Under Lunar Wings

by JP HACK

Chapter 6: Twist

Under Lunar Wings

Chapter Six : Twist

By: JP HACK

Edited by: JP HACK

Story guided by: Shadowxrazor

Brain cells fried : 7,462,374 and counting

Alone you stand in the midst of battle. Your companions all but missing. Standing in a field surrounded by your enemy's. There is only one option remaining. You pick up your sword once more and point it at the nearest target. Its all for valor and honor or all for nothing. With the last of your strength you charge forward...- Warrior Sociology, Volume 13

Location: Twilights basement.

Time: 2:14 PM

Everyone had their mouth wide open in shock. The mane six all stared up at the multi colored Pegasus wearing his wing braces and looked at the earth pony mare with power hooves standing behind him. Nova was the first to speak with sheer joy breaking the awkwardness of the moment,

"Oh thank Luna you guys are here. I have been stuck in here for who knows how long." Lance stood there with Hammerheart scanning the area along with Novas captors. He stared at Nova and then grinned. Hammerheart then nudged Lance with a hoof.

"Are you pondering what I'm pondering Lance?"

"I think so Hammer. I think so." He then smiled at the crowd below him. "So everyone, what did he tell you?" The mares all just looked at each other in confusion. Where could this lead to? Who where these two intruders? After some murmuring amongst the girls in cloaks, Twilight came forward to speak bearing some hesitation in her voice.

"He um, just finished explaining the battle he had with this mare called Strife. And how he survived. But he still refuses to tell us anything useful...I guess?" Lance spread his wings suddenly and leaped off to land next to the mares. They all backed up away from him while Hammerheart came down the stairs to join him.

"Thank you Twilight . Now I'm sure that there's more to the story then of what he has told you." Twilight and her friends gasped in shock. How did Lance know her name?

"No need to be alarmed. We know your all the elements of harmony and your names to boot. That is common knowledge so stop acting all surprised." Rainbow Dash spoke up while having her wings flared up defensively,

"So who are you two again? And what are you doing here in the first place?!" She had a snarl on her face that looked like it could kill. Lance looked at her for only a moment to answer before turning his attention to a sorry excuse of a student, Nova.

"Now you must be, uh, Rainbow Dash? Nova should of explained who we are. I'm sorry but I'm gonna need you to back off a bit. Don't worry this interrogation is still in progress." He said with a voice of authority. He took a double take of Rainbow though. Why did she seem familiar to him though, but then thought nothing of it. Rainbow dash and the rest of her friends in the meantime all stopped and looked at Lance like he was crazy. What did he mean that the interrogation was still in progress?

"Back off? Buddy do you know who your deali-." Rainbow got cut off from the sound of a whirl that suddenly reverberated throughout the room. Everyone turned to Hammerheart who had her power hooves activated. She looked angry as her eyes met with Rainbow Dash's and snorted in anger to confirm that she was her target. Everyone backed up a couple of steps as they saw the magical swirls emanate from her hoofs. Rainbow Dash herself backed off as well not saying a word.

"Lets not make this more difficult than it is,” Lance explained, “I want everyone to move away from Nova Blade right now or face the wrath of my good friend Hammer and her power hooves. Your choice.” He trotted to the table while Hammer came close to him acting as a guard. Lance went to the opposite side of the table where Nova looked at him with a confused expression. Nova finally got his thoughts together to finally say,

"Lance what the-"

"SHADDAAAAP!" Lance yelled. "You are in no position to talk!" At that moment the lights of the room went dark until the single lamp above the table turned back on, re-making the interrogation scene once more.

"But it was an acci-” Nova suddenly got interrupted.

Lance spread his right wing out quickly and made the crossbow and braces coil up into position creating a classic cocking sound of a weapon being loaded and primed. It gleamed in the light as the metal parts shined into the the darkness. Novas eyes went wide from the sight and silenced himself immediately.

The rest of the mares all looked on in horror on what was happening. Was this how an interrogation was supposed to be like? Fluttershy nearly fainted at the same time when Lance pointed his weapons at Nova.

