The Apprentice, the Student, and the Charlatan

by Rytex


Practical Applications

The Apprentice, the Student, and the Charlatan
Chapter 08 - Practical Applications

Music will feature in this chapter, as well as future chapters. Due to a policy implemented in a different story, music will feature in the form of embedded YouTube videos from here onward. In the event of linked text, such as here, right click and open a new tab.


*belch*

“SPIKE!” barked Twilight, glaring at him from the top of the morning newspaper she was reading.

“Sorry Twilight,” Spike grinned sheepishly, before setting down his Pony-Cola.

“If you’re gonna do this every time I let you have soda in the mornings, I won’t let you have it very often. And especially not if you keep forgetting to brush your teeth!”

She folded up the paper, obviously no longer in the mood to read it, and set it on the table they were sitting at. Spike was munching away at a breakfast sandwich, while Twilight had already eaten. Or maybe she hadn’t. Spike couldn’t tell anymore. She seemed just a bit more irritable lately. and may not actually have been eating for some reason or another. At least, not eating much.

Something had to have happened on that trip to Trottingham that got Twilight like this. Hay, Trixie wasn’t even with them, and neither she nor Nova seemed to want to talk about it. And they didn’t say why they had gone to Canterlot for a whole week afterward.

Not that Spike minded. After all, that gave him much more quality time to schmooze Rarity (he was definitely gaining ground there; she had stopped rolling her eyes every time he said a particularly smooth pickup line).

But for some reason, Twilight came back different. And Nova almost seemed like he didn’t come back at all. He hadn’t said so much as a word to Spike or Twilight that he had seen since they had come back. Instead, Nova had plodded his way downstairs to his basement room and locked the door.

That was a week ago. Spike had only seen him outside the basement all of twice. Once, he was heading to the loo, and the other time was when he had woken up late and found Nova raiding the fridge. Both times, Nova had acted like Spike wasn’t there, just did his thing, and returned to his basement..

Whatever he was doing down there was affecting Twilight, too.

Now, Spike was a very sophisticated young drake. And he was smarter than the average dragon, considering he grew up with Twilight and, like it or not, some of her lessons had started to sink in. He actually had big, important things to do. And sometimes, those required him to be out and about.

Maybe Nova and Twilight talked then…?

It didn’t seem like it. Whenever he got back, it always seemed like Nova and Twilight had done no talking, and that was making Twilight more and more touchy.

Suddenly, Spike could feel a familiar spring of magical energy well up inside of him, and opened his mouth.

*belch*

“SPIKE!”

But Twilight’s bark died off as she saw the letter materialize. Surprisingly, however, it had his name on it as opposed to Twilight’s, and the seal was Princess Luna’s.

“Huh?” Spike blinked. “What’s Princess Luna sending me a letter for?”

“I dunno,” Twilight returned to whatever book she was reading.

Spike,

I must inform you that I am sending a letter to you meant for Nova and Twilight Sparkle. Said letter will feature a spell designed to subconsciously make whomever reads it to speak the words aloud, and the word on the page will be a self-sleeping spell. I need to speak to them both personally and privately, and a dream is the best way to do so. As soon as the next letter arrives, which should be in approximately one minute, have Nova read it. As soon as he falls asleep, Twilight will undoubtedly pick it up and read it, so wait to dispose of the letter until after they have both fallen asleep.

Yours,
Princess Luna

P.S. A paint brush with black paint will be included in the third letter, to come after the second one has been sent. I am sure you may know of a use for it.

Spike could already feel the Grinch-esque grin spreading across his face at that last line. Before he could say or do anything, however, the magical spring came again.

*belch*

Twilight almost screamed in frustration from her book, even as Spike caught the letter.

“It’s for Nova,” he said, getting up and walking over to the door to Nova’s room.

Before he could raise his hand and knock, however, the door was pushed open of its own accord, and out stepped the stallion of the hour.

Nova looked a mess. His eyes were half-lidded and bloodshot, and they seemed to be slightly puffy, as though he had cried some time ago. His mane, normally only slightly unkempt, was a total mess. His tail, normally held up right in that zone between casual and narcissistic, was dragging on the floor behind him.

And he barely seemed to even notice Spike as he plodded his way toward the breakfast table.

“Morning!” chirped Twilight, her sullenness suddenly vanishing, though Spike definitely noticed some slight hesitation behind it.

“Mmh,” grunted Nova, plopping down at the breakfast table and conjuring a bowl of cold cereal with a flash of his blue magic. Nova’s Pony-O’s even came pre-milked, it seemed.

“How are you feeling this morning?” she asked, her smile falling slightly.

“Mmh,” repeated Nova. Spike also noticed he was avoiding her eye.

“I’m sorry?” Twilight asked, leaning in slightly just in case she missed it.

Nova said nothing, merely grabbing a spoon from the drawer, stabbing it into his cereal, and jamming it into his mouth,

The effect was immediate. Twilight’s shoulders slumped, and her cheeriness vanished behind her earlier sullenness.

“Of course,” she mumbled.

Spike looked between the two of them, before offering the letter to Nova.

“Princess Luna sent you a letter,” he reported.

Nova again said nothing, but he swallowed, reached over, and took the offered letter, unfurling it with magic as he took the spoon in his front hooves.

There was a moment in which he glanced at the page.

“Slytha,” he suddenly recited in a clear, monotone voice.

At once, his eyes rolled into the back of his head and his face fell forward, splashing into the cereal.

“Nova!” exclaimed Twilight, dashing around as Nova’s cereal suddenly started bubbling comically. She yanked his head back out, brushed the convenient arrangement of Pony-O’s that had stuck to his eyes and nostrils, and somehow formed a smiley-face on his upper lip, wiped off the milk that had stuck to his mane (hard as it was to see), and started tapping him on the nose.

Nova didn’t even show the slightest reaction. He just snoozed peacefully. Twilight’s panic vanished into suspicion as she dropped Nova and picked up the fallen parchment.

“What did Princess Luna send him?” she growled as she looked at the back of it while Spike wisely averted his gaze. “If it’s impregnated with a spell, how come Nova didn’t sense it?” She groaned. “What I wouldn’t give to know how to sense magic.”

She turned over the page and glanced at the front.

“Slytha,” she too recited in a monotonous clear voice, before collapsing where she stood, falling conveniently into Nova’s hooves where she had dropped him, and slumbering quietly.

Spike didn’t have to wait more than a few seconds. The spring of magic filled him again, he belched, and out bell a scroll holding a wet paintbrush with black paint on the end of it.

He grinned wickedly.

{T} {A} {T} {S} {A} {T} {C}

For some reason, despite the inky landscape appearing identical to the time they were nearly strangled by Envy, Nova and Twilight both felt calm and at ease as they looked around.

It almost felt… warm. Comforting, even.

“Where do you suppose we are?” Twilight asked.

Nova didn’t answer, yet again. The already-bubbling irritation and sadness from his ignoring of her was only growing stronger.

THAT IS QUITE ENOUGH.

The voice rang out around them both, shaking them both to the bones. A light-blue light appeared, before forming into the shape of a tall, regal alicorn. In only a few moments, Princess Luna appeared before them, looking down at Nova with a combination of disappointment and pity.

“Princess!” exclaimed Twilight, before bowing.

Princess Luna chose to ignore her, and instead turned her gaze to Nova, who was neither kneeling nor looking at her. Instead, he was glancing away, and the look on his face told Twilight that if there were any rocks in this empty void, he would have tried to hide under it.

“Night Apprentice Nova Shine, look at me,” Luna ordered, her tone making it quite clear there was no room for negotiation.

Nova complied, most unwillingly. Rather than his usual confident or aloof expression, his eyes betrayed shame, of all things.

“Twilight Sparkle, you may rise,” Princess Luna said, glancing at Twilight for only the briefest of moments. Twilight rose almost immediately.

“What was that spell on the parchment?” Twilight asked immediately.

“A old spell, used back when magic was cast by reciting actual spellwords as opposed to using thoughts,” Luna answered. “I used the sleeping spell of this ancient language and enchanted the letter with a spell that subconsciously made the pony who glanced at the word read it.”

She returned her gaze to Nova.

“All of this so that I may speak with the both of you,” she said, but her body language intended this was more for Nova than both.

Nova shrunk under her gaze, to put it simply.

“Nova, you are not in trouble,” Luna reassured him, her stern gaze softening as she reached a hoof out and placed it on a shoulder that was quivering. “I am not angry at you. Quite the contrary, I am proud of you.”

The quivering only diminished somewhat, as Nova looked up at Luna with an apprehensive look.

“I told you in Canterlot Castle,” continued Luna, kneeling down to meet him at eye level, “I did not expect your animosity with Tantalus Lulamoon to end overnight, and yet,” she smiled at him, “you ensured that it did just that. It took tremendous courage to let go of something you had held onto for so long. And you even went the extra mile and attempted to speak with your parents as well.”

She gave Nova’s shoulder a soft squeeze.

“If I did not expect you to make your peace with Tantalus that soon, I must say that never in my wildest dreams could I have expected you to even attempt to go before your father so soon,” she praised. “So please, Nova, trust me when I say I am not angry at you over what happened at Novus Manor.”

There was obviously a “but” coming, and knowing Nova, he had to know it was on its way.

“But your behavior since your return to Ponyville has been nothing short of inexcusable,” her gentle smile was replaced by a harder look. “I would have thought you would have learned from that very afternoon that Twilight has always been and will always be there to support you.”

Twilight looked away and kicked her hooves bashfully.

“Rather than open up to her, you instead choose to punish yourself by shutting yourself into your room for the week, answering neither Twilight’s nor Spike’s calls to speak with you. In doing so,” Nova shrunk even more as her stern look intensified, “you have not only hurt yourself for the sake of your own misguided attempt to be your own parent, but you have either ignored or just failed to see the hurt you are inflicting on Twilight and Spike both.”

The blackness around them changed to one such moment in which Nova had emerged some days ago, grabbed a quick sandwich, and retreated back down before Twilight could stop him.

“Nova!” past!Twilight exclaimed, before getting up and trying to hurry after him, but his door was shut and locked before she could catch him. A deep, sad sort of pain crossed her face as she realized she couldn’t get through.

Naturally, this made Nova feel even more terrible than he already did.

“As I said, my Night Apprentice, that is quite enough,” She drew herself back and stood at her tallest. “I will make you a deal. Look at me for just this moment.”

Nova reluctantly met his teacher’s gaze.

“If you can promise me that you will never again isolate yourself from those who care about you when things go wrong, I will personally officiate the wedding.”

