The Apprentice, the Student, and the Charlatan

by Rytex

The Diaries

Upper Canterlot Station was busier than usual that morning.  Four trains had come through from different corners of Canterlot.  A train from Manehattan had arrived close to dawn, an express from the Crystal Empire had come through the night and had arrived shortly after 9, another train right behind it pulled in from Las Pegasus, and now, just before 11, a train from Manechester rolled in, carrying with it passengers from Trottenham, Trottingham, Neighton, and Ponyville.

Among said passengers, out trotted two unicorns, arm in arm, with the mare keeping her head nuzzled firmly in the crook of the stallion’s neck as they made their way out of the train and onto the arrival platform, while the stallion looked slightly uncomfortable, but at the same time, he had an expression that there was no place he would rather be.  It was a picturesque couple, truth be told, and they drew some stares from several onlookers as they trotted by, up into the station proper and then out into the city.

Meanwhile, Nova, Twilight, and Spike stepped out of the train, with Nova carrying three bags in his telekinetic grasp.

“We’re only here for three days,” he grit his teeth as one of the bags got stuck in the door before he twisted it and pulled it free.  “Why did you bring such a big suitcase?”

“In case we take the diaries back to Ponyville with us,” Twilight replied, a little annoyed considering they had gone over this several times.  “It never hurts to be prepared.”

“We could just store them in our Sources,” Nova retorted.  “There was no need to bring this much stuff for a three day trip.”

“But what if we need to physically carry these books?  What if they have an adverse reaction to Source storage?  You wouldn’t be ready for that.”

“I’d just buy something to carry them in from one of the stores here,” Nova shrugged.

“Then you’d have an extra suitcase you’d never need once we got back,” Twilight replied.

“Could always sell it.”

“Are you two sure you’ve made up?” Spike asked, glancing between them as they made their way out of the station and out into the city.  “You’re arguing like you haven’t.”

“Positive,” they both said together, not looking away from each other.  After a long moment, they both broke, chuckling and nuzzling each other, which led Spike to make a rather loud gagging noise to show his annoyance.

“Well, Spike certainly seems to be taking things well,” Nova observed as the two of them separated so they could actually walk without tripping over each others’ hooves.  “Something tells me the Princesses are going to be ecstatic.”

No sooner had he said this and the three of them trotted out of the station than they both came to a screeching halt.

A line of eight peacekeepers was there waiting for the both of them, with four having spears raised at attention.  As Nova, Spike, and Twilight stood there in the entrance of the train platform, the peacekeepers all leveled their gazes at the three of them, which had Nova’s eyes flicking back and forth along the line, with a nervous feeling starting to appear in his gut.

“Are you Night Apprentice Nova Shine?” one of them asked, stepping forward.

“Uhh, yeah?” he replied hesitantly.

“You’re under arrest.”

“What!?” Twilight exclaimed as three guards stepped forward and started to restrain Nova before he could really process what was going on, while the other four leveled their spears at him threateningly.

“Wait, what?  What did I even do!?” Nova asked, resisting lightly, even as the stallions fastened manacles to his neck and legs.

“We have it on good authority you impersonated a member of the Equestrian Peacekeeping Corps approximately four months ago.  Such a crime is, as you know, a felony offense punishable by banishment or imprisonment, or in severe cases, imprisonment at the location of banishment.”

“Wha--?” Twilight felt rooted to the spot, as though all she could do was sit there and watch as her coltfriend was clapped in irons, all while Nova squawked in discomfort.  She was going to have some serious words with Shining when she saw him next.

But the sound of tinkling laughter brought everything to a halt.  With a flash of pink magic, both Princess Luna and Princess Celestia appeared, with Celestia laughing at the scene in front of her, whereas Luna seemed to be doing her best not to show amusement at her student’s misfortune.

“That’s quite enough, sergeant,” Luna ordered, causing all of the peacekeepers to let him go, with one taking the time to undo the manacles.  “I do believe my sister has enjoyed her little prank.”

“P-prank?  That wasn’t funny!” Twilight shouted at Princess Celestia even as she helped Nova to his hooves.  “I thought Shining had set them on him! You know how he gets!  I didn’t know if this was him getting back at Nova for last week!”

“I thought it was Aegis trying to rile me up again,” Nova admitted, taking a deep breath in relief as the manacles came free.  “I appreciate a good harmless prank as much as the next pony, Princess, but next time could you try not to scare Twilight half to death?”

“I apologize, Twilight,” Princess Celestia bowed her head at her pupil.  “I suppose it was a bit ill-conceived, especially since it wasn’t clear it was meant to be harmless.  We just thought we would surprise you.”

“Well, you did that much,” Spike remarked.

“Why did you come out to meet us?” Nova asked, giving Luna a confused look.  “You’ve never met us at the station before.”

“Well, we wanted to be here to congratulate the two of you,” Luna replied, shrugging her wings.

“Congratulate them for what?” Spike asked.

“For patching things up, and for finally confronting their feelings for each other,” Celestia said, her magic surrounding Spike and placing him on her back.  “Well, Nova mainly. Twilight revealed her own feelings to Nova some time ago, but now Nova has finally done the same.”

“Indeed, it’s about time,” Luna nudged Nova meaningfully.  “Somepony tried his hardest to hide it and did a terrible job.  So tell me, my apprentice,” she trotted over next to Nova as the five of them started making their way up the road, while four guards started to accompany them while the other four made their way back to the castle, “do you feel better now?”

“You have no idea,” sighed Nova, before sliding sideways and giving Twilight a light nuzzle, which caused her to smile rather bashfully (and Spike to roll his eyes) at the public display of affection.  “You were right, I guess. I asked you what was wrong with me, and all you did was congratulate me on falling in love.”

“Bleaugh,” Spike fake-gagged, trying to be even more obvious about it than before.

“Oh hush, Spike,” Twilight flicked him with her tail, an impressive feat considering he was high up on Celestia’s back.  “When you get older, you might not mind so much.”

“‘Older’ could mean as late as age 22,” Luna bumped her pupil with her flank.  “But better late than never at all.”

“We just gonna keep teasing me all the way to Twilight’s parents’ house?” Nova whined as the five of them set off through the roads, the princesses seeming to ignore all of the ponies bowing to them as they trotted by.

“Something like that,” Luna assured him, smiling sweetly.  “Honestly, if you were any more blind to your own obvious feelings, you’d have lost your sense of physical touch years ago.”

“Not to mention my own,” Twilight smiled slightly.  “I mean, I wasn’t exactly subtle, was I?”

“Subtle enough for me,” muttered Nova.

“That’s because before, you couldn’t recognize if a pony had feelings for you unless they outright explained it to your face,” Celestia smiled playfully at Nova.  “If I recall, Princess Cadance had to do exactly that…”

“Good thing she did,” Nova admitted, with a wry grin of his own.  “I doubt I’d ever have known about Twi wanting to date me. Probably would have been completely clueless when I got back to the library and found her shut up in her room and Trixie banished to my basement.”

“Sometimes, that’s all it takes,” Celestia did finally acknowledge the ponies bowing to them, giving a lazy flick of her forehoof to dismiss them and have them carry on.  “Sometimes you just need someone to take the metaphorical blindfold off and give it to you bluntly. And sometimes, you just have to hear yourself say something before you will ever act on it.”

“Or have my dad goad me into screaming it for the entire Neighton bar to hear,” Nova commented with a small shake of his head.

“Well, it worked, did it not?” Luna leaned over to give Nova an affectionate nuzzle.  “Here the both of you are, your relationship salvaged, and dare I say it, stronger than ever.  Now, all that really needs to be sorted is this business with Envy, and the two of you can go about living happy lives!  How many children do you think they will have, Tia?” she met her sister’s gaze, ignoring Nova’s annoyance and Twilight’s embarrassment.

“Oh, at least three,” Celestia tapped at her chin as she looked at the sky thoughtfully.  “All unicorns with limitless magical potential. Twilight will just insist on naming a colt Star Swirl…”

“No I won’t!” Twilight protested.

“Well, she’s got a point,” Nova smirked, bumping Twilight playfully.  “You do have a bit of an obsession with Star Swirl the Bearded…”

“I prefer to think of it as a healthy passion,” Twilight growled, a tad pink in the face.

“...and Nova will, of course, name a colt after himself,” Luna continued, pretending to be oblivious to their conversation.