"I'm gonna count to three. And if you don't answer the following question in time, I'm gonna shoot your head off straight to the moon that it will, so help me goddesses, create an impact crater visible from here! Kapeesh!?” Nova gulped loudly as a bead of sweat rolled down his face. He looked at lance and saw a huge grin on his face. Hammer glanced at Lance with a concerned look before interrupting his stare down with the armored stallion.

"Um, Lance this is not what I had in mind."

"Hush mare!" Lance then looked at her shock expression and then winked immediately to calm her down. Hammerheart got the message and resumed her makeshift guard duty while looking at the now spooked mane six who were all in a corner watching. The mad light green pegasus came closer to question his friend with his crossbow still pointed straight at his face.

"So tell me Nova. Where are you from? One..two..." Nova stared at him for no longer than three seconds before answering.

"West Fillydelphia."

"How did you become Luna's personal student and warrior?"

"I really don't want to have to answer tha-" Nova got cut off as Lance fired a bolt right above his head, brushing against his horn just slightly and careening into the far side of the basement, impacting into a bunch of equipment making them into splinters. Pinkie Pie suddenly came out from out of nowhere with a big sign that read 'miss' before returning to her friends. Twilight instantly yelled,

"My experiments! Are you crazy?! That cost a lot of bits you..." She stopped as soon as she met Lances hard stare. The same kind of stare that the next shot won't miss its intended target which could be the purple unicorn at any moment. Twilight just glared at him with a pissed off look but really didn't want to further damage her lab by attacking him.

Nova meanwhile looked at Lance in absolute horror while he mumbled something about his horn.

"Lance, seriously how long since you last had a drink?" Asked Nova with some sincerity.

"Way too bucking long! Moving on. Why couldn't you beat Strife?"

"I don't know, she was my old friend, I couldn't bring myself to actually kill her or Injure her myself."

"Well you should've finished the job. She claimed her next victim and now has a third cutie mark because of you." The rest of the mares all gasped at hearing that. "Hammerheart, give him the letter from Luna." Lances eyes narrowed as he looked at Nova, "It explains our now 'failed' mission that she originally gave us." He motioned for Hammerheart to give him the letter.

She took it out of her small saddle bag she had with her and hoofed it over to him. Lance laid it out on the table for Nova to read. Nova looked at the document and mumbled how he hated reading with a burning passion of a thousand suns.

...

Dear Nova blade and friends,

As my most trustworthy and gifted student such as yourself, you are no doubt ready for this next task. Time is of the essence as this mission could cost pony's lives if action was not to be taken. I ask that you and your friends leave at once to capture this 'cutie mark stealer.' You will most likely find this individual around Fillydelphia. Please make your plans accordingly and any travel expenses will be paid for, including your required amount of sweet rolls. I have trained you well to make you a great warrior and powerful student of mine. I trust you will make the right decisions as you see fit.

Signed, princess Luna.

P.S. please for the love of Faust herself. Lay off the sweet rolls. Its kinda disturbing that you can eat that many.

...

Nova Blade finished reading the letter. He put his head down in shame. Lance caught on to his feelings with a smirk and backed away. He folded up his wing braces and crossbows concealing them once more.

"You have failed lunas mission Nova." Lance then put a hoof on his shoulder. "Not only you have failed us but you have failed the princess herself. How does this make you feel?" Nova's mood changed dramatically to almost to the point of tears. He barely let out a muffled sniffing response.

"It makes me feel like a pile of horse crap."

"And?"

"I need to fix this mess."

"Dare I say. And?"

"I'm sorry?" Lance broke his hard gaze against the now pathetic looking Nova and looked towards Hammerheart who stood silently like a sentry, watching the mares with a stoic look. He cleared his throat to get Hammer's attention.

"Yeah Lance?"

"Who would win in a fight? Nova or Strife?"

"Ugh, Strife clearly won the last battle. Why you ask?"

"Cause as I recall. During our training a while back, do you remember a certain weapon that could cut through practically anything?" Hammerheart thought for a moment before pointing to Nova's axe.

"Yeah. Mr. Stupid and his axe here could cut a magic shield down in three swipes rendering the user defenseless." Her eyes went wide in sudden realization and fought the urge to facehoof. The mares in the background all held their breaths so to speak, awaiting her answer. "Oh my goddess. Nova you didn't."