Nova blinked.

“Do what, now?”

“You didn’t tell me you and Twilight finally became official,” she smiled impishly as she teased him. “I didn’t find out until her most recent letter to my sister.”

Nova’s face went beet red, whereas Twilight’s had gone bright pink.

“That’s not--”

“We’re not even close--”

“He switches the books on the shelves when I’m not looking--”

Luna could only attempt to stifle her laughter as they went off. For one moment, Nova had come back from his despair and was his old self once again.

“Very well, very well, we will put wedding talk on hold for now,” Luna interrupted their babbling, though that didn’t stop Twilight’s mind from conjuring an image of Nova standing in front of Celestia and Luna in a full suit as he waited for her to walk up the aisle.

Nova, face still red as a tomato, rolled his eyes.

“However, promise me that, Nova,” Luna commanded, an expectant look in her eyes.

Nova sighed. “Fine. I promise I will never turtle myself up if something ever goes bad again. And for what it’s worth,” he reached over and gave Twilight a quick side-hug, before jerking himself away quickly as though he were embarrassed of Luna seeing him do it, “I’m sorry that I did in the first place.”

“You’re forgiven,” Twilight assured him, relief flooding through her.

“And as well, my Night Apprentice,” Luna added, “you did everything I asked of you. You made your peace with Tantalus within a day. With that in mind, I revoke your suspension, effective immediately.”

It took Nova only a moment to react, but he broke into a broad grin.

“Does this mean I’ll learn a new spell today?” Nova asked, almost bouncing on the tips of his hooves.

“Yes, actually,” Luna nodded. “Finish your day’s work, and I will send Twilight a letter detailing the instructions.”

“Wait… send Twilight the letter?” Nova asked, confused.

“Indeed,” Luna nodded again. “I will still teach you spells and concepts, naturally, but I believe the time has come for you and Twilight to begin learning from each other. As such, she will be the one to teach you the spells I have selected, and though she does know far more than you on the whole, there are a few subjects and techniques that you know yet she does not.”

“Like energy sensing,” pointed out Twilight. “Ever since I’ve seen what all it can do, I’ve been waiting to learn how to do that.”

“What spells are we talking about here? Elemental?” Nova asked, already thinking of himself shooting fire from his horn.

“Combat,” stated Luna. “We have focused on the practical applications of magic as a skill, but now it is time for you to learn how to defend yourself. Naturally, we will have to start with the basics,” she said, attempting to bring her student back down to earth before he could start thinking he’d be summoning meteors in three days, “but once you have mastered those, we will go into the more advanced applications.”

She turned to Twilight.

“Be expecting your letter, and when Nova is finished for the day, find a good place to practice. I would suggest making it part of your daily routine. It would not be wise to be relaxed and out of practice with Envy on the loose.”

“Will do, Princess Luna,” promised Twilight.

“And one final thing, Nova,” Luna added, a flash of light appearing in the dreamscape, before dissipating to reveal a somewhat thick scroll. “I wished to show you this sooner, but… well, with your trip to Trottingham and the aftermath thereof, there never seemed like a good time.”

“What’s going on?” Nova asked, narrowing his eyes as he scrutinized the scroll. “What is that?”

“The full evaluation based on the data the arcanograph took from the assessment we brought you into Canterlot for,” she unfurled the scroll. “Tia and I do apologize for how long it took to send this to you, but there was something interesting that the data uncovered.”

She levitated the scroll over to Nova, who immediately sat down and unraveled it in his hooves. Twilight, curious to see what exactly was so interesting (considering her own assessment report had taken only a couple of weeks to come in), sidled in close and started scanning the contents.

But before she could get a good look, Nova dropped the scroll.

“No way,” he said, staring at a spot past the scroll, utter shock suddenly appearing on his face. “There’s no way.”

“What? There’s no way what?” Twilight asked, reaching down and picking it up.

The report was rather dry, with nothing terribly interesting, so she skipped right on down to the summary.

It didn’t take long to see exactly what got Nova into such a state of disbelief.

Unicorn Rating - Alpha+

The moment she read that line, her head snapped into Nova’s direction. It seemed as though he didn’t have any idea how to react to this either, though a small smile was starting to work its way across his face.

“I’m an Alpha+,” he breathed, the small smile growing ever larger. In no time at all, he was beaming. “I’m an Alpha+! I’m actually a real Alpha+!”

“Yes, a rating you thoroughly deserve,” Luna praised as Nova had taken to expressing his joy by leaping around. “As I’m sure you know, ratings don’t necessarily mean you are better than other unicorns at that moment, as they are merely a measure of your raw potential, but with your guile and a completed education, you can truly become a Night Master to be feared.”

“Congratulations, Nova!” Twilight exclaimed, beaming at the still-leaping-and-vaulting Night Apprentice.

“With all of that in mind, I must end this dream,” the Princess said even as a portal appeared behind her. “You will be contacted within the day.” And with that, she bowed out. There was a brief moment in which Nova was caught mid-jump by Twilight’s magic, but then everything around them vanished completely.

{T} {A} {T} {S} {A} {T} {C}

Fluttershy hummed happily to herself as she filled a bowl with lettuce and carrots for his daily salad.

“Here you are, Angel Bunny,” she said, pushing the bowl over to the rabbit. The bunny glowered at it for a moment before rather begrudgingly digging in. Progress. At least he wasn’t demanding that cherry salad anymore. “Eat up, or you’ll have to spend the afternoon with a rumbly tummy while I go out and get more groceries.”

Lunch time was her favorite part of the day. Making sure all of her animal friends were nice and fed was always a delight, especially when Harry was helping. He may have been a rather angry bear when she first met him, but now, he was just the perfect gentlebear! Rarity’s tea time had definitely done wonders.

“Oh, time to go feed the chickens,” she observed as she glanced at her clock, which was showing 10:30AM. With a quick few flaps of her wings, she fluttered over to where she kept the feed, slung it onto her side, and trotted out to the trough by the chicken coop, where she put out a generous portion of food.

The chickens all scrambled out as they heard the seed pour, ready for their next meal.

“There you go, everyone,” she patted one of the hens on the back while it pecked away. “I hope you all enjoy.”

Out of nowhere, all the chickens’ heads snapped to attention. Fluttershy could feel a slight shake in the ground all of a sudden, which was what tipped her off to the oncoming horror, but beyond that, she had no time to prepare.

SPIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIKE!

In an instant, everything was in uproar. The ground was shaking, the chickens were scrambling around and the trees were creaking under the sudden gusts of wind issuing from Ponyville, all while Fluttershy tried desperately to get the feathery birds back into their coop.

“No! Come back, please!” she cried at a couple of fleeing chickens while physically shoving one into the small wooden building while feathers flew everywhere.

{T} {A} {T} {S} {A} {T} {C}

Needless to say, Spike was grounded. It took Twilight a whole bar of soap to get the black paint out of her coat. It was especially embarrassing because Spike had doodled “BOOK HORSE” across her forehead, and both of her sides. But he wasn’t grounded for that.

He was grounded for drawing a face on her butt. It wasn’t even a funny face.

After his ears recovered from The Scream, Nova buried his nose in a book while trying to ignore Twilight lecturing Spike. He didn’t have any jobs for the day, so he was just waiting on Princess Luna’s instructions. He had originally spent the time casually rearranging Twilight’s encyclopedia set into spelling TWI’S A DORK, using other books as the spaces, but that didn’t take long enough to cure his boredom, so here he sat, reading a copy of From Stalliongrad With Love.

His reading was interrupted, however, when the bathroom door opened. He peered over the top of the book to see a damp Twilight, mane contained in a towel wrap, stomping off to her room to dry off, obviously having just finished a shower to clean up the paint.

She glowered over at him for a moment, before pausing with a look of confusion on her face.

“What?” she asked.

Nova blinked. He hadn’t realized he had been staring. Shocked and slightly embarrassed at the sight of Twilight in a towel, Nova regained his composure.

“Nothing!” he replied hastily, averting his gaze, though the image was burned in his mind. Her long, wet mane, brushed out of her face, lazily flowing down her neck, and spilling over her shoulder, her sleek coat with a little bit of extra shine from the moisture, and the extra-fluffy chest tuft she had going for her...

She’s cute when she gets out of the shower, he thought, before he shook his head to clear that one away. Stupid, sexy Twilight.

Nova’s paint job had been a little disappointing. Just a couple of black eyes and a moustache and beard. Low-hanging fruit. Nova would have to teach Spike the proper way to draw on somepony’s face in the future.

Probably starting with Rarity.

“Very funny, Nova,” Twilight grunted, startling Nova into looking up. She was staring at him with narrowed eyes, though the glint of light in them betrayed her amusement, as she stood next to her rearranged encyclopedias. Nova grinned, but now that the shower was free, he needed to clean himself up.

Once he had cleaned his coat of paint (and cleared his head of Twilight), he and Twilight set out for Sweet Apple Acres. She had received the letter while he had been cleaning up, and it seemed as though she already had a good idea at what to do.

The leaves on the trees had turned a very beautiful combination of golden, orange, brown, and red colors, and there was a slight nip in the air that was going to become all the more commonplace in the next month.

“So Nova, quick question for you,” Twilight began as they trotted leisurely through the town square.

“Hm?” Nova asked, glancing over.

“Just out of curiosity, aside from obviously Yearling, who would you say your favorite author is?” she asked. “I know you like to read Christopony Paolini, Yearling, Coltien, and others, but if you had to pick a favorite, who and why?”

“Great question, actually,” Nova dipped his head as he thought. “Honestly, I’d say it’s a toss-up between William Flankspeare or Edgar Allan Poeny. Both of them are very poetic, with a clear style of writing that sets them apart.”

“I didn’t know you liked poetry,” said Twilight, wondering if there had ever been an occasion he had ever indulged in it.

“I love the arts,” Nova grinned. “Literature and theatre, obviously, but also poetry and music.” He frowned. “Never got into actual paintings and sculptures, but these four should keep me entertained for a long time.”

“When did you become a fan of them?” Twilight inquired, her curiosity about some of Nova’s hobbies starting to come out.

“Manehattan,” Nova shrugged. “Hoofman had me do some reading from time to time, and considering M.I.M. isn’t that far away from the performance hall, I got to watch no shortage of plays and orchestral performances in my spare time, when I wasn’t watching hoofball. Even learned how to play a couple of instruments.”

“Instruments?” Twilight’s eyebrows rose “I’ve never seen you with a musical instrument!”