“That’s preposterous,” Nova turned away to give his teacher an indignant look.  “I’m not that self-centered.”

“Well, she’s got a point,” echoed Twilight, who bumped Nova in return.  “You do have a bit of an obsession with Nova Shine I…”

“Oh har har,” Nova rolled his eyes, though he couldn’t contain a smirk.  Turnabout was fair play, after all. “So, to what do we owe the pleasure, Princesses?”

“Oh, we aren’t allowed to greet our pupils as they arrive at the train station?” Celestia asked.  “We have to have some kind of ulterior motive when we meet you face to face?”

“Well, no,” Nova replied, “it’s just, you usually do have something you want when we do meet up.”

“Not today,” Luna assured him, draping a wing around him.  “Today, it is strictly us taking the morning off to meet the two of you.  When you arrive at the Sparkles, we will say our farewells and allow the two of you some time to yourselves and Twilight’s family.”

And that was that.  The five of them simply spent the next several minutes trotting up the road, chattering about things going on.  Relationship advice was offered, ribbing and teasing was done, and it felt like the first time in a long while that the Princesses didn’t seem like teachers to them, but also as friends.

But all too soon, it was over, because the Sparkles’ home was rather close to the train station.

“Oh, we are nearly there,” Celestia sighed, as she stared down the road.  “I’m sorry Twilight, Nova. While we would love to stay and talk more, royal business never ends, I’m afraid.”

“We need to just meet up like this more often,” Nova said, gesturing at everything around them rather vaguely.  “This was pretty nice.”

“I agree,” Twilight nodded, using her magic to levitate Spike off of Princess Celestia’s back and onto her own.  “We have been visiting Canterlot a lot lately.”

“We’ll have to put it down for a future plan,” Luna promised, before spreading her wings.  “Farewell, you two. If you do wish to talk while you’re in town, feel free to come on up to the castle.  We’ll make time for you both.”

With that, she took off, flying back toward the castle, though her sister stayed behind.

“In the meantime, enjoy your stay here, and enjoy your renewed relationship,” Princess Celestia beamed at them.  “I’ll admit, part of me had my doubts that you two could overcome obstacles to your relationship, given Nova’s history and the stress of your current situation, but it seems you have dealt with both magnificently.  From here, we will focus all of our efforts on defeating Envy and rescuing Trixie Lulamoon. And as Luna said, if you ever wish to speak to us, you both are always welcome to come to the castle at any time.”

Nova and Twilight both nodded.

“Will do,” Twilight promised.  “Goodbye, Princess!”

“Goodbye, my most faithful student!” Celestia smiled, before she spread her own wings, and with a powerful flap, she bolted into the sky and flew off, following her sister to the castle.

On arriving at the Sparkles’ residence, Nova finally put the multitude of bags down with a relieved sigh, before reaching out to open the door…

…only for it to open of its own accord, as a certain Shining Armor stood in the door, staring down at Nova.  And Nova knew murderous intent when he saw it.

“...oh shit.”

Before Shining could even do anything, however, there was a blur of purple, and Nova suddenly found himself watching as Twilight had dashed between him and her brother, and was shoving him backward with a strength that had to come from pure adrenaline, considering how muscular her older brother was.

“Twily, let go of me!” Shining struggled against her grip, while Spike and Nova could just watch.

“No, Shiny,” Twilight growled, struggling against him.  “We’re… not… doing that to him!” she finally managed to shove him backward hard enough to send him on his rump, an action that both Shining and Nova seemed stunned by.

“How’d… you do that?” Shining asked, staring at her in amazement.

“You just physically tossed a former captain of the guard right on his ass!” Nova gaped.

“Shiny, I love you to death, but if you know what’s good for you,” she glared at her fallen brother, “never threaten my coltfriend again.”

But as Twilight stared down her brother, another voice called out, one which instilled dread in all three of them.

“Is that Twilight?  Shining, be a dear and step aside.”

At the sound of Cadance’s voice, Nova leapt to his hooves at once, already pushing Twilight back just as Cadance took her husband’s place and started attempting to move past him to get at Twilight.

“Nova, let me through,” Cadance ordered, looking past him to give Twilight a cold glare.  “Ladybug and I need to have words.”  Her voice became a deathly whisper at the final word, which only caused Nova to stand even taller and block more of the door.

“Cadenza, come on,” he just fixed Cadance with an exasperated look.  “We’ve already been messed with enough today, and I’m sure you’re well aware we’ve patched things up, sis.”

“Wait, ‘sis?’” Twilight asked.

“Oh poo,” Cadance pouted at her surrogate younger brother.  “You’re no fun, LBBFF.”

“I thought we both agreed we weren’t doing that.”

“You just said you didn’t know about going that far, but that wasn’t a noooo~” Cadance sang unhelpfully, giving Nova a smug grin, before stepping past him and starting to dance with Twilight in their usual Sunshine Dance.  Shining, however, grabbed Nova in his magic and dragged him over to stand beside the larger stallion.

“Gonna threaten me?” Nova asked, giving him a once-over as he landed.  “Your wife tried that last time and it didn’t go so well.”

“Nah,” Shining reached over and gave his mane a light tousle.  “Just the usual older brother grilling. I was considering taking a train down to Neighton to pay you back for breaking Twily’s heart, but,” he gestured to his wife and sister, who were shaking their rumps at each other as they finished up their dance, “you’ve clearly cleaned up your mess.  As a former Captain of the Guard, that already makes you more qualified to date my LSBFF than any other stallion in Equestria in my eyes.”

“The fact that I avoided messing up any more?”

“The fact that you took the initiative and fixed what went wrong,” Shining corrected, staring down at him.  “Whether or not you did it doesn’t matter. There are times I find Cadey mad at me for something I’m ninety percent sure I never did, but it’s still on me to fix it.  Happens all the time in the Guard. Stuff goes wrong. But the ones who step up and do their part are the ones who go far. It’s often said that in marriage, there’s a party who’s right a hundred percent of the time, and the other one is the husband, and time and again,” Nova couldn’t help but notice the faint note of irritation in his voice as he said that, “it rings true.”

“Something for me to keep in mind,” Nova nodded to himself thoughtfully.  “So, what are you two doing in town? On vacation from ruling an entire empire?”

“Remember the armor discussion you walked in on?” Shining’s eyes gleamed.  “The one where you managed to irritate all of my trusted generals by picking Sombra’s design?”

“How could I forget?” Nova asked, feeling his head sink down and a cold icy sensation of embarrassment as the memory of every Crystal Legion general glaring at him caused his cheeks to burn.

“Well, we settled on a design, preliminary enchantment tests were promising, so we’re here to formally request that Celestia station a detachment of Enchanters in the Empire to get our armor working.”

His horn shone pink and a schematic of the armor appeared for Nova to have a look at.  It was very elegant, with designs clearly inspired by the standard Equestrian Peacekeeper armor, as well as some practical cues from Sombra’s own armor.  It was colored a pale blue, not too far off of the color of Trixie’s mane, but with silver accents as well. And at different points along the armor were different gems, which seemed to be the sources of the different enchantments on the armor according to the notes.

“Looks good,” Nova commented, rather impressed.

“Talking about the armor again, Shining?” sighed Cadance, sliding herself between her husband and her surrogate brother, and draping a hoof around said surrogate brother.  “We talked about this. You can geek out about the armor designs when we get up to the castle and you talk with my aunts and General Bastion.”

“I know,” Shining rolled his eyes, “but I don’t find many ponies who can appreciate a good armor schematic."

Cadance just gave him a flat stare, which Shining tried to challenge, but he just sighed after a moment..

“Alright, love.  I’ll stop.” He then glanced over at Twilight.  “We still doing Plan B? Divide and take the siblings out for lunch?”

“As you can see,” Cadance gave Nova a squeeze, “I’m isolating my LBBFF now.”

“Alrighty then,” Shining strode over to his younger sister, whose eyes were flicking between the three of them.

“What?” she asked.

“Come on, sis,” Shining grinned, trotting over and leading her away, just as Cadance was doing to Nova in the opposite direction. “Brother-sister lunch date.”

“Do we get a say in this?” Nova asked indignantly, though he wasn’t exactly struggling to extricate himself from Cadance’s grip.

“Nope!” Cadance replied a little too cheerfully.  “You’re stuck with me for the next few hours.”

