//------------------------------// // Chapter Seven: Secrets and Lies // Story: A Distant Star // by Dr Atom Discharge //------------------------------// 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…” -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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!