“That’s because to a percussionist, everything is a musical instrument,” he replied, punctuating his statement by tapping out “Shave and a Haircut” on the ground. “I’m no master at it, or anything,” he added. “Just enough to make a fun hobby. And also I can proficiently play the trombone. And Prench Horn, but that one not very well.”

Twilight stared at him.

Nova shrugged again. “Like I said, those two I’m not nearly as good at, and I didn’t have much time to practice, but if you gave me sheet music and told me to play it, I’d probably make a passable effort.”

“Any other hidden talents you’d care to share?” Twilight asked.

“I can speak conversationally in iambic pentameter.”

“What do you mean?” Twilight asked.

Nova rolled his eyes. “It’s really not that hard to get it down. Go with the rhythm of your heart in mind, and say your words with confidence in full. It’s very rhythmic when it’s done all right. And if you care to know,” he grinned slyly, “I did it now.”

Twilight furrowed her brow while she undoubtedly analyzed his speech. Nova had to admit, smart as Twilight was, it was going to be fun, keeping her mind running around in circles, trying to catch him speaking in iambic pentameter in the future.

“I also do this,” he continued, smirking. “I’m clearly doing something. But just what is it?”

Twilight’s mouth parted for a moment longer, before her eyes lit up.

“That was haiku!”

Nova’s smirk turned into a grin. “Yep! It’s fun, speaking in conversational haiku and iambic pentameter. Of course it can be difficult at first. It takes some time to get your mind to learn, and even longer for your tongue to learn, ‘cause muscle memory can screw it up--”

“You’re doing it now!”

Nova started chuckling deviously.

“You’re never gonna be at peace again! You’ll always hear me talking in this way! And even when you sleep you’ll hear it all!”

“Stop it!” Twilight glared at him. “I don’t want to forever hear your voice when I read Flankspeare! I’d rather hear just silence in my mind. Just words and thoughts about the story’s plot.” Her eyes bulged. “AND NOW YOU’VE GOT ME DOING IT AS WELL!”

Nova snickered even as Twilight’s death glare intensified.

“Sometimes I worry about you, you know that?” Nova patted her on the head patronizingly.

“You have got to be the most petty stallion I have ever met,” Twilight observed, fighting the amused grin she felt creeping across her face.

“Am not,” Nova shrugged.

“Yes, you really are,” Twilight assured him.

“No I’m not,” Nova replied instantly.

“I’m going to add ‘immature’ to the list too, considering you can’t argue with me,” she replied, rolling her eyes.

“I’m not immature,” protested Nova indignantly, pouting at her. “I’m just implementing immature tactics to win the argument.”

“But you’re not even arguing,” Twilight cut in. “An argument is a series of statements intended to establish a proposition. What you’re doing is contradicting me.”

“No I’m not.”

“Yes you-- OH FOR GOODNESS SAKE!”

Now Nova was outright chortling. Twilight, in contrast, was glaring at him again.

“Oh come on,” Nova wiped the tears out of his eyes, “that was a good one!”

“Yeah,” sighed Twilight grudgingly, not wanting to give him the satisfaction, “it was a good one.”

They walked in silence for just a while longer, before Twilight was able to go all the way back.

“Though, back to things having to do with iambic pentameter,” she said, rolling her eyes slightly and shaking her head dismissively, “what about your favorite play?”

Nova’s amused grin turned into a nostalgic one. “Hamlet is good, but I would have to say my all-time favorite is A Midsummer Night’s Dream. I remember seeing a performance where the guy playing Bottom was just so unbelievably hammy…”

He sighed dreamily as he recalled the stallion in question, pretending to be someone as bigheaded as Nick Bottom.

“Though I’m also partial to Lord Avon’s plays as well,” he added, before his voice took an oddly-formal tone and a random twig flew over in his magical grip to be held aloft in front of his face as if it were a sword. “‘Treacherous Leo, my kinsman’s suffering shall not be in vain! For I shall instruct thee in his incomparable pain!’”

I Want To Be Your Canary, Act III, Scene 2,” Twilight smiled, “when Marcus and his entourage confront Leo, Benero, and Zenero.”

“Correct!” Nova dipped his head, before prancing forward toward a corner and stabbing at an imaginary foe. “Man, what I wouldn’t give to learn how to properly use a sword.”

“Slow down there,” Twilight yanked him back by his tail with magic. “You could put someone’s eye out.”

Twilight had to admit, learning more about Nova’s likes and hobbies was a lot of fun. Nova didn’t have too much to learn from her, since her hobbies were literally on every wall in her home/workplace, which left him feeling slightly left out at not being able to learn much more about Twilight, but he reasoned that was what future time spent talking was for.


Speaking of learning...

“What.”

...Applejack apparently wasn’t keen on letting them do some learning in her orchards.

“We need a place to practice magic away from Ponyville,” Twilight explained. “Someplace we can put up targets or run around.”

“Why not Whitetail Wood?” Applejack asked, definitely not looking forward to this. “Surely if it had to be some sorta grove, y’all woulda thought to go there first?”

“It’s roped off,” Nova jerked his head back in the direction of said wood. “Running of the Leaves coming up, and they don’t want ponies knocking all the leaves down before said running.”

“Ah think this is one of the dumbest ideas you’ve ever come up with, Twi. No offense,” she added, giving her an apologetic look. “Do y’all really think it’s a good idea for two unicorns to be practicing magic, which they are obviously not masters of yet,” Nova rolled his eyes, “in a place that can catch fire, and on which both my family and Ponyville depend on for food and money?”

“Actually, we were counting on being able to use the West Orchard,” Twilight didn’t at all seem perturbed by Applejack’s rather frank opinion. “The only things we’ll ever have to worry about bothering there are the fruit bats, and we won’t even be working with fire spells until Princess Luna sends us her approval.”

Applejack didn’t appear completely convinced, but Twilight’s suggestion of the West Orchard seemed to have swayed her in their direction.

“Ah don’t think this is a good idea…” she glanced over at the barn, only rebuilt a couple of months ago after the family reunion, “Aw hell, you’ve never let me down before, Twi. Go on ahead. If y’all have any problems, just shoot up a magical beam or somethin’ to let us know and we’ll go do what we can to help out.”

“Will do, AJ,” promised Nova. “Thanks for letting us use it.”

“Don’t make me regret it,” she growled as poked him in the sternum, giving him a death glare to rival Twilight’s.

Unlike their trip to Sweet Apple Acres, their shorter trip to the West Orchard was spent in silence. Nothing was said, and nothing needed to be said. It was merely a short trip enjoying each others’ company.

And all too soon, they had passed through the gate, gone into the wood, and arrived at a small clearing with a small mounted archery target.

“This the place?” Nova asked, breaking the pleasant silence.

“It’s as good a place as any, but I don’t know if this is ‘the place,’” Twilight replied, smiling cattily at him.

Nova, meanwhile, paid it no mind and set to examining the archery target. Apparently there was some hidden meaning behind it being here or some such, because rather than just shrug it off like Twilight did, Nova was even sniffing the canvas.

“Buckball,” he finally ascertained. “This must be where Applejack practices buckball.”

“How’d you know?” Twilight asked, impressed. She had no idea herself that Applejack played buckball, much less that she had a practice set. "I thought buckball was a really niche thing."

“A sport's a sport, and you know me and sportsball," Nova shrugged. "As for the how, well, the canvas reeks of apple juice,” he stated, that calculating edge reappearing in his voice. “She’s been kicking them from distance to hit this target. If she were practicing combat, she’d probably have a bucking bag out here instead. All of that, and some of these impacts,” he indicated a few dents in the archery target, “are a bit too big to be apples. They all are rounded and aren’t even that deep like the apples are, which implies she’s kicking a ball at the target, or some other spherical object with a bit of give.”

He shrugged.

“I can’t say it for certain, but unless she’s secretly a hoofball fan like me and is practicing to be the next Messi, it’s most likely buckball.”

Twilight stared at him in amazement.

“Are you even a real pony?” she asked, suspiciously. “A musician, a detective, one hay of a spellcaster, very well-read and well-versed in theatre… it’s almost too good to be true. You’re starting to sound like a Mary Sue from those fanfiction writers.”

“Doesn’t being a Mary Sue imply perfection, though?” Nova raised an eyebrow. “I mean, lots of ponies like more things than I do, and are better at all of them. I guess you could say I’m like Fluttershy’s brother. What was his name?” he rubbed at his horn thoughtfully. “Zephyrum or something?”

“Zephyr Breeze,”answered Twilight automatically, facehoofing at the unwanted memory of Fluttershy’s younger brother trying unsuccessfully to flirt with Rainbow Dash during his latest visit.

“Yeah, him!” Nova nodded vigorously, before trotting over to a tree and sitting down. “I mean, based on what Fluttershy told me, he dabbles in a lot of things, but he isn’t really all that good at any one hobby. Same for me, I guess,” he sighed, “competent musician, avid fan of literature, poetry, and theatre, a passable spellcaster--”

“Don’t say that! You’re a very fine spellcaster,” Twilight interjected.

“Whatever I am, Alpha+ or otherwise, I’ve still got a ways to go,” Nova leaned back against the tree he was sitting in front of.

“As do I,” Twilight reminded him, before conjuring several pieces of rather thick paper and attaching them to trees all around the grove. “We never stop getting better, Nova. There is never a point where you hit an ending. Even when I think I’ve learned everything about friendship, there’s a surprise or two just waiting to happen. This isn’t some story, this is real life. You are going to need practice. Do not expect to master these spells on Day One.”

Nova scrunched up his face. “Didn’t I do that in the original version of this chapter?”

“Do what now?” Twilight cast him a weird look.

“I mean, yeah, I get that, it’s gonna take time ” Nova rolled his eyes. “But I mean, I’m part of the--”

He stopped suddenly. Twilight didn’t notice for a few moments but when she did, she looked back at him, to find himself working his jaw, as though trying to figure out what to say.

“I am a descendent of a powerful unicorn,” he recited, seemingly chewing on every word, “and the family tree has no shortage of very influential ponies in many fields. There was all this expectation on me to live up to the legacies of these ponies, and here I am, nothing special in any of them.”

Twilight opened her mouth to correct Nova again that he was far beyond merely passable, but she figured all he needed was a confidence boost.

That, and to get his mind off of disowning his family.

“So! Magic!” Twilight hoped she didn’t sound too obvious in her attempt to change the subject.

“Also, by the way, Applejack left her buckball behind that tree, so that’s how I knew” Nova indicated a red ball sitting behind one of the apple trees.