“What about Spike?” Twilight asked.

“Mom’s inside,” Shining gestured into the house.  “She knows we’re foalnapping you, and she said she’ll handle the bags.  In the meantime, let’s go get something to eat.”

“Nova, save me,” Twilight cried in an overly-dramatic voice as Shining started to trot into the city, leading his marefriend away from him.  “I fear I will be lost without you!”

Nova jumped right in, sliding a hoof across his brow in the classic overdramatic pose.  “I am afraid that I can help you not, for she has bound me far too tight to move.”

Shining tilted his head as he looked back at Nova in a confused sort of awe.  “Was… was that iambic pentameter?”

“Vision… growing dark…” Twilight started to slump on down, even as Shining turned his confused gaze directed at Nova into an annoyed one directed at his sister.

“Alright you two, you’ve had your fun,” Cadance said, patiently allowing Nova to make his death as dramatic as possible, with him and Twilight desperately reaching out for each other, “but unfortunately, I don’t think you should be trying out for any Flankspearean theatre roles any time soon.  Say goodbye, Nova,” her magic lifted him up and set him back down on his hooves.

“Goodbye, Nova,” Nova replied, causing Cadance to snort.

“Let’s go, Sis,” Shining led Twilight along, giving his wife and the stallion who had a decent shot of ending up his brother in law a wave.  “See you two later.”

“So, tell me the truth, Shining,” Twilight stared at him through narrow eyes as they waited for their food.  Shining had taken her to a nearby Pony Burger, a typical fast-food hayburger place they had enjoyed as kids that was in Lower Canterlot, hidden away from the disdainful eyes of the elites of Upper Canterlot like Donut Joe’s.  Twilight expected that considering Shining had brought her all the way out here, she was going to get the usual “I completely disapprove of this coltfriend you’ve brought home” talk from him. “Were you really about to thrash him into next Wednesday when you saw him at the door?”

“Nah,” Shining shook his head, stifling a laugh.  “If you had asked me that about twenty-four hours ago, the answer would have been a resounding yes, but well…” he gestured at her, “he’s clearly fixed things up.”

“Believe it or not, he didn’t do anything wrong in the first place,” Twilight stated, taking the tone she always used when she was refusing to allow Shining to challenge her.  “I can say it quite confidently, now that he’s shown me what actually happened.”

“How do you know?” Shining asked, a note of caution in his voice, and a guarded expression on his face.

“Are you familiar with visual memories, Shining?” Twilight asked, though she already knew the answer.

“Of course, we use it for mission debriefing all the time.  Unable to be magically altered without leaving behind massive evidence that it had been tampered with,” Shining answered, frowning.  “He showed you his visual memories of what happened that night, then?”

“Yeah,” Twilight nodded her head, thought the same icy dagger that she had felt when she witnessed Nova nearly dying pierced her gut again, causing her to cringe a bit.  “He… he didn’t want to show me them and instead, he wanted me to trust his word. But I wouldn’t,” she shook her head. “I was refusing to allow myself to even entertain the possibility that I was wrong.”

“But… why would he not want to show you visual memories?” Shining’s frown deepened.  “Did he have something to hide?”

“Not… really, no,” Twilight shook her head and feeling the icy dagger stab further into her as the scene played in her head again.  Envy, wearing Trixie’s form, preparing to kill Nova, who just sat there with a completely broken and forlorn expression on his face, not even bothering to fight her.  “He… he didn’t want me to know about the part where he was nearly murdered.”

Shining’s eyes widened, and his jaw nearly hit the table.  “He what?”  Before Twilight even had a chance to respond, Shining reached across the table and placed a steadying hoof on her shoulder, but it felt far more like a desperate clutch than a supportive grab.  “Is he alright? Are you alright?  Is everything--”

“No, everything is not alright,” Twilight shook her head and pawing at her eyes, trying to prevent herself from having another breakdown, as she had the night before.  “Shining… am I a bad pony?”

“What?”  Shining gaped at her, his hoof’s grip tightening slightly.  “How can you even ask that, Twily? You and your friends purified Nightmare Moon, you’ve reformed Discord, you and your friends have saved me and Cadance twice now, and you have one of the strongest moral compasses of anypony I know.  What’s made you ask this?”

“I’ve been struggling lately, Shining,” Twilight admitted, staring at a wooden spot on their table to avoid meeting his eyes.  “I’ve been insecure, I’ve blamed myself for things I could never have truly predicted or prevented, I’m second-guessing every decision I make, and I have my moments where I would rather be right when it would hurt, than be wrong when it wouldn’t.”

“What do you mean by that?” Shining asked.

“I mean,” Twilight took a deep breath, “the night everything fell apart, it looked to me as though Nova and Rarity were going behind my back.”  She grit her teeth. “It just looked as though he were. He was meeting with Rarity at her house, with the explanation that he was preparing for our date and they seemed to be bantering a lot more casually than usual.  Despite the fact that I knew both of them would never do anything like that, I still started to grow suspicious of them anyway.”

“That’s natural, Twilight,” Shining assured her, giving her a light shake.  “If you think something’s wrong, you’re always going to pay extra-close attention to the situation.  Though a little lesson in tact on his part wouldn’t be amiss,” he added with a frown.

“That’s just it, though!” Twilight pushed his hoof off.  “I should have known better! But I still allowed myself to start to not trust him anyway.  And then when the date happened, Nova went off to go and get a gift, and when he took a long time in returning, I went out for a look and found…”

She trailed off, shaking her head as the memory burned into her head started to play out.  Now that she was assured Nova wasn’t doing this himself, that part didn’t hurt so much.

It was what came after that did.

“Found what?”

“It doesn’t matter,” Twilight shakily brushed her mane.  “What matters is, what I saw wasn’t what was really happening, and even when Nova was trying to assure me it wasn’t so, and I couldn’t detect him lying, I still refused to believe him until he resorted to visual memories.”

“Twily, listen,” Shining re-established his grip on her shoulder and turned her to face him directly rather than look away.  “You didn’t do anything wrong. You didn’t react the wrong way. Based on all of the information presented to you, your reaction was completely justified.  Ponies refuse to change what they believe because they want to believe all the time. It’s a defense mechanism in the brain, so don’t blame yourself for what you can’t control.”

Twilight said nothing, merely frowning down at the table again.

“I can’t pretend to know what the two of you are going through right now, with each other and with Envy,” he didn’t miss Twilight suddenly look up in surprise, “but I do know this,” he stared right into her eyes, trying to will her to see the truth in them.  “Nova doesn’t care. He came back to you despite what you may think you have done. Do not let yourself forget that fact.”

“How…” Twilight whispered, before swallowing and trying again.  “How do you know about Envy?”

Shining just smiled cryptically.  “You’ll see tomorrow, Twily. But,” he cut off her attempts to grill him before they could even start; he could always tell when she was going into interrogation mode, and had gotten quite good at putting a stop to it, “that’s for tomorrow.  For today, relax. Enjoy hanging out with me, Cadey, and Nova. With everything going on, I’d imagine you don’t have much time to relax.”

“More than you think,” Twilight sighed, before rubbing at one of her eyes.  “Sorry, Shiny. I don’t mean to make you or him worry.”

“Hey, what are coltfriends and big brothers for?” Shining grinned.  “If you’re having trouble, talk to someone. Me, Cadey, Nova, Princess Celestia, your friends… we’re all here to help.  Always.”

It was lucky their waitress delivered their food.  It provided Twilight the distraction she needed not to tear up when dwelling on that statement.

“Thank you, Shining,” she sighed, as her bangs hid her eyes from view.  “You… you have no idea how much it means to me.”

“Hey,” she felt his hoof on her shoulder again, “what are BBBFFs for?”

“So, gonna lecture me today, Cadenza?” Nova asked, as they trotted down the road, toward Canterlot’s restaurant district.

“Cadance.”

“I know what I said, Cadenza.”

“Believe it or not, though, that was the idea,” Cadance smirked down at him.  “For old times sake, you know how it is,” she added, her smirk growing into an impish grin.  “Especially if you insist on calling me by the name I keep asking you not to call me.”

“What would you even lecture me about?” Nova asked, failing to contain a chuckle of his own.  “Me and Dad have made up, me and Tantalus have made up…”

“Love, actually,” Cadance answered, her mischief gone instantly, replaced with pride.  “I’m proud of you, you know that?”