"Yep. He did." Lance said rather dramatically. He went up to Nova and slammed his hoofs on the table. "You left the goddess damn safety on didn't you!?" Nova gave a sheepish smile and nodded. Lance's face suddenly turned red with anger and flared up his wings again which made the braces extend further than normal. The crossbows both pointed at him as he edged closer menacingly.

"What the buck Nova! Seriously?!"

"But I Ha-"

"Enough excuses! You could of got us killed with your hesitation! Why would you have a magical sheath on the blades of your weapon I'll never bucking know." He facehoofed and dragged his hoof down his face. He calmed down quite suddenly and folded up his wings once more. Nova only watched as Lance went to Hammerheart's saddle bag and pulled out a bottle of White Pegasus, the hardest drink in all of Equestria, with an alcohol content of nearly 95%, and opened the bottle.

"Seriously, sometimes you drive me to drink. Quite bucking literally." He took a quick swig of the drink and started heading up the stairs. "Come on Hammer, lets go back to canterlot. We got the information we need for now. And lets go get some sweet rolls or something I'm starving. And remind me to inform the princess that we found her personal idiot." Hammerheart then turned and waved a hoof towards Nova.

"See ya Novey. Well be at the train station awaiting the 3 o'clock train. Normally we would fly back but Lance got way too many tickets for flying under the influence. When you're ready we'll be waiting for you there." She gave a wink and then followed the now pissed off pegasus and left. Wait, what were these sweet rolls that they spoke of? The mane six all just stood there staring at Nova wondering what he will do next. What the hell was all that about? Why didn't they even bother to take him back with him if they were looking for him the first place? And what did they mean when Hammerheart said "we'll be waiting for you there?" And who is gonna pay for a replacement door? Sometimes, the answers to those questions could be found with even more questions!

The mares all then turned to each other and then looked at Nova whose head was now face down on the table in sadness. Some friends he had to leave him still tied up. He then stifled a tear back and spoke in a soft voice.

"Am I a bad pony?" The mares did not answer for a long minute. Applejack took the initiative to speak first to the depressed pony in armor.

"Ta be perfectly honest. No. How could ya if you are Lunas student?" Applejack nudged Twilight to continue. She nodded and spoke in a soft tone.

"This. Um. Wow. Lunas personal student? How come Celestia herself didn't tell me or us for that matter?" Nova picked his head up and just stared out into empty space. His mind focused for once and then spoke.

"Twilight. Its quite simple to answer your questions. I was never supposed to meet any of you and this was supposed to be a secret from the sun goddess herself. But that all backfired on me in an instant." Rarity spoke next in a soothing tone.

"Well darling, thats nothing to be ashamed of. We all do mistakes from time to time. Isn't that right girls?" The rest of the mares all nodded.

"No. Its not a 'simple' mistake this time,” Nova explained, “Uh Rarity right?" She nodded in confirmation. "Luna is gonna kill me or send me to the bucking moon for all this. A crazy pony whom used to be my friend which I have no intention on eliminating or capturing is out loose trying to take over equestria and on top of that, I have royally messed up Lunas will to keep this all a secret from you guys and her sister." The mares only waited for him to continue but he resumed staring out into empty space not saying a word. Twilight told Dash to turn the lights back on. With the lights fully illuminating the basement everyone could finally see around them, including the damage that Lance did when he shot that bolt at Nova. Nova pouted and said nothing as the still spaced out in deep thought. His axe didn’t move or glow for the same time that Nova was acting all depressed and sad. Twilight kinda felt sorry for him but decided to ask some more questions to fill her desire to learn more about him and maybe gather information about Luna that she didn't already know.

"Wait what do you mean kill? Did you actually hurt ponies?" Asked Twilight. Nova only turned his eyes to look at the purple unicorn.