“SO! Magic!” Twilight repeated, louder this time. “We’re going to be starting simple, with a basic shield and energy beam attack. before we even remotely touch on advanced things.”

“Basic shield and energy beam?” Far from crestfallen, Nova seemed eager to learn any application of magic he could get his hooves on.

“Basic shield and energy beam,” Twilight nodded. “Before we get started, we need to determine your element, because that will tell me what I need to know regarding your preferred style of magical combat.”

“My element?” Nova asked, eyebrows twitching.

“All ponies have an element they are closely associated to,” explained Twilight, a chunk of the earth ripping itself from the ground and soaring beside her head, where a ball of fire, an orb of water, and a strange, silvery spinning wind sphere appeared as well. “This element usually manifests itself as a personality type or an affinity for the element in question. Different elements have different advantages and disadvantages, and have different effects on other elements as well. And the way of determining exactly what element you are is quite easy.”

“How easy are we talking, here?” Nova asked, as the three conjured elements vanished, and the chunk of earth was put back in its place.

A simple sheet of paper appeared in midair near Twilight.

“Incredibly easy. But first, a quick overview of each element, starting with Earth.”

Nova sat down as Twilight conjured a couple more papers and shuffled them into a neat stack.

“Earth elementals, with elemental referring to someone who channels that element, are ponies who feel a strong connection with the earth. Earth ponies are very likely to be earth elementals, with pegasi being very unlikely, which should be rather intuitive.”

“Of course,” said Nova, thinking of both Applejack and the farm they were at.

“Earth elementals are often very grounded individuals, stable, firm, and realistic. They tend to confront their problems head on to take them down. When magic manifests in them, it often involves some form of better quality with the ground, such as larger hoards when mining, or a greater crop of plants when farming. Two examples of earth elementals that you know of are Applejack,” Of course, “and Rarity.”

Nova did a double-take. “Rarity?”

Twilight nodded. “She knows her way around gems better than any other unicorn I know, and despite her aversion to mud, she can refine that mud and ground to create spectacular works of art or to beautify herself.”

“Makes sense,” Nova shrugged. “What’s next?”

“Water,” continued Twilight. “Water elementals are a strange bunch, because you can have ones that are cool and gentle,” Nova immediately thought of Fluttershy, “or you can have cold, unforgiving, icy types. Water elementals are often more patient and have less stressed personalities most of the time, though it isn’t a good idea to push that, and because of this, you will find that water elementals are better at more passive ways of dealing with problems, ways that can wear it away over time. When magic manifests itself in them, water elementals often make great healers, among many other things. Fluttershy is a water elemental.”

“Thought so,” Nova smiled.

“Wind elementals,” she looked up at the sky, “are free-spirited and flighty. You’ll find that they tend to be rather impatient, they often hate any and all forms of cages, and they have a tendency to try and take on problems from all sorts of different angles until they find the solution that works. Most pegasi tend to be wind elementals, and few earth ponies, though there are exceptions. Whenever magic manifests itself in them, wind elementals can be excellent fliers,” Nova instantly thought of Rainbow Dash, “or simply have a unique connection with the sky that few others can understand. As you may have guessed, Rainbow Dash is a wind elemental, but Pinkie Pie is also one.”

“That’s… huh,” said Nova, thinking it over. It did make sense. Certainly explained Pinkie’s hyperactivity and ability to teleport.

“And finally, fire,” said Twilight, taking a deep breath. “Fire elementals tend to be very passionate individuals, but also very dangerous. Fire elementals can drive a team, but they can just as easily burn the team away if they are not reined in. Fire elementals like to use sheer brute force to overpower a problem, no matter what angle of attack they choose. Whenever magic manifests itself, it can mean ponies with great passion for their craft can excel at it, though there is always a problem of burnout if they indulge too much. As for who a fire elemental is, well…” She closed her eyes and scrunched up her face. Nova instantly felt a wave of heat surge by him and he reflexively leapt away.

A moment later, Twilight’s mane and tail burst into flames, and her coat shone a bright light, before fading to reveal she had turned white, and her cutie mark had vanished. And when she opened her eyes to glance at Nova, they had gone from their usual vibrant purple to pure red.

“I happen to be one,” Twilight said quite conversationally, as though she had not just turned into an enormous flaming rage monster.

Nova looked her over, very interested in this development. Despite the heat, he reached a hoof out, but quickly yanked it back when the heat got rather unbearable.

“Whoa, that’s hot!” he exclaimed, before glancing at Twilight.

“Down, boy,” she replied in a rather sultry tone, and smirking at him with a half-lidded gaze.

“Have you been taking flirting lessons from Rarity?” Nova asked, massaging his hoof as the sting of heat vanished, feeling those strange jitters again as the incredibly sexy look she was giving him, if he were honest with himself, played over in his mind. “Because you’ve gotten a lot better since Trottingham and I can live with that.”

“Maaaaaaybe,” Twilight’s smirk deepened. The flames that made up her mane and tail vanished, replaced by her usual hair, and her coat regained its color and cutie mark. One blink later, and her eyes were back to normal too. “Though when I get all fiery, I find a lot of my passions tend to get exaggerated, so I get angrier, happier, more flirty when around a stallion I love…”

“What was that?” he asked, scootching close again now that the heat was gone, though Twilight did stand in a circle of charred grass now.

“Just something that happens when I get really angry, or whenever I just let go and plunge myself into my magic,” she shrugged. “I found out I could do it after me, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy escaped a hydra in Froggy Bottom Bog."

“I think you mean, ‘Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and I,’” he said, trotting over and laying a patronizing hoof across her shoulders, right over her mane.

Twilight glared at him.

“YEOWCH!” he yelped, leaping back as she transformed into Flamelight again.

“You know exactly what I meant,” she said, glowering at him. Her horn shone its usual magenta color, and Nova felt relief wash over his burned hoof as she healed it.

“I won’t do it again, I promise,” said Nova honestly. He hadn’t expected such a fiery response.

“Good,” said Twilight, returning to normal. “Anyway, now, to find out which type you are, it’s really quite simple. You just channel magic to your horn without actually performing a spell, and I’m going to hold this Alignment Paper to it. It will either burst into flames, be drenched in water, crumple to ash, or be riven apart by unseen force, and that will tell you what element your magic is primarily associated with.”

The statement was punctuated by Twilight holding a page in her hoof and touching it to her horn as it shone magenta. The page instantly burst into flames and was consumed in mere moments.

“If this is tied with our personality, does it change over time?” Nova asked. “Because you have ponies who fundamentally changed over a long period. Did their magic stay the same, or change with it?”

“Good question! It actually does change with personality,” she answered with a smile. “My brother’s used to be aligned with fire, like mine. Probably because Mom’s is fire-type, if I recall,” she rubbed her chin thoughtfully. “Anyway, after he started courting Cadance and after he joined the Royal Guard, Princess Celestia was able to condition him in such a way that his alignment changed to water, the better to complement and contrast Cadance’s own earth alignment.”

“Do elemental opposites have an initial tendency to dislike each other?” Nova asked, sitting back down.

“Not necessarily. There can be some initial pushback, but not always. For instance, Fluttershy and I didn’t start off hating each other just because of our elemental differences. You follow?”

“I think so. Let’s see what I’ve got,” said Nova, his horn brimming with magic.

“This will only take a second, and it won’t hurt a bit,” Twilight said, reaching over and holding one sheaf of paper to it.

Upon making contact with Nova’s horn, there was a loud tearing noise, and it was instantly torn to shreds by an unseen force.

“So it looks like you are a wind elemental,” Twilight said, smiling broadly. “Yeah, that makes sense. It explains your push against Cadance and Rarity, though you said you overcame your dislike of Cadance. Different elements react with each other in different ways. The same elements with each other will usually be benign, opposite elements can push against each other but complement each other excellently.”

“How do fire and wind work together?” Nova asked, already considering the implications.

“Well,” said Twilight, rubbing her chin again, “They can work in several ways. Winds can help fire spread out of control, but at the same time, winds can contain a fire. Similarly, heat makes air rise, but the absence of it causes air to sink.”

She met Nova’s eye and smiled sweetly at him.

“I guess it’s up to us to see just how it’s going to work in our case.”

“Food for thought,” Nova nodded, “but let’s get to the spellcasting!”

“Yes, let’s. We’ll start with the beam spell.”

The sheafs of paper vanished, replaced by a strange archery target, with ten white rings separated by very thin black outlines, which Twilight floated over to Applejack’s buckball target and held it in place.

“This is a special kind of target that ponies have been using for centuries to help learn better control over magic,” she said as she fixed the target in place. “It contains several enchantments that cause it to change color depending on the magical intensity that hits it. For instance, a low-intensity beam would cause it to change from white to red, like so.”

She fired a beam of energy from her horn, which struck the target dead center and expanded to the middle of the third ring. The beam lasted for only a brief moment before she ended it, leaving a cherry-red circle at the point of impact.

“A higher-intensity beam would have it turn a darker color,” she continued, before firing another beam, one that Nova could detect contained much more power behind it. This beam hit the exact same spot, though it was a thinner beam, and when she ended the spell, it left a purple spot in the middle of the red.

“Is it a rainbow of colors that determines intensity?” Nova asked. “And do I have to use a new page every time I cast a spell?”

“No, actually,” said Twilight, bathing the target in her magic, and the target went back to white. “I’ll teach you that spell later, since it’s not hard to learn. And yes, a rainbow of colors determines intensity. Red, orange, yellow, green, et cetera, all the way to black. The higher the intensity, the further down that rainbow.”

“So basically, it’s my job to get my beam inside the bulls-eye ring, and have it turn black, right?” Nova asked, eager to get started and see where he was at.

“Not exactly,” said Twilight, pawing at the ground and preparing to shoot another beam. “Wide beams will always have less natural concentration of power than narrow beams, so a narrow beam with a high concentration is inevitable given time and practice. The ultimate aim of this exercise is to have the pony in question be able to shoot a razor-thin beam with almost no power,” she fired a beam as thin as a pencil, that hit the target instantly and turned the dead center into a red dot, “and then shoot a wide beam that covers the target at the highest intensity.”

She blasted another beam, this one a lot more conical in shape, that covered up to exactly the edges of the target, and when the spell vanished, it left behind a black circle, as though it had been burned.

“Enough control over your magic to have the touch of a feather with a beam that should have the highest intensity, while also having enough power to blacken the entire target at the widest beam,” she said, blowing air onto her smoking horn, looking quite pleased with herself. “Most unicorns will typically start with their widest beam hitting within the fifth or sixth rings and leaving behind a yellow or green result, so don’t feel too bad if your results aren’t as good as mine. After all, this is just the beginning.”