“You gonna give me a nice long praise session about how I fixed my mistake, and that’s why I’m fit for Twilight or something?” Nova asked, giving her a sideways glance.  “Shining already did that.”

“Oh no,” Cadance shook her head, though she sighed wistfully.  “I’m afraid the days where I get to lecture you about why your view on love is a terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad thing are long gone.  You’ve grown and learned far too much since then.”

“I mean, outside of Twi and I finally getting together, I honestly don’t know what you’re talking about,” Nova admitted.

“There’s more to love than just romantic love, Nova,” Cadance explained, taking on the tone she usually did when there was something she wanted him to get through his head.  “Much more.  Have you ever heard of the concept of the Four Loves?”

Nova frowned as he racked his brain.  “Can’t… no, can’t say I have.”

“It’s mostly a theoretical concept,” Cadance clarified.  “Not surprised you haven’t heard of it. Basically, though, you know how translating one language to another isn’t a one-to-one translation, right?”

Nova nodded.  “Yeah, like how the yaks supposedly had eighty words for snow in their old language and we only have one.”

“That’s not inaccurate,” Cadance grinned, “but the same concept.  Words in Equish may have more words to describe something more specific in another language, and vice versa.  In this case, love, and its analogues in Nimbusian.”

“Nimbusian?” Nova frowned.  “That’s the old language of the Pegasi, right?  From before Hearth’s Warming?”

“Over a thousand years before Hearth’s Warming, but otherwise, exactly,” Cadance nodded approvingly.  “You sure know your history.”

“I learned more than magic from those brief college courses you paid for,” Nova responded, looking ahead.  Restaurant Row was ahead of them, and he had a feeling she was going to lead him in there. He’d never had any of the food there, even though it was supposed to be really good.

Cadance simply continued.  “Well, the Nimbusian language had four different words to describe different aspects of love, that Equish just wraps up into the singular word ‘love’.  The four types are storge, which is the love of family; philia, the love of companions and friends; eros, the romantic love everypony is familiar with, and agape, an unconditional love for a fellow pony.”

“So what do these have to do with me?”

“Well,” Cadance chewed on her lower lip, no doubt considering how best to word what she was going to say, “I believe you’ve grown exponentially in three of four of these aspects over the last few weeks.”

“How so?” Nova asked, slightly inclining his head.  “Obviously romantically, I’m not pretending like it’s some kind of stupid thing to get into or whatever.”

“No, you’ve instead allowed yourself to grow close to Twilight, and she to you.  And now, I believe I shall happily be awaiting the day when wedding invitations show up addressed to Shiny and I,” she teased, giving him a light bump.

“Bit early to be thinking about that,” Nova frowned, though the image he’d once had at the Sparkles’, of himself and Twilight at the altar, replayed in his head and he had to admit, it was far from unpleasant..  “It’s almost like you wanted me and Twilight to get together.”  He froze in his tracks, his expression suddenly one of complete shock and a tiny bit of horror.  “No, you didn’t…”

“Didn’t what?” asked Cadance, glancing back at him in confusion.

“Did you purposefully try and get me and Twi together?”  Nova was impressed that he’d managed to keep the sound of accusation out of his voice, but he still couldn’t help but feel once again like he had no true control over things with the realization alone.

“As a matter of fact, I did not,” Cadance shook her head, not the least perturbed by Nova’s change of mood.  “Princess of Love I may be, and maybe in the past I had some fancies deep down that the two of you would be almost perfect for each other in the unlikely event that you two ever crossed paths, but no, I never purposefully tried to push you and Twilight together.  The relationship between the two of you developed entirely on its own, my informing you of her feelings aside.”

“Did Princess Celestia and Princess Luna do it?” Nova asked, frowning.  “How often did previous Faithful Students and Night Apprentices end up like us?”

“I wouldn’t know,” Cadance shrugged.  “I never had a Night Apprentice partnered with me.  The closest I had was Sunset Shimmer, a fellow Faithful Student, but that only lasted a few weeks before she vanished, and I can confirm,” she frowned in distaste, “the relationship wasn’t even close to romantic there.”

“Hm.  But you do think I’ve grown in the eros sense,” Nova dutifully steered the conversation back on topic.  “What about the others?”

“Well,” Cadance bobbed her head thoughtfully, “of the other three, I’d say storge was rather obvious how you improved, given you no longer hate your father’s very presence--”

“Understating it a bit there.”

“--and philia, where you seem to be doing a lot more to hang on to your friendship with Aegis than you had in the past.”

“Well,” Nova shrugged, “I have been visiting Canterlot more, and he’s been to Ponyville, plus there was that time he came up to the Crystal Empire at the same time as I did…”

“Even so, you two are spending more time together,” Cadance continued.  “The only aspect of love you haven’t seemed to grow in has been agape.  Unconditional love.”

“How do you mean?” Nova frowned.  “If I sucked at the other three, wouldn’t unconditional love not be one of my strong suits?”

“Quite the contrary, you have always seemed to go out of your way to help those in need in the time I’ve observed you,” Cadance praised him, giving him a fond look.  “There’s the incident in Manehattan where you bought clothes for the musician you found wearing rags, there was that time in Vanhoover where you took it upon yourself to purchase enough food to feed that entire homeless shelter for a whole year, and then there was that time in Neighton where you bought that pegasus an entire apartment…”

“I… have a soft spot for homeless ponies,” Nova admitted, sounding almost embarrassed.

“From personal experience?” Cadance arched an eyebrow.

“Something like that,” Nova grunted.

“Even so, never once have I ever doubted your agape,” Cadance continued.  “In the time that I’ve known you, you have never turned a blind eye to the hungry, the cold, or the destitute.  Distrust toward those you did know you may have had, but you never let it discolor your opinions of the ponies you didn’t know.  Even after all you have been through, I can’t help but admit, I admired the way you helped others.”

Nova had to turn his head away so that Cadance wouldn’t see him getting teary-eyed at her praise.  It meant more to him than he’d initially thought.

“Where are we even going?” he asked, failing to keep the shakiness out of his voice.  “I thought you were leading me toward lunch. Restaurant Row was back there.”

“I’ve been following you,” Cadance replied, looking a bit amused.  “You seem to know where you’re going.”

No sooner had she said this than they rounded a corner, and Nova finally recognized where they were, and also felt his gaze drawn down the road, toward the manor sitting at the far end of the road.

It was his family’s home.

Nova stared at it for several seconds, feeling the same anxiety he had felt last time well up in him, but before he could let it cause him any more trouble, the warm and gentle embrace of a wing suddenly draped itself over his back, and Cadance drew him close.

“Hey,” she whispered.  “Go do what you need to.  We’ll all be waiting at the Sparkles, alright?”

Nova nodded, noticing that his breathing had gotten a bit labored.  Sure, he had made his amends with his father, but the psychological triggers were still going to be there to overcome.

And there was no time like the present.

Unlike the last time he had been here, the walk to the house seemed to go by in a flash, as though he had glided along at top speed.  It seemed like no time at all had passed before he had pushed his way through the front doors and entered his family’s home.

The foyer looked as pristine as ever, as though nothing had changed, though he was startled to see his mother trotting along the mezzanine.  He’d thought she would have been reading in the sitting room again.

As he pushed open the doors, her ears perked up and she looked down toward him.  After a moment of recognition, she seemed startled by his appearance.

“N-Nova?” she asked, blinking dumbly.  “I… R-Ray’s not here, if you’re looking for him.  He told me what happened yesterday and--”

“No!” Nova cut her off, a bit more forcefully than he had originally wanted, and her wince caused him to cringe a bit.  “No. I wanted… you. Just you.”

She stared at him for a long time, her silver eyes softening considerably, before she practically galloped down the main stairway to meet him in an embrace.

“I’ve missed you so much,” she held him tightly, as though he were afraid he’d vanish.  And uncomfortable though it was, Nova made no move to pull away. “W-welcome home, son.”

“It’s good to be home,” Nova returned the embrace.  “It’s good to be back, Mom.”

Where Upper Canterlot was nestled on the mountainside, with the Castle only being a short distance away, and Lower Canterlot was situated on a little plateau a little bit closer to the ground, the Lulamoon Estate was even further below the city than that, about half a mile, well into the outskirts.  In fact, much of Canterlot proper as a whole did not have any view of the Lulamoon Estate unless they were on the particular side of the city with the path that led to it.