"Im a guard or in this case, Lunas personal warrior and student. Its part of what I am and how I was raised. Even though Equestria is in peace on the outside there is still conflict that happens on the inside. I have indeed hurt some ponies but never killed. That part is only under the direction of the princess herself. But in this case she didn't specify!" Novas voice grew a tad louder, "and now I have to track Strife down before she comes after you guys." Twilight listened and nodded. Applejack said nothing and looked away from the gaze of Nova. Rarity made a huff sound and murmured under her breath something along the lines of 'ruffian.' Pinkie Pie for once actually did nothing as nothing good or funny could be said about Nova at this moment. Fluttershy was hugging Dash in fright and making squeaking noises. Twilight put a hoof up to point at Nova.

"So what do you mean that Strife might come after us?" Nova shifted in position and looked at her with his head tilted to the right like he was saying ‘the fuq?’

"Your serious right? Strife steals cutie marks. You are the embodiment of the elements of harmony. That means that the elements themselves are within you and are representative according to your cutie marks. If she steals all six cutie marks then we are so screwed because then she can use the elements of harmony and overthrow the princesses with its power even without using the friendship aspect." Twilight was baffled at his statement. Do cutie marks have that kind of power? She should've studied this when she had the chance before the interrogation.

"Wait a minute, we are not in danger are we?" Asked Rarity. Nova nodded and continued,

"Not if I can help it. But in a sense, yes. Thats why I was running from all of you to hurry and defeat Strife right away. It was a good thing too that I recognised all of you in the first place otherwise you all wouldn't be standing here now intact and injury free." Nova looked at his axe for a moment before continuing. "Though I have to say I'm eternally grateful to all of you but especially to you Twilight." Twilight gave a slight blush.

"It was the right thing to do. Any one of my friends would have done the same." Twilight turned to her friends, "isn't that right girls?"

"Oh yes, of course." Cooed Rarity

"Yup" Answered Applejack.

"You betcha." Said Pinkie Pie. Fluttershy and Dash said nothing but only nodded. Nova smiled at their reactions but then frowned. "Girls thanks for the kind gesture but now that all this information is out in the open, will you keep all this a secret from Celestia?" Twilight thought for a moment and responded with,

"I dunno, you put us all throu-" She got cut off as Nova suddenly made his horn flare. He yelled in pain as he increased power to his horn making it glow brighter. The magic inhibitor started to crack and spark until it finally broke apart and fell on the floor. Twilight and the gang all backed up from the sight. As soon as Nova broke the inhibitor he teleported in a flash just next to the table. The mares all had their mouths open in pure surprise. Twilight herself never got out of a magic inhibitor unless she deactivated it with a remote. Nova stood there with his horn smoking and smiled with a wide grin.

"I knew I could trust you guys. Now If you excuse me..." He grabbed his axe with his magic ripping the rope that bound it and placed the weapon on his back. "I feel alot better now as this little interrogation gave me the time needed to recharge my magic power back to around 78 percent, so now I can go join my friends and go back to Canterlot to formulate a plan to defeat Strife." He then winked at them and disappeared in a flash of blue and purple.

"You have got to be kidding me." Twilight said. She turned around to look back at her friends, "What the heck just happened?" Pinkie raised a hoof with a quick response.

"A teleport?"

Everypony faced hoofed.

"Celestia damnit Pinkie." Rainbow groaned. "Now I think I need a drink too."

End of Chapter 6

Reader has gained
+1 DEX
+3 LUK
+9001 (haxor!) INT

New Skill Learned

Overload - For a temporary time, you can overload your horn to break barriers, spells, and magic inhibitors. Uses 4000 Magic Power and requires the total magic power to be above 50,000 to use. 24 hour cool down period after use.

Author's Note:

Okay I wrote an outline and everytime I write an outline the first 5 sentences of that outline turn up to be 3k words or more. Otherwise I see a long time ahead of me before I even come up with an ending or get even close to writing one. If you see ANY grammatical mistakes on this chapter. Feel free to hit me in the back of the head with any method you see fit. Shout out to Shadowxrazor for providing the ideas and the necessary components to make this story not so crappy. Even though its me who came up with them, hes just ADDING more to this ridiculously LONG story. DAMN HIM! Also special thanks to my little brother who is now my editor and pre reader. HES 13 YEARS OLD AND BETTER AT GRAMMAR THEN ME. Seriously, wut the fuq?