He stepped out from the train cart that he had arrived in. Star Gazer was hesitant at first, not knowing how the ponies in this town were, or how helpful they could be. He hoped they would be kind enough to help him with his situation. He took out the strange medallion he found from his saddlebag and stared at it. He couldn’t help but to think of his parents, and their sudden departure from this world. Star Gazer hadn’t even had time to say goodbye to them before that tragic day. The last time he saw them, alive that is, was when they had him over for a family dinner. Since Star Gazer was always out researching at universities and colleges, he never had time to visit his family. Sure he would write them a few letters just to keep them satisfied, but eventually his parents would plead him to visit them. Even though he loved his parents, they could be very embarrassing when it came to visits. They would invite their friends over to meet their son and talk about how proud they are of him and his research.
Quite often, they would invite young mares, about Gazer’s age, over to meet him. This embarrassed him the most. The mares would giggle at Gazer’s pathetic attempts to make small talk. He wasn’t a charmer, he was a researcher. Though he would like to have a significant other, most mares were too dull to understand his research. When trying to explain his work to some mares, they would just stand there with a puzzled look on their face. He wished there was a mare out there that would have the same intellect as he, but he didn’t hold his breath for such fantasies.
One night, after a meal with his parents, Gazer was talking to his father about recent events, when his mother took out his old foal pictures. His mother showed a few mares the album, and they giggled away.Gazer couldn’t take it anymore, he stormed out of their house, leaving without saying goodbye.
He regretted doing that.
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As he ventured onto the streets of Ponyville, Star Gazer couldn’t help to be nervous. He hadn’t been much of a talker, but he managed to carry on conversations for as long as necessary. Hopefully he wouldn’t run into any talkative ponies. He looked around at the buildings that lined the streets. They were cottage like buildings, most likely homes to the ponies that roamed the streets. Gazer noticed one building in particular, named “Sugarcube Corner”. He figured the owners must know someone who could help him.
He stepped inside, and saw what must have been the baker’s latest creation. A large cake, about five meters in height, and two meters in diameter. The desert was covered in every delicious topping that could go on such a delicious sweet. The entire thing consisted of one color: pink. Star turned away though, he was tempted to take a slice, but he wouldn’t make a fool of himself. He spotted a light blue mare with a triple cupcake cutie mark. Her mane reminded him of frozen yogurt.
“Hello there,” she greeted, “I’m Mrs. Cake, how can I help you Mr. . .?”
“Gazer,” he replied, “ Star Gazer. I’m looking for someone who could help me with a problem.”
“What kind of problem?” Mrs. Cake asked.
“A. . . personal problem.”
“Ah, well, you could ask Pinkie Pie for help, but i’m afraid she’s out being. . . Pinkie. Though, she has a friend that lives down the street from here! She’s a student of Princess Celestia herself! If she can’t help you, I doubt anyone can. She lives in the old library in the tree, you can’t miss it!”
“Alright then, thank you, Mrs. Cake.” Gazer said.
He stepped outside and made his way for the old library. Gazer hoped that this pony could help. He wasn’t sure if he was just being a worry-wart, or if he was nervous about meeting this pony. Hopefully, he’ll get along with the pony just fine.
Gazer was close to the tree house, just about thirty meters away. He noticed how the lights were on inside, so the pony was home. As he approached the door to the house, he swallowed hard. He brought his right hoof up to the door, and gave it three solid knocks. A few seconds later, the door gently opened, and he came face to face with...
. . .her.
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She was such a beautiful pony. Gazer never thought he’d ever see a mare like her in his life. Her lavender coat, her perfectly combed mane; she was a sight to see. The library in her home suggests that she’s an intuitive pony. She must study on a daily basis. Then again, she was Princess Celestia’s student after all. He doubted anypony could counter her intellect.
“Hello there! I’m Twilight Sparkle, who are you?”
She spoke with such fluency, yet she did it with ease. This intimidated Gazer. Would she make fun of him for not being as smart as she? He hoped for the best.
“My name is Star Gazer.”
There was a long, awkward pause between the two, until Twilight said,
“Is there something I can help you with?”
“Well, you see,” Gazer started, “I just recently found out about my parents untimely deaths.”
“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that.” Twilight said.
“Well, thank you and all, but the problem isn’t the deaths themselves.”
Gazer took out a clear plastic bag from his saddle bag using his magic, a midnight blue aura encircling the bag.
“I found this, um… medallion on their bodies.”
The medallion resembled an alicorn, holding a spear in its mouth, as if to resemble anarchy, revolution, and revolt. It was a shiny metal, but some of it was smudged with dirt and dust. The parts that weren’t mucked shone in Gazer’s magic.
“I’m not sure what it is, and I don’t know why my parents would be holding this when they died.”
“So, you suspect somepony planted them on your parents’ bodies?” Twilight inquired.
“Maybe.” Gazer responded. “I wanted your help before I did anything else with this. Is it possible you could search your archives for anything that could give us a clue as to what it is?”
“Of course!” Twilight said with a grimace. She must really enjoy her studies Gazer thought. To jump at a problem with such delight must be part of her personality.
