//------------------------------// // Chapter Two // Story: Broken Knowledge // by LucidTech //------------------------------//         Twilight thought she would be okay with this, she honestly was perfectly fine with the idea. And that had lasted for a long period of time, all the way until she had gotten into bed. It was around that time that paranoia had set in, however, and Twilight now found herself unable to sleep. She had recurring, waking, nightmares about the monster downstairs. Something she had every right to. Her ears were strained as she listened to every creaking sound that echoed through the building, listening for the attack that might very well come.         It was in this state that she heard the sound of metal striking against metal. It wasn’t nearby, but the sheer fact of how unexpected and unique the sound was made Twilight jolt up in her bed. She looked towards the door in a panic, her ears still straight up and waiting for any sound that might follow. That was when she heard the sound of running water filling a pot, a sound that most certainly hadn’t been expected. The sound eventually stopped and silence took the house, only occasionally challenged by the rogue sounds of creaking wood.         Her curiosity eventually overwhelmed her and she slowly slipped out of bed. Her hooves gently descended until they rested securely upon the wooden floorboards comfortably and she took a moment to perform some minor stretches. She was interrupted by another sound and she looked toward the door to her room expectantly, as if expecting the creature to come barreling through with a knife in his mouth. But, as the logical part of the unicorn’s mind had predicted, nothing happened.         Cautiously, Twilight moved towards the door and opened it. Her eyes peered through the crack from every angle she could manage, getting as good a look as she could of the other side of the threshold. When she was certain it was devoid of flesh eating bipeds, she ventured further out into the hall. The steady rhythmic sound of stirring met her ears and she began to make her way towards the kitchen, every step accompanied by paranoid glances in all possible directions.         Upon reaching her destination, she was quite surprised by what she saw. The biped glanced at her for a moment, the same careless eyes staring at her, through her, past her. She shivered unconsciously, but the being didn’t seem to care and he went back to stirring the pot in front of him. Twilight looked on at the odd scene, the alien merely stood there, not bothering to care about what she was going to do. Looking for all the world as if he didn’t have a care in the least.         His coat was distinctly missing, revealing a simple white shirt that hung loosely on his frame, obscuring his body frame. His hair had lost some of it’s perk and had fallen closer to his forehead. Under the light of the kitchen Twilight could see on his face a variety of lines, some of which appeared to be from constant smiling, a habit he had given up a while ago no doubt. In addition to his face, the lighting changed his appearance in many other ways, as was to be expected, but he still had those same empty eyes.         “What are you doing?” Twilight asked, blinking a few times to make sure she wasn’t just imagining it. She doubted it was, but a girl can hope can’t she?         “Cooking,” he deadpanned in return.         Twilight gave him a moment to continue, when he didn’t she saw it fit to try and continue it herself. “Ok, why?”         “I couldn’t sleep. So I was bored. When I’m bored I eat. I didn’t like the raw veggies you had stored so I decided to make an actual meal.” He glanced at her. “My turn now. Why are you awake.”         “Ah,” Twilight felt a nervous jolt run through her body. She didn’t want to admit to the creature she was scared of it, especially given it’s hostile temperament. “Well when you started cooking the noise woke me up,” she said, trying to sound confident and assured of her answer.         “You’re a terrible liar, Twilight.” He answered back immediately. “But I don’t care enough to try and force the answer from you. So, if you want that to be your answer, I’ll pretend to go along with it,” he said emptily. “I’m very sorry to have awoken you, I was trying to be as quiet as possible but it appears I failed. Anything I can do to make it up to you?” He kept his eyes on the pot in front of him, never bothering to look towards the unicorn who stood not far away.         “I suppose, since you're offering, some of that soup would be nice.”         “Already making enough for two.”         “Ah, how fortunate.” Twilight said with a smile. “I like to call it being prepared, but that’s just me.” If Twilight were forced to pick one word to describe the man, she would have picked ‘dead’. Which was odd, when she thought about it. He was intelligent, clearly alive. So why would the lack of emotions alone cause her to think of him as dead? Were they really that important to any sentient creature? She was broken from her thoughts as the creature filled two bowls with the soup. He kept his eyes on his hands as he did the work, but his thoughts were far from the little kitchen. They were downstairs, in the pocket of his coat, next to little metal casings filled with powder. Shaking his head, he walked over to the table and placed both bowls on the table. “Soup’s on,” he said with as little enthusiasm as possible, then proceeded to his seat. Without waiting for Twilight to join him, he began to eat the food. Slurping the soup as he went. Twilight silently joined him, and lifted the spoon with a steady flow of magic. She sat for a while, looking hesitantly at the soup, but she soon began to eat,  albeit at a much slower pace. “Thanks for the soup, it’s quite tasty.” She said, her enthusiasm draining into the air as if sucked out by the vacuum that the being brought with him wherever he went. “I get bored a lot,” he said in explanation, busying himself with the task of idly moving his spoon through his soup. Silence, lynched by the lack of discussion, hung in the air. Twilight felt uncomfortable, looking at the creature that sat across from her. She realized how hasty she had been when she offered to help him, and now began to wonder if it would have been best for her just to let him leave. She quickly shook that thought from her mind. She was certain this was the correct path for her to take. She couldn’t, in good conscious, leave any creature to kill itself. Her determination surged back to it’s full strength, reassuring her decision and calming her mind. “You’re taking this whole thing quite well,” the creature said to her, having finished his soup with unhealthy speed. “Alien in your house that you don’t know nor trust. I must admit this is not what I anticipated.” He glanced up at her. “There’s certainly more to Twilight Sparkle than I ever could have guessed.” “You know my name,” Twilight said, not entirely surprised by the revelation. He did, after all, know where she lived. As well as her habits and actions to some extent. “Of course. Everyone does.” He said. “Honored student of Princess Celestia of Equestria. Sister of Shining Armor, Captain of the guard, who recently married Princess Cadence, who has quite a lot of importance as well, though not necessarily at this particular juncture.” “You know quite a lot about my relations.” Twilight said, feeling on edge once again. “I pretend to.” He responded. “But I know next to nothing about who they actually are.” “I see.” Twilight eyed the man and, much to her surprise, he held her gaze, staring back. It didn’t hold the same cold feeling she had grown accustomed to, rather it seemed kind and apologetic. “I’m...” His tone was clearly indicating the next word. But, in the end, he couldn’t bring himself to say it. “James.” He answered eventually, looking the unicorn eye to eye. “Hello James.” The unicorn smiled. “I’m Twilight Sparkle.” The mare thought for a moment that she saw a smile on James's face, but it was gone before she could tell for sure. “Yes, you certainly are.”