The expanse was what one would expect from a rich family of spellcasters linked to one of the most prolific names in Equestrian history.  There were tall stone walls and an ornate wrought-iron gate barring entry, but they were still very far out from the manse itself, which looked just as large as Novus Manor and was structurally-similar in design, with a main section and a wing on each side.  And as they passed through the gates, Nova couldn’t help but gaze at the surroundings with wonder.

There were at least ten grassy fields, dozens of allotments of flowers and other plant life, a small grove of trees close to the manse at the end of the walk, and fine gravel walkways between all of them.  The mansion itself was about as opulent as they came, carved with tremendous care to put exquisite detail into the marble walls, which were also detailed with valuable woods, precious metals, and all manner of finery.  Perhaps to disguise the backside of the estate, the walls and the back end of the manor seemed to run up directly against the mountainside, but that did nothing to take away from the sheer majesty that was the Lulamoon Estate.

“This place is huge!” exclaimed Twilight, looking all around at the yards around them.  “It has to be just as big as the castle!”

“Not quite,” Shining Armor said as the path shifted from dirt to the fine gravel as soon as it was inside the gate.  “Canterlot Castle remains the largest single campus in all of Canterlot by several hundred square meters. Having several extra floors probably helps.”

Nova, Twilight, and Shining Armor found themselves joined by Aegis and Sharp Eye as well.

“How does Mr. Lulamoon maintain it all?” Twilight asked, still looking around at everything.  “I don’t see any workers!”

Nova, however, had an answer.

“Feel beneath you,” he said.

Twilight’s eyes unfocused for a moment, before her mouth parted in surprise.

“A-all of that…?”

“Looks like it.”

“What are you two on about?” Aegis asked, giving them an odd look.  As usual, he wore his peacekeeping armor. It seemed to be all he ever wore.

“All of the magical energy underneath us,” Nova replied, pressing a hoof into the ground and crunching the gravel ever so slightly.  “It’s like a giant spider web of energy, criss-crossing over the entire estate as far as I can feel. It’s probably gotten to the point where Tantalus Lulamoon only needs to check on it every so often, make a correction or two, and then let it do its thing.”

“But a web of energy like this has to have a really strong power source,” Twilight pointed out.  “Look at the Crystal Empire. That entire city is structured to function like this, and it needs the Crystal Heart to do that.”

“I wouldn’t put it past the Lulamoon family to be able to afford a particularly powerful crystal that he can just pour magic into when he needs to,” Nova answered, staring at the manse ahead of them.  “Still, the family really didn’t have to show off their wealth this much.”

“What did you expect?” Aegis asked, sounding bemused.  “The Lulamoon family is one of the five richest families in all of Equestria.  Them and the Kickers just show it off a lot more than you Novuses, or the Bellebloods and Heartstrings do.”

“Oh yeah, speaking of old magical families,” Nova felt an evil grin spread across his face, “how did you react when you found out that Trixie was descended from your idol?”

Nova had never before seen a pony go from being quite jovial to suddenly ready to throw something across the yard in so short a time.  To see Twilight’s pleasant demeanour just completely disappear, to be replaced by a barely-restrained cocktail of supreme annoyance and fury.

“Now you’ve done it,” Aegis observed.

“Yeah, that was probably the wrong thing to bring up,” Shining concurred, eyeing his sister warily.

“Ms. Sparkle, you’re about to spontaneously combust,” Sharp Eye pointed out, noticing a faint trail of smoke rising from her mane.

“NO I’M NOT!” Twilight snapped, head snapping over to glare at Sharp Eye, though Nova noticed her eyes had gone quite red.

“Twilight,” Nova stepped between them, a small vortex of wind already starting to swirl around her, nullifying the fire before it ever got going.

Twilight just glared at him for a long moment, but then she blinked, and red was replaced by purple again.

“Sorry,” she said, only half-sincerely, “but don’t remind me that nag is the heir to Star Swirl’s family line!”

“Noted, for future reference,” Nova replied, completely-sincerely, before reaching over and pulling her close.  “And also, for future reference, don’t forget you’re dating the heir of an equally-influential family, who also happens to have the added bonus of being one of your idol’s descendants.”

Twilight eased into the hug, and a very satisfied smile spread across her muzzle.  “That does make me feel better.”

“And don’t forget you’re one of Star Swirl’s descendants yourself,” he added.

In contrast to her earlier change in attitude, this one went completely the opposite way.  Before, Twilight went from happy to angry in a matter of half a second. Now, however, Twilight went from happy to stunned in a fraction of that time.

Nova felt her slide out of his little hug, and when he looked back, she was just staring ahead, slack-jawed, eyes unfocused, and completely unaware of anything around her.

“You… didn’t know?” Nova asked, before glancing at Shining.  “Did you?”

Shining nodded briefly.  “Checked the family tree once.  Wasn’t really surprising, to be honest,.  Figured every Canterlot unicorn would have some obscure tie to the Novus or Lulamoon or other influential family at some point in their ancestry.  I’m just as surprised as you that Twily didn’t know, or even suspect!”

“I’m… a descendant… of Star Swirl,” Twilight mumbled, as a dopey grin started to spread.  “I’m a descendant of Star Swirl…”

“Unicorn families are weird,” Sharp Eye shook his head.  “Why does everyone care so much about what unicorn they’re descended from?  They don’t make you who you are, you make yourself.”

“Lineage, influence, that sort of thing,” Aegis answered, coming to the rescue of every unicorn in the group that had grown up in said system.  “Though in fairness, a few pegasi families are like that. Soon as my dad learned we were distantly related to Flash Magnus, he wouldn’t shut up about it.  Probably because Canterlot is big on that sort of thing. Who you know and who you’re related to makes it easier to climb the social ladder.”

“Ah,” Sharp Eye nodded understandingly.  “Friends of friends doing favors. I don’t suppose you’ve read The Great Gatsby?”

“I didn’t know you read,” Nova answered as tactfully as ever.

Sharp Eye snorted.  “What, did you think I spent all my time working on bounty hunting or bonding with Flutters?  As tempting as those may sound, I do have hobbies, Nova.”

Nova responded with a sheepish grin and an embarrassed rub at the back of his head at that.  “Yeah… not really sure what I expected,” he mumbled. “Aren't books a little on the expensive side in Neigh Zealand?”

“Very expensive, yes,” Sharp Eye dipped his head.  “Shipping by air or sea is always a money sink. Still, I was always able to find books to enjoy.  I am particularly good at finding things, as you may guess.”

“What are you, a Flufflepuff?” Nova asked.  Twilight let out a gigglesnort. She understood that reference, it seemed.

“What the hell is a Flufflepuff?” Sharp Eye asked, staring over at him.

Nova couldn’t figure if that meant that Sharp Eye knew it too, or if he was being genuine, so he let it pass.

Sharp Eye smirked (So he did get it!), but didn’t press further.  They had crossed the yard and were almost to the grand set of double front doors, which swung open of its own accord to reveal a foyer twice the size of Novus Manor’s, with pristine tile floors, artwork on the walls, and a giant, magnificent purple crystal being held in some kind of magical stand in the center.

From top to bottom, it went from floor to ceiling, several meters up.  The purple seemed to radiate off of it, and to Nova, it was almost like someone lit a magnesium fire in front of him to his energy sensing, drowning everything else out in the room, even Twilight!

Why was he only just now sensing it?  Did the doors block sensing ability?

“Oh,” Nova said, one of the only two of the group who didn’t react with any kind of wonder or surprise at the sheer size of it.  “So that’s how he maintains his enchantment web.”

“Yeah,” Shining nodded knowingly.  “Collects ambient magical energy from all around and stores it for the enchantment web to use.  Believe this was one of the last mana magnacrystals that Ars Arcanum himself created.”

Nova would have loved to sit there gawking, but he and Twilight did have a mission.  Not to mention, a side-effect of being a member of an equally-rich-and-influential house was that he was used to such magnificence by now.

“Come on,” he said, leading the three wowed ponies and Shining toward where he could faintly feel his father and Tantalus waiting for them in a back room.

“But… but… big magnacrystal!” Twilight pouted, evidently not pleased that Nova would interrupt such a sight.

“We can stop and look at the big magnacrystal as long as you want on the way out,” Nova promised.