“So,” said Nova, trotting over to where Twilight had stood, as she backed away and reset the target, “how do I shoot the spell?”

“As with many spells, channel your magic and then simply will your magic to shoot a beam into this space.”

“Sounds pretty easy,” commented Nova, pawing at the ground in preparation.

“It’s easy to cast the spell, but it’s difficult to control it,” replied Twilight. Her magic shone over the target, which reset back to white. “Just a simple beam for now.”

Nova nodded, before his horn shone blue and a blast of magic erupted from his horn, blazed across the gap, and struck the target slightly off-center.

The target was still for just a moment, before a green circle spread itself out from the bulls-eye point and extended to about the fourth ring from the inside.

“Whoa, it can do that?” Nova asked, impressed.

“It can,” Twilight nodded. “The enchantment registers your hit and calculates it from the center point, to give an accurate reading. If you hit the center point, it’s instant, though. Still, a green beam four rings wide. Not a bad first cast.”

She then had Nova try to make his beam as thin as possible, but he only got to the third ring, with the magic going from green to a light, aqua blue. Then as wide, and Nova was only able to get it to about the sixth, and the magic became orange.

“Not a bad place to start,” praised Twilight, taking the magic sheet off the buckball target. “We’ll work on those exercises some more starting tomorrow. For now, let’s teach you a basic shield spell.”

The shield spell wasn’t all that difficult to pick up either. Instead of willing his magic to blast itself at a single point, this one was to spread it around himself, which proved surprisingly easy. Twilight tested his shield by blasting it a couple of times with her horn, but none of the blasts made it through.

“Now,” Twilight asked, as she ceased her brief assault on his shield and he let go of the spell, “can you tell me why even a basic shield can block even the most powerful of spells, however briefly?”

“First Fundamental Law of Magic, right?” Nova queried, as the two of them set off back toward Ponyville, their brief foray finished.

“Yep,” Twilight nodded. “‘Magic cannot go through other magic, no matter how powerful one Source is compared to the other.’ Do you know why?”

Nova shook his head.

“Because magic is like the inverse of light, in many ways,” she explained, seeming to brighten up at knowing a theoretical topic Nova didn’t know and eager to share her knowledge. “Magic operates under quantum physics, as both a particle and a wave, depending on the spell. Some spells that directly interact with other objects are obviously particles, whereas spells like heating spells or the like, that indirectly affect other objects, are wave-based. But no matter what spell it is, if it comes into contact with another spell, it’s a particle, and the two magicks at the point of contact will annihilate each other.”

“But how does that translate into--”

“I’m getting there,” Twilight rolled her eyes as they trotted out through the gate to Sweet Apple Acres and started back toward town. “Now, with that in mind, even the most basic shield will block even the most destructive beam, but only as long as there’s reserve magic behind it. Once that magic runs out, it falls apart. Like at Shining’s wedding,” Nova thought back to the pink shield Shining had kept around the city, :”and how the Changelings were able to chip away at the magic until finally it all fell apart and they could invade.”

“How does this apply with beam magic?” Nova asked, thinking of Celestia’s and Chrysalis’ duel at the Royal Wedding. “Wouldn’t the beams cancel out?”

“This is where the power behind the beam comes into play,” answered Twilight. “If there’s more power behind one beam, it’s going to push the other back, but it won’t just stop at the point of contact. Think of it like this. If you had 500 ponies rush right at 700, and whenever a pony touched an enemy, they both instantly fell down, eventually the larger number would either push their way past the fewer, or just deplete it entirely.”

“That actually makes it a lot easier to think about,” said Nova as he imagined a few Derpys and several Rainbow Dashs flying at each other at high-speed.

“That’s weird,” came a voice from above them, “I could have sworn you didn’t have enough brainpower to think.”

Twilight looked straight up, but Nova groaned. “I’d know that voice anywhere,” he sighed. “What are you doing in Ponyville, Aegis?”

“Checking in on you, you careless bastard,” said Aegis, who Nova noticed was wearing all his armor, before he dropped right on top of Nova, sending them both to the ground.

“Aegis! What the hell!?”

Twilight watched the proceedings with some amusement while Nova floundered under Aegis, and Aegis just sat on him.

“You came back to Canterlot for a whole week and it never occurred to you that maybe I wanted to see you?” he smacked Nova upside the head. “You didn’t think I’d want to hear about your escapades in the forest, that you and Twilight were in mortal peril, or that the two of you had gone to my old hometown?”

“One of those things is not like the other ones,” noted Nova, still on the ground. “Where did you hear about all that, anyway?”

“Your father, of course,” Aegis replied, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. “Right before I got sent out on this mission.”

“He’s not my father,” growled Nova. “Not anymore.”

Aegis opened his mouth, but Twilight was quick to get his attention.

“Different topic of conversation!” she chirped a little too loudly, and shoved Aegis off of Nova so that Nova could get up. “What is this mission you’re on, Aegis?”

“Search and rescue,” shrugged Aegis as he helped Nova to his feet. “Trixie Lulamoon’s listed as a missing pony, so there’s a task force I’m a part of that’s going to be doing a sweep of the shallower parts of the Everfree Forest to try and find her, and then backing off until we can get a group of ponies that are able to go further into the depths of that unpredictable jungle and come out the other side. There’s seven groups, one of which is currently based in Neighton, and that’s the one I’m with.”

“You’re in Neighton?” Nova asked. “Why didn’t you tell me sooner? I could have let you stay in my house!”

“Guard protocol, gotta stay in the barracks,” Aegis replied a little glumly as the trio set out. “Offer’s appreciated though.”

“Where are the other six groups stationed?” Twilight asked.

“Different parts of the forest edge, including Trottingham. They didn’t send any out here, though, because I guess they figured with you and Nova here, all they had to focus on was defense, and they contracted that out.”

“Contracted?” Nova asked. “They hired contractors?”

“Just one, to my knowledge,” Aegis tapped his chin as he glanced at the sky thoughtfully. “Again, with the Elements of Harmony in town, as well as the two of you, they didn’t think there’d need to be any more. And come to think of it,” he furrowed his brow, “I want to say there’s a former Equestrian Intelligence Agent living here as well.”

“So they contracted just one guy?” Nova asked. “Just one?”

“Yeah. I was actually in town to brief him on his parameters for his pay,” Aegis answered.

“Figured the Royal Guard would hire contractors to help out,” Twilight said as they passed into Ponyville city limits. “It’s less-complicated than spreading out guardsponies, and as I understand it, it’s an entirely different kind of pay structure altogether.”

Nova and Aegis glanced at each other.

“It’s an entirely different kind of pay structure,” they both recited in unison, trying to keep straight faces.

Twilight just stared at them both. “What is wrong with both of you?” she asked, incredulously.

“I’m pretty sure Nova suffers from insanity,” answered Aegis without missing a beat. “And I hang around him often enough to where the madness rubs off on me.”

“Really Aegis?” Nova asked, giving him a look of irritation. “I don’t suffer from insanity. I enjoy every second of it.”

Twilight rolled her eyes again.

“Anyway,” she hoped to again, steer the conversation back to the original topic, “who’s the contractor?”

“That would be me,” came a rather gruff Neigh Zealand accent that Nova also knew anywhere.

“Of course,” he sighed, before leaping around, his horn brimming with magic, ready to toss Sharp Eye into the sky again, but Sharp Eye just stared at him indifferently.

“Much as I’d enjoy some fresh air, Nova Shine, I’d rather you didn’t toss me fifty meters into the air today.”

“What are you doing here?” Nova growled. “He didn’t send you after me again, did he?”

“No, that he didn’t,” Sharp Eye shook his head. “I came of my own accord. He wanted to be left alone for a while, so I took up a contract keeping an eye on things here in Ponyville. Given I’ve been hangin’ around the town the last few months, I figured it was the best place to go for a while.”

“Is Mr. Novus still paying you to keep an eye on Nova?” Aegis asked.

“Hell if I know,” Sharp Eye shrugged. “He ain’t said a word to me since you,” he poked Nova in the shoulder, “blew up in the sitting room.”

“Blew up?” asked Twilight.

Literally,” Sharp Eye nodded. “Scared the buck out of me, but didn’t hurt or damage anything.”

“Speaking of damage, I never apologized for hitting you in the head with a helmet a couple of months ago,” Aegis inclined his head to Sharp Eye.

“No problem, mate,” Sharp Eye nodded back, “since I probably woulda done the same thing in your position. Hurt like a bitch, though.”

“Anyway, while I’d love to stay and chat, I do have to relay the details of Mr. Sharp Eye’s contract to him,” Aegis said, separating from the group and leading Sharp Eye with him, “but maybe we can meet up and go out for drinks or something, eh?”

“Sounds good to me,” Nova smiled. “And Sharp Eye, I am sorry about shouting at you to shut up and destroying the sitting room.”

“No worries, mate,” Sharp Eye dismissed his apology with a wave. “Understandable, in light of the circumstances. Have a good one, you two.”

And with that, they were gone, into the city.

“Huh,” Nova watched them trot off. “Never noticed them sneak up on me. Guess that magical training left me more tired than I thought.”

“Well, with time, your mana pool will deepen, and you’ll stop tiring yourself out. So,” and here Twilight got a little more businesslike, “tomorrow we’ll have a day off so you can restore your mana, but starting in a couple of days, we’ll alternate spells. One day, we’ll focus on your beam, and the next we’ll focus on your shield. And so on and so on until you have them both mastered. Then we can let Princess Luna know and we can move onto more advanced things.”

“Sounds like a plan! Already looking forward to it!” Nova grinned.


It was three days later, and Nova kept a shield up as Twilight dashed around, hitting it with beams of different intensity and width, while Nova struggled to keep the shield up. After a few seconds of this, one well-placed shot dissipated Nova’s shield, sending him falling to the ground.

“Not bad for your first time,” said Twilight trotting next to him and reaching down a hoof to help him up.


It was the third day working with the beam spell. Nova felt sweat trickle down his neck as his beam splashed against the target, barely contained within the second ring, though it was taking all of his concentration to keep it there and not let it spread.

“And… stop!” called Twilight, trotting next to him, just in time for Nova to slouch against her in exhaustion, pleased with his own effort and that he had left a green mark inside said circle. “Excellent work, Nova! Not a single mark outside the second ring, and it’s lighter than before! Keep up the improvement!”


