She banged on the glass to Atom’s cell causing him to swivel around and look at her, relief spreading through his face as he did. Blade also looked over and smiled politely. Twilight moved over to the little radio set next to the triple key lock for the door. She pressed the little button to activate it.
“Atom, I am so sorry… I should have done something, I could have stopped them from capturing you and-“ Twilight was cut off as Atom raised a hoof.
“Twilight, it’s okay. I am glad you didn’t, now we have a way to get out if we do this right.” Atom's tone was serious, love was clear in his words. He was obviously over the moon to see her, for more reasons than one.

“Twilight, listen. There is something wrong here. Celestia shouldn’t have reacted like that/ I know her, and something is definitely wrong. I need you to find out first why that is. Try the law section of the library, I have an inkling that’s where you’ll find what you need. But this kind of thing won’t be in the normal section… you’ll have to sneak into the restricted area. Okay?” Atom explained, and waited for Twilight to nod in approval before continuing. “Alright, after that I need you to find the keys, or another means of getting us out of here before, well, before whatever the Princess decides to do, happens. Can you do that Twilight?”

Twilight smiled, happy at the thought of getting him out. At least then they could finally run away from all of this and be together. As she thought that a pang of homesickness struck her again, but she ignored it and answered Atom.
“Alright, I’ll do it… don’t worry, I’ll get you both out.” Her determination was evident. Atom nodded and gave a warm smile. He gently placed his hoof against the glass and looked at lovingly at Twilight.
“I love you Twilight Sparkle.” He said gently. Twilight blushed lightly and placed her hoof against the glass.
“And I love you Atom… I won’t let you down.”

Twilight swiveled around and galloped out of the prison, remembering the way from making her way in. She now had a goal and a target, and she was going to reach it. She thought for a moment about the librarian. She would either have to sneak past him or knock him out. Either way, he was a problem, but one easily with. Once out of the prison, after passing out of the usual guard’s line of sight, she moved quickly. She took one of the side doors out of the palace into the gardens to avoid attracting attention.

As she passed through the rows of perfectly arranged flowers she slowed her pace a little. She had to calm down. She was rushed and confused. She needed to slow and take her time… her head was a mess. She took a moment to take in what had happened, and what had to happen. Firstly, Atom was alive, but had been captured when his attempt to reason with the princess failed. Now he and the old captain of the guard were locked in the maximum security area of the prison. She managed to get that ordered and analyzed in her head, so she moved on to what she would have to do. First, she had to go and discover why Celestia was acting like this. They wouldn’t have the chance to do so again after the escape.

Second was the escape itself. She would have to find a way to get them out of the prison. There were three options: The first option being to wait until a trial was held, and break out of the court room. But that would be difficult, and would require a larger wait, not to mention would be mostly riding on luck. Better to keep that in reserve if the other attempts failed. The other two were more likely to succeed. One, to find where the keys were, possibly from Celestia, and then break them out that way. Trouble would come in getting the keys to the prison before someone realized they were gone. The other was to somehow trick the attending guard into letting them out. Again, that was difficult and left room for mistakes and luck. She couldn’t decide on either, but at least she had options.

Now that her head was now, to some extent, in order she continued on, at a bit of a slower pace. The last thing she wanted was to attract unwanted attention. She managed to sneak across the gardens without being seen, and once she was into the city she didn’t have to worry about being seen. It was about midnight now, and the streets were mostly empty, apart from the odd couple who had planned to retire early from a night out. After about half an hour of walking she reached the tower library she remembered; it had been her home for years.

Twilight took the side entrance to make it less likely she’d run into the new librarian. Once inside she sneaked through the library until she reached an old stair case. She slinked down the old spiral stairs slowly and quietly. The staircase seemed to go on forever. She had no idea how far down she now was, and the darkness was getting denser and denser, making her feel claustrophobic. She had never been down here, and had only been told that this was where the classified documents were kept and to never let anyone get into here. “When ‘I’ was Librarian I made sure the side doors were locked.” Twilight thought to herself with a mental snort of derision.

Eventually the walls around Twilight began to become visible as an apparent new light source was ahead. Twilight came to the end of the stairs to a short corridor with an old fire torch, which seemed to be sustained by magic. Very old magic. On the other side of the corridor was an iron bound wooden door with a hefty lock on it. Twilight scanned the lock for magic and found it guarded by a powerful locking spell, but this spell was also old and starting to fray around the edges, and so Twilight was easily able to pick it.

When Twilight was done the lock clicked and swung open. She lifted it from the latch and opened to door. It swung outwards, followed by a hollow moan as a huge gust of warm, stuffy air flooded out from the old catacomb. The torch flickered and danced, casting a cascade of writhing shadows against the walls. Then, as Twilight took her first step through the ancient room, row upon row of torches burst into flame in and oddly white fire. The new light source revealed the long, tall chamber covered in book cases for as far as Twilight could see.

Twilight would normally be over the moon at such a vast store of knowledge. Even now while on such an important mission she found it hard to focus. Her eyes often drifting to look at the covers before snapping back to look at the category names until finally she found the massive section on law. She quickly began to search through the sections. This problem would fall under either Treason or Magical Law, and since Magical law was what she found first she decided to search there first.

Even after narrowing down the category she was still there for several hours, searching through each book quickly. She was about to give up on this section. She sighed as she pushed the last book back into its slot in the bookcase, but then heard the unmistakeable (To Twilight at least) sound of a crumpling page as the book slid home. Twilight frowned and pulled the book back out, along with whatever had been crushed.

But as Twilight brought it closer it became evident that this wasn’t a page from any book here; it was much too old. In fact, it seemed that the page should have fallen to dust, not simply crumpled. Twilight took it over to the nearest desk, slowly and carefully spreading it to stop it from getting damaged, and then began to read over what appeared to be a letter, but the words bore text far darker than anything she had ever sent to the Princess.

As Decreed by the Shrouded Conclave:

Any who discover or unravel the true nature of magic are to be imprisoned or sentenced to death so that they may not spread the secret to those who may misuse it or spread it further. This secret cannot be allowed to become general knowledge or all those who know of it and who have worked to spread it will be charged with high treason.

Conclave Member Celestia

Twilight’s eye widened as she read the letter. What was the Shrouded Conclave? Why had she not heard of it, and why did it mention Celestia as a member? And most of all, what did this mean for Atom? These thoughts flooded her mind until she felt a breath on her neck. And then the unmistakeable voice of Princess Celestia of Equestria sounded, in a low, menacing, whispered voice. “You were always such and inquisitive young filly… always had that nasty habit of finding out things you shouldn’t have…”

End Part One: A Distant Star

Part Two: Shadows Of The Past

Part Two: Shadows Of The Past

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Well, since I seem to have lost followers from this story to the next I thought I would add this so that anypony who did not already know, finds out about the story. Shadows of the past is now out, and has six chapters up (only the first three are edited so far) at this point you silly fillies
Shadows Of The Past

I am also planning a 10000 view bonus chapter, though I am not sure when I'll get around to it