Twilight pouted even more, but it didn’t last very long.  Shining took the lead, taking them through the many rooms of the Lulamoon Estate, passing through art galleries, dining chambers, and all manner of show-offy rooms before they were led back into the third-biggest library Nova Shine had ever laid eyes on.

The moment he stepped into the room, his jaw hit the floor.

From floor to third-story ceiling, there were shelves stuffed full of books absolutely everywhere!  There had to be thousands! Tens of thousands!  Not a single one looked identical to another, save for the newer editions of each one that went along!  There were reading desks everywhere, several catalogs at different parts of the library, which Nova could sense would update each other as contents were checked in and out, and there, standing at the far end of this paradise, were Tantalus Lulamoon and Ray Novus.

As they entered the room, both stallions turned to see who was entering, and while Nova was unable to fight off the brief reflex to try and attempt to get away, he stood firm, resolving to beat that flight reflex out of his muscle memory.

“I see that our little talk in the bar had its intended effect,” Ray said, smiling at the sight of Twilight staring around the room, completely and totally enraptured.

“Well, I had to do a little improvising,” Nova pulled his salivating marefriend along, “but yes, everything worked out.”

Tantalus trotted up to the group of them, offering a hoof to Nova.  “A pleasure to see you again, Nova Shine.”

“And you as well,” Nova shook his hoof.  “Took me a while, but I did it.”

Tantalus smiled.  “That you did. Believe it or not, it happened sooner than I expected from you.  It can’t have been easy to overcome such a divide.”

“It wasn’t,” Nova answered, before gesturing around at the large library.  “So, are the diaries here someplace?”

Tantalus shook his head.  “No. If they were, it wouldn’t be so difficult to retrieve them that I needed your father to make amends with the both of us.  However…”

He looked over to Aegis with a very serious expression.

“Corporal, am I to understand by your presence here that you are to be the new secret-keeper?”

Aegis just glanced over to Shining uncertainly.  “Uhh… sir?”

“Yes,” Shining answered.  “Since I live in the Empire now, and am not on hoof to handle cases involving your side-job, it would be best to find someone else.  I brought Corporal Aegis along because of his relation to both Nova and Twilight, as I believe this makes him the best candidate to protect a secret involving both of their safety.”

“What secret am I supposed to be keeping, exactly?” Aegis narrowed his eyes.  “I didn’t know I was going to be doing this when I came.” He glared at Shining, his eyes positively glowing with resentment at this development.

“Calm down, Corporal,” Tantalus said softly.  “As Captain Armor said, he brought you along specifically because your friendship with Nova and Twilight makes you the best candidate for the position.”

“It’s Prince-Consort now,” Shining corrected, “which is why I can’t exactly do it myself anymore.  The secret-keeper needs to be someone physically close to Lord Lulamoon. And if you’re uncomfortable with it, you can choose not to do this now and it won’t be held against you.  But I can promise you if you accept, it comes with compensation.”

“What kind?” Aegis asked tersely.  “I assume this means I’m being asked to withhold knowledge of some kind of illegal activity, right?”

“In the name of Nova’s and Twilight’s safety,” Tantalus replied, unperturbed by Aegis’ sudden uneasiness.  “I have possession of several diaries that detail the apprenticeships of the previous Night Apprentices and Faithful Students, and in particular, these diaries contain information on how they may defeat En… their enemy.”

He probably doesn’t know who Envy is, Nova thought, watching Aegis.  Well, he’s in for a nasty surprise when he gets around to reading these books.

“Is this a conversation I’m needed for?” Sharp Eye asked.  “Because it sounds like you’re treading onto some topics that aren’t for everypony’s ears here.”

“You’re right, Sharp Eye,” Ray dipped his head.  “I’m afraid you are no longer needed here and it is a confidential discussion.”

“Guess I’m back off to Ponyville then,” Sharp Eye couldn’t help but smile somewhat at that.  “Welp, be seeing you lot!” he said, and with a casual salute, he trotted off, out of the library.

“To answer your question, however,” Shining continued as though Sharp Eye’s departure hadn’t happened, “as this is recognized off the books as a service to Equestria the Princesses are… shall we say, far more likely to recommend you for promotion so long as your lips remain sealed.”

Aegis cocked his head.  “Don’t tell me…”

Shining shrugged.  “How do you think I ended up as Captain of the Guard at such a young age?  Though dating Cadance probably helped out there…” he trailed off with a small nostalgic grin.

Aegis just stared at Shining, his expression unreadable, though the flaring of his nostrils was as good a tell as any that he was not happy in the slightest to find out that even the Royal Guard, bastion of integrity and honor, was involved in off-the-books promotions and the like.

“If it’s for the greater good,” his voice was a deathly whisper, “then so be it.  But make no mistake, Captain,” Nova was surprised to hear just how much venom was in the word, “this goes against everything I swore an oath to uphold.”

“We will talk more about it in the future, Aegis,” promised Shining.  “For now, remove your armor and put this on,” he conjured a black cloak and held it out.  “It’s got an enchantment that changes the colors of your coat, mane, tail, and eyes. Don’t want to risk you being recognized as a guard under any circumstances.  Same for you two,” Shining added, offering cloaks to Nova and Twilight as well.

Aegis quickly shed his armor, and Nova had the brief image of a grey coat and black mane, before slipping the cloak on and turning to face them.  His coat had now become a very light blue, a shade lighter than Trixie’s, and his mane became a brilliant white, as had his eyes.

“Completely unrecognizable,” Shining Armor smiled, slipping his own cloak on.  His new coloration was a bright red stallion, with a jet-black mane.

“How do I look?” Twilight asked, glancing over to Nova with now-bright green eyes.  She had become white, with the faintest hint of green, and her mane had become two-tone rather like Shinings, with a lime and forest variety.  For whatever reason, Nova could almost feel the faintest aroma of clovers at the sight of her.

“Mmm…  One sec,” Nova’s horn glowed, and Twilight’s mane and tail were both very carelessly thrown about.  Gone were their neatness, but overall, the now-unruly mane and tail looked better with the cloak-and-dagger effect they were trying to create.  “There we go.”

Nova’s own new features, however, were rather odd.  His mane seemed to desaturate to a lighter shade of blue, but his coat turned a very bright and vivid pink.  His eyes, as well, turned to a rather piercing white.

“So we’re all disguised now,” he said, ignoring Aegis’ and Twilight’s snickering.  “Where are we going?”

“In here,” Tantalus said, reaching out and pushing a particular book further into the bookcase.

There was a very loud clunk, and the bookcase he had pushed started to sink into the ground.  It was a slow process, but in no time at all, a large passageway into the mountain had opened up behind it.  Nova was impressed. An actual bookcase secret passageway? Awesome!

“You’ll need to go by different names while we’re down here,” Ray warned.  His cloak didn’t change his colors at all, but he was pulling the hood up. The only one uncloaked was Tantalus, who appeared rather grim as he started to step into the tunnel of rock, with his horn illuminating the darkness.  “I think Clever Clover will do for Twilight.”

Nova didn’t miss the smirk his marefriend gave at that.

“Shining goes by Scarlet Sable.  Aegis, you can go by Starry Night, and Nova, I’m thinking Bubble Berry.”

“Why did the cloak have to make me pink!?” Nova whispered aloud, facehoofing.

“Now remember,” his father turned just as grim as Tantalus, “you say nothing of what you see down here to anyone.  you do not speak to anyone down here.  Let Tantalus do all talking. Speak only when spoken to.  Under absolutely no circumstances are any of you with horns to cast magic because these cloaks can’t change your resonance’s color.  And for the love of Celestia, don’t tell anyone your real name!”

Nova was suddenly having second thoughts about coming down here.  The real weight of Tantalus being an actual mob boss was starting to sink in, nice though he might be.  What sort of environment were they about to wander into?

“Now let’s go,” Ray motioned them in with a hoof.  Shining and Aegis were quick to follow, with Aegis’ mouth having become a very unpleasant pucker.  Twilight and Nova followed behind, with Twilight keeping very near him and curling her hoof around his.

“Scared?” he whispered out of the corner of his mouth.

“If you are, I’ll protect you,” she whispered back, and he could hear a playful edge to it despite the very faint quiver in her voice.  Nova figured that she could handle threats to Equestria’s existence with no problem, but a criminal hideout was an entirely new beast.