Day seven with the shield. Twilight was now hitting him with the strongest spells she could think of. Nova was definitely stronger, as now he was able to ward off spells for about twenty minutes, depending on how ferocious Twilight felt like being with her attacks.

Finally, Twilight let loose with a massive blast of energy that hit Nova’s shield head on. His shield held up, though he was starting to see cracks in it, as well as feel the wear on his mind.

Finally, the dam burst, and Nova was caught by her beam, which sent him flying backward a few meters before she ended the spell.

“Nova! Are you alright!?” she dashed over to where he was slowly getting to his hooves.

“Never better!” he grinned despite himself as he cracked his neck. “All time high!”

Twilight’s concern faded into a smile as she helped him up.


Day nine with the beam. Nova now confidently stood tall, firing a beam as wide as the entire target, leaving it blue as it faded away, before he took a deep breath, and shot another beam that was contained within the second ring, leaving behind an orange circle surrounded by blue.

“You’re doing great!” cheered Twilight as Nova ended the spell without a single gasp. He didn’t even look any more tired! “Keep this up and we’ll be ready to move on by this time next week!”


Day fourteen with the shield, almost a full month after having started this training. Twilight had enlisted help from Rarity and Lyra, who were now pummeling his shield from all sides with every magical attack they could conceive of, while Nova maintained his shield with an almost arrogant air, expertly keeping their spells at bay.

“Come on,” he teased, aimed mostly at Rarity, whose attacks weren’t quite as strong as either of the others, “is that all you’ve got?”

“Careful what you wish for, darling,” Rarity replied with a cheeky grin, before a root ensnared itself around Nova’s hoof and yanked it out from under him, disrupting his concentration and sending him to the ground, which caused him to let go of the shield spell.

"That's not fair," whined Nova from his spot on the ground.

"All's fair in love and war, Nova," Rarity gloated down at him.

“Nice one, Rares,” Lyra smirked down at Nova. “That was a piece of cake, wouldn’t you say?” she added, which only added to Nova’s embarrassment.


Nova stood as tall as he ever had, with five orbs of white light floating in a vertical circle in front of him. Each orb was about half as big as his head, and they spun around at a rather slow speed.

As each orb reached the highest point of its cycle, it would shoot off a razor-thin beam at one target. Then as it came back down, the next one in line would take its turn.

After a few moments of this cycle, Nova ended his spells, leaving a red circle about halfway into the second circle of that first target, spun himself around the circle of orbs to the other side, where a second target had been erected, and began to blast the widest, strongest beam he could muster at it.

And after several moments of that exercise, he stopped casting completely, and the five orbs of light disappeared.

As the lights faded completely, Nova surveyed his progress. He grinned at the first target, noting his improvement, but the second target left him absolutely beaming.

The entire circle was a deep purple. If Nova had put any more magical force behind it, it would have come out black.

“You know,” came the drawl of a southern voice from somewhere behind him, “Ah was wonderin’ whether or not this would be a good idea, but it looks like all my fears were unfounded.”

“High praise, Applejack,” Nova inclined his head, before he walked over to reset the targets.

“He’s certainly come a long way,” Twilight said behind him as well. Both of them had been sitting up on a thick tree branch just a couple of meters off the ground, watching him perform the exercise. “I think Princess Luna might let you move on to the elements now.”

“Say what, now?” Applejack suddenly sounded nervous. “Ah was fine with you practicing normal magic, but if you’re gonna be loosing fire around the trees--”

“Applejack, it’s fine,” Twilight reassured her. “If we are going to work with fire, I imagine Ghastly Gorge or that mountain where we found the dragon should be fine. Lots of rocks, no flammable trees…”

Nova brushed some of his mane out of his face as he turned around. There they both sat, up in the tree, like a couple of oversized birds. Twilight wasn’t wearing anything, but Applejack was wearing a red kerchief around her neck, bound together by a rather shiny brass bauble. Nova felt himself smirk just a tad.

Guess the cold’s not for everyone.

Contrasting himself, and he loved the cold.

Not the outrageously cold, as the memory of Twilight dumping him in slush on a bitter Trottingham night can attest, but the chilly at the very least.

“Wherever it is, bring it on,” Nova grinned. “I’ll be dropping meteors out of the sky in no time.”

Twilight chose that moment to slide out of the tree and land quite lightly on her hooves. “Slow down there, Star Swirl,” she trotted up to take down the targets. “I think we’re a little ways off from channeling cosmic power.”

“If it goes as well as this exercise did, I’m sure I’ll be bringing down the stars in a couple of years. Heh, I might even manage to pass up you if I progress this fast.”

Twilight froze. For a brief moment of panic, Nova wondered if he had said something wrong, but upon checking her face, she didn’t look angry or insulted. Instead, she looked… thoughtful?

“Change of plans, Nova,” her thoughtful look changed into a devious smile. “Time for your final exam.”

“Final say what now?” he asked, suddenly at a loss.

The targets were bathed in a magenta aura and pulled away from the two targets they were affixed to, and said targets were moved away after Twilight put away the targets behind one of the trees.

“Consider this your last little test,” Twilight said, once the clearing had been made completely empty, save for them both, and Applejack still sitting in her tree. “You and I are going to participate in a Wizard’s Duel.”

“A-a Wizard’s Duel?” Nova was sure he’d misheard. Sure, he could shoot beams and raise shields, but he didn’t think he was that good yet.

Was this punishment for his overconfidence?

“Trial by fire, you might call it.” continued Twilight, her horn shining as a large wall of white magic appeared around them, extending to a dome above them. “Normally, these boundary shields aren’t here and the duelists have to invoke them for whatever reason, but we don’t want anything flying out and setting the orchards on fire, would we?”

“Erm… I’m not sure about this,” he took a nervous step back.

“It’s fine,” Twilight reassured him, still concentrating on her spell. “This isn’t a duel to the death, Nova. I mean, why would I try to kill my own coltfriend?”

“Maybe we’re participating in a Flankspearean tragedy?” chanced Nova.

“Do you know the rules of a Wizard’s Duel? Ever read up on them?”

“Can’t say I have.”

“Well, the duel lasts until one combatant is knocked unconscious or until he or she submits verbally, in a clear and direct surrender.” The spell was finished, and Twilight was standing at the opposite end of the ring of magic, pawing at the ground. “Formal duels would usually involve three conditions to the battle, with the challenging party setting one condition and the challenged party setting two.”

“Are we going to do these conditions?” Nova asked, looking around at the domed shield.

“Yes, actually, but I’ll set the only condition for both of us.”

“How is that fair?” Nova asked, giving her an askance look.

“Because the only condition is that both of us can only use standard shield and beam spells for combat,” replied Twilight. “We can use any variation of it we choose, as long as it’s only basic in the end.”

“So, we can do things like delayed-release or contact, or other more benign spells?” Nova asked.

“Precisely,” Twilight dipped her head.

“Cool,” Nova grinned. “Oh, wait, one more thing.”

His horn shone blue and a black strip of cloth appeared in midair.

“What’s that?” Twilight asked.

“Blindfold,” answered Nova, using magic to tie the strip of cloth around his head, covering his eyes completely. Visually, he was now totally blind.

But in his blindness, Nova saw clearer than he could ever see with his eyes.

He could feel the gentle warmth of Twilight’s aura standing in front of him, he could feel the magic around them as the neutral energy flowed through the shield and dome around them, he could even feel the subtle energies of the grass, trees, and ground, though it was all a bit of a blur.

But beyond the ten-meter radius around him, almost everything was dark and void but for the brightest of magics. He could see Applejack faintly in her tree, and off in the distance, he could make out the collection of energies signifying Ponyville, shining like a city of lights at night.

“Whenever you’re ready, Twi,” Nova dipped his head.

“Are… are you sure?” Twilight asked.

“Absolutely positive,” Nova nodded again. “I used to do this with Hoofman. He’d toss magical spells at me and I’d dodge them with the blindfold on. Figured I could combine my trainings.”

“Well, if you’re sure.”

Nova channeled his magic again and the same five orbs of light he had used in his exercise earlier appeared around him, beacons in the darkness.

“What are those?” Twilight asked curiously. “You were casting with them earlier.”

“Extensions of my Source,” replied Nova. “They are windows to my Source that I can move around, cast magic through, block spells with, or manipulate with connecting magic to create webs or shields.”

“Well, alright then,” Nova could almost hear Twilight nod. “Ready when you are.”

“Applejack, could you count us off?” Twilight asked.

“Sure thing, Twi,” AJ said from up in the tree she was still sitting in. “On yer marks!”

Nova took a deep breath in through his nose.

“Git set!”

He slowly blew it out, letting everything around him completely wash out of his mind. There was only him and Twilight.

“Go!”

She was off immediately, firing a quick burst of spells that streaked toward him. However, despite the blindfold, he knew exactly where everything with a significant amount of energy was, and he effortlessly dodged around her blasts.

He didn’t know how long this duel was going to last, but he had every intention of winning it, so he was looking to conserve his energy as much as possible. No beams or shields until necessary.

Twilight continued to run around, shooting quick bursts of energy at him, all of which he dodged, weaving in and around them like a leaf in the wind.

Fitting, he thought with a smile.

Twilight must not have liked him grinning as he dodged her blasts, because she launched five bursts at once, flying at him from different directions. Nova’s Source extensions flew out at the merest thought and took the hits, deflecting each beam into the wall of their arena.

His smile slid into a frown. What even was his strategy here? How did he intend to win? And how did Twilight? This duel was just standard beams and shields for combat, meaning he would have to be clever with his more utility spellwork to subdue her.

So lost in that train of thought, he almost missed Twilight fire another one off at him.

And it was impossible to suddenly notice a flicker of energy emanating from the ground. Twilight had set a trap for him.

An immobilization trap, by the look of things, he noted, examining the arrangement of mana in the affected space.

An idea presented itself to him. Why not turn her own traps against her?

Nova jerked his head away as she fired another shot at him, and while he dodged, he could sense she stuck another trap in the ground a bit away.

She’s trying to distract me with her spells so she can set her traps, Nova realized. I need her to keep placing them, but what if I distract her?

So he shot a quick flurry of blasts at her. Twilight simply brought up a shield to absorb the hits, and even while the shield was there, he was able to notice yet another trap spell go down.

Neither of them had even moved a muscle this whole time, with the exception of Nova’s earlier dodges. Exactly why was Twilight setting these traps if she wasn’t driving him around the arena?

Or maybe, she’s setting all these traps before she starts driving me around. Trying to lull me into a false sense of security.