After almost 2 hours of Twilight’s intensive research, Gazer decided to give her a hoof. As he searched through the books that lined the wall, he couldn’t help but to watch her. She was so very beautiful in his eyes. He thought that she could outshine the princess herself. He loved how her mane flowed with the grace of a velvet cover, how her eyes resembled purple sapphires, and how her body was finely tuned. His eyes slowly traveled across her body, going lower and lower.
Wow, Gazer thought to himself, she even has a nice fl-
“I found something!” Twilight said, as she spun around to face Gazer. They stood for a moment, looking awkwardly at each other. Gazer broke the silence, blushing.
“Oh! Um, thank you!” Gazer said sheepishly.
He read the title on the cover: “Ancient Races and Cultures”.
“What do ancient races and cultures have to do with this?” Gazer asked.
“Well, read chapter six, and look for section sixteen.” Twilight replied.
Gazer skittered through the pages using his magic. Once he found the page he was looking for, he read over the information. It spoke of an ancient clan, and how it overthrew its leader, paving a way for death and destruction throughout the land. Under the clan’s reign of terror, Equestria was put into a time called “The Cessation” or “The Ending”, for everypony thought that it surely was the end of times. But the most recognizable thing on the page was the same exact medallion that Gazer had found on his parents’ bodies. He could only imagine what this could mean. There’s no way his parents’ deaths were connected to some old cult.
“So, are you saying some kind of ancient, evil clan killed my parents?” Gazer asked.
“I’m not sure, but there is definitely a connection between the two.” Twilight said.
“Well, do you have any books on “The Cessation” or whatever?”
Twilight smiled. “You may not know this about me yet, Star, but I have books on almost every subject known to ponykind.”
Gazer blushed a bit. She called him by his first name, when usually everypony called him by his last name. It was different, but it felt good. A special kind of good.
Twilight began to search through her books again. Gazer gave out a small sigh, knowing that this would probably take as long as the previous search. He took notice of the time, it was getting very late, and he was starting to feel sleepy. Oh no you don’t Gazer. Not in the presence of a lady! He thought to himself. He couldn’t help but notice how his leg was beginning to ache, which only pressed him towards falling asleep. He looked for a chair or something to sit on. He eyed a particularly comfortable looking sofa nearby. No, no, no! Not while she is trying to help you! You lazy bum! Wake up! What would mother say to you if you did such a thing?! he mentally shouted at himself. But he couldn’t help it. A rested mind meant a better mind. But what pony didn’t like to sleep?
Gazer slowly moved to the sofa, and sat down. Eyes beginning to close, he slowly dozed off into a deep sleep.
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Gazer awoke, but not on the comfy sofa he fell asleep on, but on a hard stone floor. He shot up, looking around, trying to find out where in the world he was. He suddenly caught a glimpse of a strange figure. It was dark, so the figure was almost impossible to make out, but he decided to call out to it.
“Hello? Where am I? Who are you?”
The figure replied.
“Your destiny awaits, Star Gazer.”
Gazer couldn’t help but be even more puzzled as to what was going on.
“Um, what are you talking about? And how do you know my name? Answer me!”
The figure stood motionless.
“The time will come when you will rise to the challenge, and defeat the darkness that threatens us all.”
Gazer was starting to become irritated. The figure was not answering his questions and was instead rambling on about ‘destiny’ and ‘darkness’. Even though Gazer was normally a patient colt, he was in a cold, mysterious place, which was not where he wanted to be.
“Look, I just want out of here.” Gazer told the figure.
The figure remained still.
“Be strong, young hero, and you will overcome death itself.”
The figure slowly faded away. Gazer panicked and trotted towards the figure in order to catch it.
“No! Come back!”
He was suddenly cast down a hole, barreling towards nothing but darkness.
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Gazer slowly regained his consciousness. He opened his eyes to meet Twilight’s. Gazer jumped up from his position and tried to regain his bearings, while slightly blushing about the fact that Twilight was staring at him.
“Am I… am I back?” He asked.
“Um, I suppose so.” Twilight replied. “But, it’s not like you really went anywhere, you were just asleep.”
“I had some kind of… vision or dream. A dark, shadowy figure told me that I was to, ‘Rise to the challenge and defeat the darkness’.”
Twilight looked perplexed.
“Have you been drinking some of Pinkie Pie’s special brew at all?” Twilight asked.
Gazer glared at her.
“Haha, very funny, Twilight,” Gazer retorted with a witty remark. “I’m being serious though, I was there! I was standing in front of it the whole time!”
Twilight had a look of pity on her face.
“Maybe you haven’t had much sleep. If you want, you can stay here for the night. That way we can continue our research bright and early tomorrow!” Twilight smiled.
Gazer became frustrated. Great she doesn’t believe me, He gave a mental sigh. Maybe I am just imagining things. Gazer thought about what the figure said. ‘Hero’. What did that mean? And what were all those cryptic messages about? He decided to shake it off and go back to sleep. A restless sleep.
Author's Note: Sorry this took so long, I really wanted it to be proofread and fleshed out before I posted it. Hopefully you guys found this interesting!