The light disappeared entirely as the bookcase slid into place behind them with another clunk, leaving them in darkness save for the light of Tantalus’ horn.

“Stay close,” Tantalus advised, continuing to trot ahead.  “It gets more than a little cramped in spots, and the last thing you want is to be seen without me.”

“Very reassuring.  I feel much better about agreeing to this,” Aegis replied in a low voice.  Nova snorted

“I always thought Nova was the one with the inclination toward sarcasm,” Ray observed idly.  “Good to know he’s been a bad influence on you, Aegis.”

“How do we know Envy isn’t following us?” Nova cut in, suddenly aware of a little flaw in their plan.  “She could be hanging out in one of our shadows right now.”

Tantalus responded by letting off a wave of magic from his horn.  Tantalus’ magic was a very, very pale blue, very close to white.  It was almost like Trixie’s own pale pink, except even lighter than that.  The hall was bathed in its glow as the wave of magic blasted outward, passing through them all well on either side.

“She is nowhere in the vicinity,” Tantalus said, with a note of satisfaction.  “If she was, the spell would have forced her to to materialize, and powerful though she may be, six against one are not odds she would play against.  Now, shall we?” he motioned onward with a hoof.

“Who’s Envy?” Aegis asked as they trotted along.

“Their enemy,” Tantalus replied.  “You will doubtless forget who she is, but worry not.  We are going to remedy that while we’re down here. In the meantime, allow me to explain why the skulduggery is necessary.”

He paused for a moment, no doubt gathering his thoughts, before continuing.

“Envy’s last known appearance until recently was shortly before Nightfall.  Before that time, she had taken the steps necessary to become a fearsome enemy that struck in unexpected ways from the shadows by hunting down and destroying every last scrap of history with her linked to them.  Nova and Twilight are already aware of this, but the reason she did this is so she could cast the Remember-Me-Not Curse upon herself. Are you familiar with what that particular curse does, Aegis?”

“Can’t say I am,” Aegis shook his head.

“Miss Sparkle?” Tantalus asked expectantly.

“The Remember-Me-Not Curse was a curse developed by Sombra, which he eventually used on himself to force the Crystal Ponies to forget the time of the Empire shortly before sealing it away for a thousand years,” Twilight elaborated, looking quite uneased at the thought of it.  “There were several variations, but all of them worked roughly the same way. The victim of the curse would fade from the memory of every pony who hadn’t ever known them in a meaningful way.”

“If the curse is cast on one pony, how does it affect everypony else?” Aegis asked.

“Because the magic of friendship connects the hearts of the ponies we all know and love,” Twilight answered, still sounding uneasy about the curse she was having to explain.  “Sombra’s magic somehow used this connection against the victim. The ones who had encountered the victim in meaningful ways, such as a loved one or a family member or something like that, they would never lose their memories of the victim.  But the ones who were only casual acquaintances, or ponies who only ever read their name in a book would never be able to remember them.”

“And… and their enemy used this on himself?” Aegis asked.

“Herself,” corrected Nova.  “And yeah. We didn’t even know she existed until she tried to strangle us in the Everfree Vaults several months ago.”

“She wanted to become completely unexpected to her enemies,” Tantalus continued.  “And she succeeded. Her quest to destroy all historical evidence of her existence was terrifyingly effective. It’s why the public at large don’t even know that Twilight Sparkle, Sunset Shimmer, and Mi Amore Cadenza weren’t the first Faithful Students, or that Nova Shine isn’t the first Night Apprentice.

“So, the Lulamoons, who had been keeping the diaries of previous Faithful Students and Night Apprentices of their day, devised a solution,” a faint note of pride entered Tantalus’ voice.  “I do not know the exact reasoning behind their actions, but they placed a permanent counter-curse on each diary, so that if these diaries were read, regardless of whether or not the reader ever read any mentions of Envy, they would counteract the curse permanently, protecting the reader from it removing her from their memory.”

“Naturally,” Ray interjected, “this only meant the diaries needed to be protected even more.  Envy was sealed away by Night Apprentice Comet Novus and Faithful Student Sunbeam, and had remained sealed away ever since.  In the thousand years that followed, the Lulamoon family name increased in wealth and influence, as did the Novus family. While this meant we both had resources to use to continue looking after the diaries, it also meant that the estate was one of the first places Envy would scour if she ever discovered that these diaries existed, and we wanted to ensure the diaries were well-hidden away, in a location Envy would never think to look in.”

“Thus,” Tantalus picked up, “when I was banished from the princess’ presence after the incident at the school and was approached by some unscrupulous individuals who believed a disgraced noble falling from grace would be desperate enough to finance illegal operations in order to maintain his wealth, I admit I was initially repulsed, but the more I thought about it… the more of an opportunity I saw.  And that opportunity has led us to where we are going today.”

They had arrived at a large wall in the cave.  Ray simply fired a beam of magic at it, causing it to sink into the floor.

The room beyond looked like an underground bunker of sorts.  It was very clearly carved out of the rock around them, but it appeared to be much more well-weathered than the crude tunnel they had just come through.  Clearly, this room had seen regular use in whatever its purpose was. It didn’t seem to serve any particular purpose other than storage for the moment, as there were a number of objects scattered around the room in a number of different containers and such.

Boxes contained several different things, mostly paperwork.  Bookshelves contained what appeared to be archives and records.  Crates around the room seemed to have merchandise inside of it, and as Nova gave it a quick look-over, he saw a number of potion ingredients, particularly the rarer, more morally-grey ones.

He frowned.  “What exactly does your little crime family do, Tantalus?” he asked in a low voice.

“We’re suppliers,” Tantalus replied in an equally low voice.  “The Silverblood Family is an old family, heavily steeped in some of the worst dealings in Equestria’s history.  According to rumor, they once kidnapped a changeling princess. Other rumors talk about them working with Sombra.  Still others mention that they supported the Lunar Uprising, and others say they also financed Prince John’s rebellion in Nightfall’s aftermath.

“When they came to me, I made sure we wouldn’t be doing anything directly illegal,” his mouth twisted into a half-smile, half-grimace.  “We would simply obtain things and sell them. We wouldn’t be breaking the law, nor would we supply any contraband.  What other ponies chose to do with what they acquired from us was their business.”

“You enable them,” Aegis hissed.  “If it weren’t for you, they would have nothing at all.”

“Not necessarily,” Tantalus shook his head.  “If we don’t do what we do, someone else does it.  We do it in a perfectly-legal way, purely for plausible deniability on my part.  Hell, I only accepted the role because I saw the opportunity to do my job, even if it meant getting my hooves dirty.  Now,” he glanced back at all of them, “no more talking. Leave it all to me.”

The door to the room was a completely normal door, unsecured but for a normal deadbolt lock, which Tantalus unlocked and stepped through leading his charges.

Beyond the door was another bunker-like room, only far more spacious and devoid of objects, but instead with several ponies moving here and there.  All were cloaked like they were, with the exception of a few bulky enforcers that were standing beside each door menacingly, glaring at anyone who went near someplace they shouldn’t.

One such bulky pony, a brown stallion with gleaming golden eyes and a complete lack of a mane, strode forward to stop them from advancing.

“Passphrase,” he said in a low, rumbly voice.  It reminded Nova a little of Big Mac, but with an added edge to it.

“We don’t have a passphrase, you brute,” Tantalus snapped.  Despite being completely taken aback by the brusque reply, Nova thought he saw the ghost of a grin on the bulky pony’s face.

“You made a mistake,” the brute replied, his eyes narrowing.  “It’s ‘you incapable brute.’”

“Yes, I think incapable describes you quite perfectly,” Tantalus retorted, meeting the bulky pony’s eyes with an unflinching look of his own.

There was a long moment in which they stared at each other.  Nova was starting to feel uneasy about this. With a nervous glance to the side, he saw that Aegis was frowning at the situation, and Twilight appeared apprehensive as well.  Shining and Ray, however, looked completely unconcerned. A few of the ponies around the room were glancing in their direction, but none appeared to be making any kind of move in their direction.

“The passphrase is accepted,” rumbled Bulky after a long moment, with a faint nod.  “You didn’t have to be that harsh in tone. The words exchanged were all that mattered, sir.”

“Apologies, Stalwart,” Tantalus’ impatience vanished completely.  “Typically when a short conversation is a passphrase, it implies tone is a part of the validation.  Shall I display my resonance for final proof?”