He could only imagine the expression on Twilight’s face right now. Was she smirking that he couldn’t guess her ploy? Was she snarling while she tried to figure out his?

Whatever the plan, Nova knew he had to disrupt it.

She shot four more beams at him, all of which his Source Extensions blocked. And she laid down yet another trap. This one a lot closer to him.

Oh, you want to play, Sparkle? Then let’s play.

Nova then turned on the offensive. Instantly, he was dashing around the enclosure, firing beams every which way, and even getting his orbs of light in on the act. They positioned themselves in different places around the arena, blasting at Twilight even more.

Twilight recoiled, encasing herself in a magenta shield and simply taking the beating, but Nova knew she couldn’t keep it up for long if she wanted to place more traps. She would need to drop it and fire back.

Sure enough, after a solid thirty seconds of blasting at her from all sides, Twilight dispelled her shield and took to running around as well, blasting Nova’s beams with her own to nullify them.

All while placing even more traps around the enclosure. Nova, however had a surprise for her.

He had taken to reassembling the traps to work on his remote signal, rather than either of them accidentally stepping on them.

These traps were arranged in such a way as to catch him unawares, ensnaring him and allowing Twilight to hit him with the coup de grâce He had no intention of letting her get that chance. He was going to turn her own spells against her.

Even while counteracting his spells, Twilight continued placing traps at different places around the arena. Every time Twilight placed a new trap, Nova simply rearranged it more into his favor. In almost no time at all, the entire arena was littered with Nova’s changed versions of Twilight’s traps.

There was still plenty of room to move around in, but now he just needed a way to get her onto one of her trap spots.

Game on, Twilight. Game on.

He redoubled his earlier attack, shooting at Twilight with all manner of spells, trying to catch her off balance. She hadn’t been expecting it, and took a couple of harmless hits to her barrel, which only pushed her towards one of her trap spots. Nova’s Source Extensions continued to shoot attacks from all around, which only added to the confusion, driving Twilight right where Nova wanted her to go.

And then she finally stepped on a trap.

Gotcha!

Nova’s horn triggered the trap, and instantly, tendrils of blue magic shot up from the ground and ensnared her hooves, binding her to the earth. Twilight panicked, squealing and letting loose a raw blast of magic that did nothing, but the level of intensity behind it blinded Nova’s energy sensing ability.

“Gah!” Nova scrabbled away, clutching at his head as he lost his energy sight, and bumping into the wall behind him. He couldn’t tell if Twilight was free, or if she was still caught, and he needed eyesight as soon as possible.

The black blindfold was torn off almost instantly and flung away. His horn was brimming with magic, ready to hit Twilight with one last spell, and he whirled around trying to find her--

--only to find her standing there, still ensnared, and staring at him with a beautiful smile.

Nova was blinking, his eyes not quite adjusted to light again, but he couldn’t help but stare, feeling his magic falter.

It almost seemed like they were back in Trottingham. Her mane seemed framed by an angelic light, her eyes were sparkling as they met his, and everything about her was breathtaking.

Nova felt himself unconsciously step forward, as if to meet her. For a moment, they stared at each other, Nova confused and Twilight still smiling at him.

He didn’t know what made him do it, but he felt himself lean in toward her, his eyes slowly fluttering shut…

BANG!

And quite suddenly, everything around him was a whirl of color. He was feeling weightless and completely disoriented, when all of a sudden, he collided with something hard, knocking the wind out of him and making spots of color explode in his vision.

He felt something grab hold of his legs and bind them down to the ground, felt something cut his horn off from its connection to his Source, and felt a sudden throbbing in his head that returned him to full alertness.

“What the hell was that?” he mumbled as he rapidly blinked and wrestled with whatever was holding his legs down. “What’s going on?”

Suddenly, a lavender hoof entered his vision, planting itself firmly on his chest, and pushing down. Nova looked up it nervously, to find Twilight pushing him down with a devious smirk on her face.

“Submit,” she commanded quite smugly.

“What the…” Nova shook his head wildly, attempting to clear his head after that tumble.

“You okay, Nova?” her smirk fell when she saw Nova’s disorientation. “Spell ‘cat’ for me.”

“C-A-T,” Nova recited, still struggling. “Why?”

“Basic concussion test. Didn’t know if I hit you too hard with that blast of mine,” Twilight replied. looking relieved that she hadn’t. “Now, submit.

Nova looked down at the hoof holding him there, and then over at whatever it was that was ensnaring his hooves. Magenta tendrils of magic had snaked their way around his hooves, holding them to the ground.

“I didn’t know you were into BDSM, Twi,” remarked Nova dryly.

Twilight rolled her eyes. “Yep, you’re fine. Now, one last time before I have to knock you out so I can let us both out of here, sub-mit.

“Fine, fine,” groaned Nova, letting his head fall back against the grass. “I submit.”

At once, his bindings were undone, his horn was unblocked, and the arena around them vanished, leaving them still sitting in their clearing, with Applejack sliding out of her spot in the tree.

“Nice duel, you two. ‘Grats on the victory, Twi,” she said, adjusting her stetson after it got jarred out of place by the landing. “Better luck next time, Nova.”

Nova didn’t reply directly. Instead, a thought occurred to him, and he trotted forward and scrutinized the shiny brass bauble holding her red kerchief together.

“How’s it going, Princess Luna?” he asked said bauble.

“Wha…?” Applejack glanced over at Twilight.

“Princess Luna can use her scrying orb to watch events as long as the object receiving her feed is reflective in any way,” Twilight explained. “I guess Nova seems to think she’s watching from your bauble there.”

{T} {A} {T} {S} {A} {T} {C}

From her balcony in the towers of Canterlot Castle, Princess Luna felt herself smile a bit as she adjusted herself on her pouf. Of course Nova would have guessed she would be watching. She had been most pleased at her student’s progress and performance in the duel with Twilight.

“You certainly have a long, bright future ahead of you,” she mused, as Nova started making funny faces at her.

{T} {A} {T} {S} {A} {T} {C}

“Nova, stop being a silly pony,” Applejack shook her head as he continued to make faces at the bauble.

“Who’s a silly pony?” Nova asked, glancing up at her.

You’re a silly pony,” answered Applejack.

“Who is?” repeated Nova.

You is,” she replied.

“Applejack,” Twilight cut in, ignoring their antics, “again, thanks for letting us use your orchard as our training grounds.”

“No problem, Twi,” Applejack nodded at her with a cheerful grin as Nova straightened up. “Just holler if y’all need anything else, and we’ll be happy to help.”

“Actually,” Twilight tapped her chin thoughtfully, “there is one thing.”

“Oh?” Applejack seemed curious to hear this. After all, she had provided the orchard, so what more could they need. “Well, fire away. Ah’m sure we can accommodate the two’a y’all.”

“Seriously Twi?” Nova’s tone took on a disbelieving note. “You’re not actually thinking of what I think you are, are you?”

“Erm, what are you on about, exactly?” Twilight asked him with a strange look on her face.

“Are you really going to suggest her joining us for a threesome?”

And it was at that moment that Nova learned just how much the years of applebucking had strengthened Applejack's hind legs.

While his unconscious magic literally caused stars to dance around his face, Twilight just groaned and apologized to Applejack for Nova’s behavior.

“Say it again and Ah black your other eye,” Applejack scowled back at him.

“Seriously, I’m sorry about him. Sometimes he doesn’t know when to keep his mouth shut,” Twilight glared at Nova through grit teeth.

“Eh, no worries,” Applejack shrugged. “‘Twas just a joke, and he’ll be sure to mind his manners around me from here on out.” She looked back at Nova. “You okay back there?”

“Fine, fine,” Nova replied in a dazed voice. “Won’t happen again, Jappleack…”

“Now what were ya gonna ask me?” AJ returned her attention to Twilight.

“Just if we could borrow your targets in the future if we needed them for magic practice.”

“Ah don’t see why not,” Applejack smiled warmly. “Y’all took good care of them here, so Ah’m perfectly fine with lending them to ya later.”

“Anyway, we’ll be off,” Twilight said, curling a hoof around one of Nova’s, partly to drag him along and partly to hold his hoof. “Thanks again, Applejack.”

“‘Twern’t nothing, Twi,” Applejack waved off the thanks. “Have a good day, and get somethin’ on Nova’s eye.”

“Will do,” promised Twilight, leading Nova out of the clearing.

“How did you win?” Nova asked, as they trotted out of the gate, his eye not really as swollen or black as initially expected. Applejack seemed to have gone easy on him. “I rearranged your spells to go on my signal, which they did, but you were still able to move and attack. How did you do it?”

“You had a great idea, except for one critical thing,” Twilight replied as they walked the familiar path back to Ponyville. “You rearranged magic already there, rather than completely disassemble it and rebuild with your own.”

“Huh,” Nova mulled over that thought. “How does that work, exactly?”

“Well,” Twilight glanced skyward as she recalled the details, “the trap was mine. If you had completely dissipated and copied the spell and rebuilt it with your own magic, I would have been helpless when you ensnared me. But I wasn’t, because you simply rearranged my magic to do so.”

“Makes sense, I guess,” Nova dipped his head. “Since it was your magic, even if I triggered it, it ultimately bent to whatever you wanted it to do.”

“Exactly,” Twilight beamed. “You’re picking this up really quickly! Yes, since the magic still was ultimately comprised of my personal mana supply, said magic would have instantly recognized that the source magic of the target being was its own kin. Its resonance matched my resonance, so it recognized itself as being from me.”

“Resonance?” Nova had an odd look on his face. "What do those have to do it it?”

“Everything” Twilight’s horn shone and a shapeless form of magenta magic appeared in front of her face. “You know resonances are essentially your personal signature when it comes to magic. A resonance in general is something that can evoke images, memories, emotions, et cetera of something, and a magical resonance is that quality of magic by which everyone immediately knows it’s yours. Here,” she stopped him with a hoof, “lower your head for a moment.”

“Sure,” Nova said, lowering his head and pointing his horn straight ahead. He didn’t see what Twilight was doing, but he felt her magic caress his horn for a brief moment, before it retreated.

“Look up,” she said, and Nova did. While her horn shone magenta, she was conjuring another shapeless form of magic that was blue. Not just blue, now he had a proper look. The blue of his eyes, his mane, and his cutie mark.

“As you can see, this is your resonance,” Twilight was also staring at it. “You can already tell, can’t you? You recognize that this particular blue is your shade of blue, in your eyes, cutie mark, and your mane and tail. That’s what a resonance does. It is a physical manifestation of who cast that spell, added to the spell itself.”

