//------------------------------// // Chapter Two: Supernova // Story: A Distant Star // by Dr Atom Discharge //------------------------------// 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!