//------------------------------// // Chapter 2 // Story: Of Stars and Darkness // by Harmonic_Chaos //------------------------------// Gazer slowly opened his eyes. The sun shone through the windows of the old tree house. he looked around the room, and didn’t see anypony else. He decided that since nopony else appeared to be awake, he would stay lying down for a bit. But he was suddenly startled by a loud crashing sound. He quickly looked around the room for the source of the disturbance. He saw that a pile of books had fallen onto the floor, but, there was something moving beneath it. A few seconds later, a small, purple dragon popped out from the mess. Gazer could only guess that this was Twilight’s assistant. “Ugh! Twilight! How many books do you have to read at once?” the dragon groaned. Not long after, Twilight came down from the flight of stairs that lead to her bedroom. “Spike, you know I find it easier to read them all at once than to read them one at a time.” Twilight said. Twilight turned her attention to Gazer. “Oh, good morning Gazer!” Twilight greeted Gazer. Gazer yawned, “Good morning Twilight.” “Sorry if Spike woke you up, he can be a bit clumsy.” Twilight said with an embarrassed look on her face. “It’s fine,” Gazer said reassuringly. “I was just waking up.” Gazer gave another loud yawn when his stomach growled. Twilight giggled at the noise. “Pardon me,” Gazer said. “but do you know where I can get something for breakfast?” Twilight nodded. “Don’t worry, I’ll make us a salad.” Twilight walked into the kitchen with Gazer following. Her magic engulfed a few bowls from the shelves at which the dishes were placed. As they gently floated onto the table, a bag of flowers came after. With the bag being held in the air, Twilight gently tipped it downwards. Flowers fell out of the bag and into the bowls. Ready to begin eating, Gazer nearly brought his mouth to the flowers, when he noticed Twilight hadn’t sat down to eat yet. Wanting to make a good impression, Gazer waited for Twilight to join him. Once she began to eat, he did as well. After breakfast, Gazer decided it was time to start researching some more. “So Twilight, are you ready to do some reading?” Gazer asked. Twilight smiled. “Always!” She said happily. After cleaning up the dishes, Gazer and Twilight trotted out of the kitchen and into the library. Gazer picked out one of the books from the massive collection, and sat down on the couch to read. Twilight, looking for a book in another section of the library, glanced towards Gazer. Such a gentlecolt. She thought. Twilight had already found a few books of the right sort, and sat down to start her studying. Most of the information she had found helped Gazer put together pieces of info he had already accumulated. They found some interesting facts about the cult. They were called the “Malevolents”. They practiced witchcraft, sorcery, and other kinds of black magic. They worshipped a mythical alicorn, which they called the “Patriarch”. They believed that the Patriarch would bring them good fortune, only if they destroyed those who opposed them, in the name of their idol. The Malevolents weren’t merciful to any of their enemies. They destroyed entire cities, burned forests, and tortured the ones they captured. This brought shivers down Gazer’s spine. How could anypony be this evil? He thought. He took the medallion out of his bag, which lay on the floor next to the couch. He used his magic to levitate the medallion in front of him. What is your significance? He pondered at the medallion. Gazer began to feel sick. Now that he thought about it, he hadn’t felt well ever since this all happened. Ever since he saw his parents that day, where they lay broken and lifeless, he felt something change inside him, and not for the better. He thought he could handle a problem such as this, but who was he kidding? He could do a simple problem with mathematics and such, but on scale of murder investigation, that was a different story. Perhaps that’s why he sought out somepony like Twilight, somepony that was used to solving problems like this. Gazer felt an abnormal expression form on his face. An expression of worry. Twilight stopped searching through the collection of books, and looked to Gazer. She noticed the expression on his face, and couldn’t help but to think that the studying was starting to bother him, and decided to stop. “Even though I love reading, I think we should take a break for now.” she said. Twilight couldn’t help but to be worried about Gazer. His parents just died, She thought. Now he’s trying his best to find out what caused it. I wish I could comfort him in some way. Twilight trotted close to Gazer. He was still reading through a book. Twilight wanted to get his attention somehow, but she didn’t want to be rude about it. So she sat down next to Gazer on the couch. Gazer paid no attention to her, as he was deep into his studies. I have to say something. Twilight thought. “So, Gazer…” Twilight said sheepishly Gazer took his eyes off the book and looked to Twilight. “Yeah?” Gazer asked. Twilight was nervous. She always talked to her friends and helped them with their problems, but this was different. Gazer was new, she hadn’t know him as long as she knew her friends. Besides, he was… a colt, she hardly ever talked to any ponies of the opposite gender. “How’s the research going?” Twilight asked. “So far so good. I’m getting some good information on this cult of the, “Malevolents”, quite the gruesome group I’d say.” Gazer answered. “Can I… talk to you about something?” Twilight asked. “Sure, go ahead.” Gazer said. “Well,…” I don’t know how to say this without being intrusive. Twilight thought. “Can we talk about your parents?” Twilight said apprehensively. Gazer thought for a moment. Then said, “Of course.” Twilight let out a sigh of relief. Thank goodness, she thought. “I was just wondering how you were holding up about the whole situation.” “Well, it’s kind of a lot to take in, you know? First, my parents die, then there’s a chance their deaths are linked to a cult? Not something you’d expect.” “I know what you mean,” Twilight said, carrying on the conversation. “When the princess told me I was supposed to leave Canterlot and make friends, I didn’t think I could do it.” Twilight looked him in the eyes reassuringly. “Everything turned out okay though, I learned that I could overcome any large problem, with the help of my friends of course.” Gazer looked down for a second. Twilight became concerned. “What’s wrong?” She asked. Gazer looked at her deeply. “So, you think everything is going to be okay?” They stared at each other for several seconds. “Yes.” Twilight replied. Twilight felt her heart pound. What was this feeling she had? She felt warm, like she was bathing in warm honey. She couldn’t help but to notice how handsome Gazer was. His black mane was sleek and shiny, his coat was a beautiful midnight blue, and his eyes just seemed to hypnotize Twilight. She just stared at him, just thinking about him. Nothing else in the world mattered right now, she just wanted to keep staring at him. Then suddenly, her stupor was interrupted by a noise. “Eh-hem!” Spike said loudly. Twilight snapped into attention. “Oh! What is it Spike?” “We’re supposed to be shopping for writing supplies, remember?” Spike said. Twilight facehoofed. “I completely forgot! So sorry Spike!” She jumped to her hooves. “Sorry Gazer, we’ll be back later.” Twilight apologized. She trotted out the door, with Spike following. After the door shut behind them, Gazer sat there, wondering what had just happened between him and Twilight. “Real smooth Gazer, just stare at her...” Gazer said out loud to himself. He hadn’t noticed what he was doing until Spike came into the room. He was more embarrassed now that Twilight and he shared what he thought of as a, “moment”. They had stared at each other for an extensive amount of time, not saying anything at all. Gazer didn’t know if Twilight was thinking the same thing about what had happened. Does she think I’m creepy for staring at her? He thought. He wanted her to feel the same way as he did when he first met her, how his heart pounded and how he got nervous when she got close to him. How when he looked at her, he couldn’t help but to notice how beautiful she was. He wanted her… to love him.