“I mean, yeah,” Nova slowly nodded in slight confusion, “but how does this matter with the traps?”

“Because you didn’t rebuild my traps with your resonance, it had no true effect on me,” they resumed trotting to Ponyville. “Because the magic was still 'signed' to me, you could say, it still recognized when I wanted to reshape it. So when I froze and cast the spell that blinded you from your energy sensing and such, I wasn’t helpless at all, even though you thought I was.”

"Because the resonance was still yours, it ultimately still bent to your will," Nova's face lit up in understanding. "You counted on me not knowing that!"

"Exactly," Twilight beamed at him.

“You played me,” Nova grinned, impressed. “You let me think I was playing you, but you were really playing me all along.”

“Yep,” Twilight grinned right back. “So, now that I’ve won the duel, you owe me something.”

“Hang on, what?” His train of thought crashed just as it was leaving the station. “That was never part of the our agreement with the duel.”

“Well, I’m cashing in anyway,” Twilight’s grin turned devilish. “And all I want is…”

Nova braced for impact.

“...one date.”

Nova blinked. That was it?

“That’s all?” he asked, bemused. “I thought you were going to go for something embarrassing, like making me run through town wearing a Trottenham Hotspur kit, proclaiming my lifelong love of that small club.”

“Nova, I wouldn’t know enough about hoofball for that to be the first thing I’d think of,” Twilight reminded him.

“Oh, right,” Nova rubbed his mane sheepishly. “I mean, I guess we can do it…”

“You guess?” Twilight arched an eyebrow.

“On one condition,” Nova stated seriously. “A big one, at that.”

“Oh?” Twilight’s other eyebrow raised.

“Yes,” Nova nodded gravely, trying to keep a straight face..

“Is it that I can’t be overly flirty? Because I wasn’t going to,” Twilight assured him.

“No, it’s not that,” Nova shook his head. “The condition is, we don’t call it a date.”

Twilight made an O-shape with her mouth in confusion. “Then… what do we call it?”

“A casual event where two best friends can hang out in a completely platonic manner.”

Twilight snorted “You are never going to let that go, are you?”

Nova grinned deviously. “Never.”

Twilight fake-sighed. “Sure, why not,” she was taking great pains to sound as though this were reluctant. “I’ll call it that, and you,” she poked him in the shoulder, “will take me on a casual event where two best friends can hang out in a--” she paused. “Well, it wouldn’t be completely platonic if it were a date, would it?”

“OH FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!”

Nova and Twilight both looked up in time to see Rainbow Dash speed right down to just above them and glare at the two of them.

“Hello there, Rainbow Dash!” Twilight greeted cheerfully.

“Can it, you two, I’m trying to take a nap!” Dash replied brusquely. “Problem is,. you two keep yammering about some sort of casual thingy and it’s keeping me up.”

“I… sorry,” Twilight looked slightly ashamed of herself.

“I mean, we’re not the ones who chose a cloud above a public road as a good nap spot,” Nova shrugged.

Rainbow opened her mouth to reply, but instead glowered at Nova. “Shut up.”

Nova simply smiled smugly right back at her.

“Anyway, just pony up and say yes already, so some of us can sleep in peace,” Dash grumbled back at him. “If you wanted to say no, you’d have done so by now.”

“Maybe I’m leading her on,” Nova suggested. Twilight cast an irritated glance his way.

“You? Lead someone on? Please,” Dash rolled her eyes. “Just balls up and say yes already.”

“Don’t you have to be at work or something?”

Dash glanced over into the distance, probably where the Weather Office was located. “Yeah, but not for a few more minutes. Still, captain’s gotta set a good example. And hurry up and say yes!”

And with that, she flew off at top speed, leaving Nova and Twilight to just stare after her as she flew.

“So…” Nova said after several seconds of silence. “Dinner?”

“Dinner sounds nice,” Twilight beamed.

“How about… a week from now?”

“Sounds good to me,” Twilight nodded, still beaming.

“Alright. It’s a casual event where two best friends--” Nova started before Twilight playfully whacked him. “I’m kidding, I’m kidding!” he laughed. “It’s a date.”

Twilight hummed happily, curling a hoof around Nova’s own. Nova accepted quite readily, letting Twilight lead him back to Ponyville. All in all, it had been a fantastic month.

But now, one thought was plaguing his mind.

I’ve never been on a date before! What the hell do I do?

{T} {A} {T} {S} {A} {T} {C}

Deep in the dungeons of a ruined castle in the Everfree Forest, Trixie Lulamoon sat, slumped against a wall. It had been over a full month, and no one had yet come for her.

Or at least, no one had made it to her.

Whatever the case, here she sat, stuck in a classic dungeon cell. She wasn’t chained. She wasn’t covered in her own filth. And she was surprisingly well-fed.

But she was still a prisoner.

And speaking of, the steady clip-clop of hooves heralded the arrival of her captor. Over the last couple of weeks, she had seen fit to test out a new ability or two she had regained after being a bit rusty after a thousand-year sleep.

A creme-yellow earth pony with a wind-swept blue mane trotted into view in the stone dungeons, carrying a pack on her back. Her cutie mark was just some generic pastiche of smiling flowers, her tail was short and severe, and her body structure was lean and toned.

But her eyes were red as always.

“I brought food,” Envy said quite carelessly, tossing the brown knapsack into the cell, where Trixie scrambled for it. It had been several hours since her last meal.

Upon opening it, however, all that dumped out were pine cones.

Trixie felt her heart sink at the sight. All that were in the knapsack were pine cones.

“Bon appetit!” Envy smirked at the cruel prank, even as Trixie fought back tears. This was hardly the first time Envy had toyed with her.

“W-why?” she asked, hoping her voice didn’t shake nearly as much as it felt like.

Envy shrugged. “No idea. I was wandering around Ponyville and could have sworn I heard some ponies saying they were your favorites.”

Trixie felt her insides clench in anger and shame. Had she really hurt the ponies in Ponyville so much they’d resort to spreading such callous rumors about her?

“Though, being completely serious,” and her voice, normally mocking and sultry, had gotten a lot more straight-faced, “what is your favorite food? You’ve been a pretty good prisoner, and a reward wouldn’t be completely out of the question.”

“Peanut-butter crackers…” Trixie whispered.

Envy hmphed. “You are just full of surprises, aren’t you.”

“What do you even want from me!?” Trixie asked, glaring at her through the bars. “Why am I still here!?”

“You’re my vessel,” Envy replied, as if it were the most obvious answer in the world. “Well,” she tilted her head as she reconsidered her answer, “more like my puppet. And I suppose bait could apply too…”

Trixie let out an irritated growl, but in her current state, it was far more pathetic than it was meant to be.

“See, here’s what I need from you,” Envy looked down at her again, even as her mane and tail started dissolving away into black shadow, followed closely by her entire body. In no time at all, she was simply a black shadow, phasing through the bars to glare down at her. “I need you as a good puppet from time to time, I need you as bait for Nova Shine and Twilight Sparkle, and I need you alive to keep me alive.”

Trixie blinked. “Do what?”

“Well, quite simply,” Envy glanced up at the ceiling in an annoying way that reminded Trixie a little too much of Twilight Sparkle, “since I tied myself to you when I first came out of my Soul Jar, I’m tied to you for a while. You live, I live. You die, I die. So keeping you alive is in my best interest.”

“But what do you want?” Trixie asked.

Envy took that opportunity to recompose herself into a stunning likeness of Twilight Sparkle, but she got the cutie mark all wrong, as it was a green three-leafed clover with a six-pointed magenta star in the middle of it, and in a small burst of red light, a very sharp knife appeared in the air.

Held by its handle in her red aura, Envy floated the knife down between the two of them. “Do you know what this is?”

“A knife,” Trixie said hesitantly. Was this going to turn into another mockery?

“Correct,” Envy smiled in the most poisonously sweet way she could. “And what do knives do, when you stick them in ponies?” Trixie opened her mouth to reply, but Envy just cut her off. “Hurt them, cause them pain, make them scream, and hopefully kill them,” Trixie wasn’t a fan of how cheerfully she said that.

“But why?” Trixie asked. “Why do you want to kill ponies?”

Envy’s face fell into an almost-wistful look as she glanced at the wall.

“It’s a long story. Maybe if you stay a good prisoner, I might share it with you. But suffice to say, it all has to do with the mare I’m currently imitating.”

Trixie said nothing. Of all the moods Envy felt from time to time, nostalgic was not the one Trixie had expected to deal with.

“Anyway, here’s your real food,” her horn shone red and another knapsack appeared and was tossed at Trixie’s feet, which was full of several leafy greens and fruits.

“Did you steal this?” Trixie asked warily.

Envy put on a look of fake shock. “I’m a homicidal shadow who gleefully wants to put a knife in a couple of ponies, but I would never stoop so low as to steal something.”

Trixie just gave her an odd look.

“No, I paid for those fairly,” Envy rolled her eyes. “Thieves arouse suspicion, and I’m quite happy camping out here until I can survive without you serving as my Horcrux.”

“Where’d you get the bits?” Trixie asked suspiciously.

“Anyone who lives as long as I do knows to set up a nice cache of hidden valuables and currency,” Envy shrugged. “We need us immortals a good fallback if we’re taken out of the game for a few centuries, Trisha.”

“Trixie.”

“Whatever. Just took a few bits from that stash and paid for your lunch.”

Trixie took the opportunity to practically stuff an apple into her mouth.

“Now, I couldn’t help but go snooping around in your memories last night,” Envy began conversationally, and Trixie froze. She didn’t know where this was going, but she didn’t like it. “I had been wondering for the last month or so how I managed to get inside your head oh-so-easily, and well,” she grinned maliciously, “I found my answer.”

Trixie felt a cold tingle go through her spine.

“You and I are gonna be having a heart-to-heart about where the Alicorn Amulet is really soon, Trixie.”

Trixie shuffled back to the very back of her cell as fast as she could, even as Envy calmly strutted toward her.

“But that’s for later. For now, you may be interested in my latest plan to stick the pointy end of my favorite metal tool into your friends.”

At this point, Trixie was too terrified to ask.

Envy’s malicious grin grew even wider as the black shadow that composed her began to cloud her body. For a few seconds, she was obscured from view, until the darkness vanished, and standing in her place was Rarity.

Her mane and tail were perfectly coiffured to match, her coat was immaculate, and even the cutie mark was spot on.

“They say the best way to win a battle with multiple foes is to turn them against each other,” Envy mused. “Well, I have just the plan in mind for that little venture.”