“No, I’ve seen enough,” Stalwart shook his head.  “What’s with the guests?”

“We’re here to visit my private vault,” Tantalus answered.  “You’ve met Scarlet Sable and Ouranos,” he gestured at Shining and Ray.  “Scarlet brought a new bodyguard, since he’s on his way up to Vanhoover. Stalwart, this is Starry Night.”

Stalwart acknowledged Aegis with a curt nod, which Aegis responded with a stiff one of his own.

“The other two, however, I have paid for the services of.  These are Clever Clover and Bubble Berry.”

“Bubble Berry?” Stalwart repeated, smirking.  “Not exactly the best name for this line of work.”

“Oi, sod off,” Nova replied, doing his best impersonation of a Trottish grifter he’d once run into.  “Make fun of me foockin’ name again and I’ll show ye why he paid so highly fer me services.”

Stalwart’s eyes narrowed, and for a moment, Nova wondered if he’d done something wrong, but then Stalwart grinned.

“Aye, you’ll fit right in.”  He turned back and started to lead them toward another, more secure door at the end of the room.  “Least you own the name. Probably makes it easier, right?”

“Meh,” Nova rolled his eyes.  “Not intimidatin’, but most ponies cannae believe someone named ‘Bubble Berry’ could be so ‘eartless.”

“Heh!”  Stalwart smirked.  “Intimidating names don’t always work.  There was one mare we had in here a while back.  What was her name, Brass?” he glanced back at another bulky pony.  “That purple one, scar and the broken horn?”

“Well, she called herself ‘Tempest Shadow’ or sommat!” Brass replied, smirking.  “Pro’ly thought it was badass. Me and the lads did some digging, though.  That couldn’t be her real name, y‘see? Sounded too much like she was coverin’ her real one up.  And y’know what? Turns out her real name’s ‘Fizzlepop Berrytwist.’”

The room exploded into derisive laughter.  Nova couldn’t resist a smirk at that story, though he noticed his father, Tantalus, and Shining were all glancing at each other and back at him uneasily, though they always averted their eyes when he looked at them.  Were they mad he had spoken out of turn?

“Thank-you, Stalwart,” Tantalus finally said as the laughter died down.  Stalwart unbarred a much more secure iron door. “We shall be out shortly.”

“Noted,” Stalwart bowed.  “Knock three times when you’re ready to leave.”

The iron door clanged open, revealing a long hallway.  The six of them stepped inside, with Tantalus already leading them toward the end, and the moment Shining stepped in last, the door slammed shut and locked behind them.

“We can speak in peace, now,” Tantalus said, still leading them to the end.  “Soundproofing enchantments on all walls. A security measure so no one can hear what’s being put into what vault and can guess its value.”

“Nova, you idiot,” Shining glared at his sister’s coltfriend.  “Tantalus just said no talking.”

“Unless spoken to,” Nova replied, bristling.  “And he spoke to me.”

“You did not need to be so defensive,” Tantalus admonished, though he was far more calm than Shining was.  “You did seem to come on a little too strong, but fortunately, it worked out in our favor. Nevertheless,” he gave Nova an annoyed look, “no speaking on the way back.”

“Understood,” Nova nodded.  “So what’s all this?”

“These are the vaults in which we store valuable objects or the money the family makes,” he led them down a long stretch of blank walls on either side.  “When I took over, I had two more of these constructed. One was a vault where we would handle our financial assets, and the other was my personal vault, with a special little secret compartment included, just for my task.  Here,” he had led them to the end of the hall.

At once, red flags went up in Nova’s mind.  He could feel the energy of the ponies around him, some magical energies in the distance, and the tiniest specs of energy as small enchantments did little things, but these three walls appeared to be completely devoid of any sort of energy he could sense.

Even as Tantalus shot a beam of magic at a seemingly-random brick in the wall, Nova couldn’t even feel that!  Beside him, he noticed Twilight seemed confused by it as well, though she didn’t seem nearly as flummoxed as he was.  Perhaps it was because she chalked it up to not being used to the sense yet…?

The brick that Tantalus’ magic struck glowed, and a small archway appeared, just large enough for two ponies to go through.  Yet even so, Nova still could sense nothing in this direction!

“Why can’t I sense anything?” he asked.

“I’ll explain inside,” Tantalus replied, not looking away from the door.

Inside was not much.  There was very little that Nova could discern as any kind of valuable as they entered the room.  Mostly some books, perhaps a few trinkets, that sort of thing. All of it appeared dusty in some way.  It was as though this room hadn’t been inhabited by ponies in years.

“Keep moving, we’re not here for this,” Tantalus ushered them back toward the back wall of the moderately-sized room. Nova couldn’t detect any magical energy around the room, for whatever reason.  All of it appeared to be completely and totally dark to him, despite the enchantment Tantalus had cast on the vault’s door to even open it.

"I still can't sense anything," Nova said again.

“Because, per my specifications, the bricks used to construct these walls were made with a mixture of powdered obsidian, clay, and trace amounts of inmanipulon.”

Twilight gasped.

“Inmanipulon!?  Anti-magic!?  How could you even afford to bring it all the way in from Arstrotzka!?”

Tantalus just gave her a flat look, though Nova could see the hint of a smile on his muzzle.  After a moment, Twilight just facehoofed.

“Right.  Star Swirl’s family and all associated riches and influence.”

Tantalus sniffed.

“Yes.  I paid top bit to have enough inmanipulon to construct these vaults brought over.”

“What’s inmanipulon?” Nova asked.

“Anti-magic, in a nutshell,” Twilight answered.  “It’s a type of stone that absorbs magical energy, but it’s so rare that precious few ponies have even heard of it, much less have any kind of access to it.  No one knows how it’s made, but it is consistently being dug up in the frozen wastes of Arstrotzka and what portions of Dream Valley have been excavated since the Great Freeze.  Rumor has it, Queen Chrysalis has a throne made from it, too.”

“Yes,” Tantalus nodded.  “In small amounts, it does not ward off magic effectively.  However, as you noticed,” he gestured at the walls, “you couldn’t sense anything on the other side, which makes it excellent for hiding things from energy sensors.  Such as a time stasis spell. Are you ready, Ray?”

A-- a time stasis spell!?” Twilight openly gaped at Tantalus.

“I am,” Ray nodded.  “Step back everyone, if you please.”

They approached a nondescript wall at the back of the vault.  Before Nova could even bother to ask what was going on, beams of pale blue and silver shot out from their horns, hitting exactly the same spot and causing a large chunk of the wall to glow, before it turned completely translucent.

Behind the wall, were two bookshelves.  One was carved from ebony wood, the other from weirwood.   Both were intricate, with five shelves each. The ebony had a polished silver moon etched in the center of the top, and the weirwood had a golden sun.  The top row of each shelf was full of books, end to end. The second row of each, however, was more than half-full, but with some space still there. The third, fourth, and fifth shelves were all empty.

But the moment the wall had turned translucent, revealing its contents for the world to see, Nova’s senses went blind due to the sheer intensity of the magical energy on the other side.  He winced, clapping a hoof to near his horn, just as Twilight did the same, and so did his father and Shining.

“Behold, the diaries of every Night Apprentice and Faithful Student,” Tantalus said, with a dramatic flair of his hoof.  “Inside, you will find records of their experiences and their encounters with Envy."

“Their encounters with who?” Aegis asked, glancing between Tantalus and the books.  Nova was about to comment about how he asked who Envy was already, but then he remembered that no one who hadn’t ever met Envy or read these diaries could remember she existed.

“One sec,” Nova replied, before looking over at his dad.  “How do we get them out?”

“Why not try walking forward and grabbing one?” Ray replied, arching an eyebrow.

“Come on, Dad,” Nova rolled his eyes.  “After all the lengths you went through to protect this vault, you’d be really dumb to just stop there.”

Ray smiled proudly.  “Excellent thinking. Yes, if you had attempted to walk forward and just grab one, you’d be frozen too.  And don’t try to use your magic either. It’ll just fizzle out and force you to use a physical means.”

“So how do we get them out?” asked Aegis.

“Like this,” said Ray, who conjured a sort of grasping tool in his magic.  It was a long wooden pole attached to an odd claw-like object on the end, which he reached over and used to grab the first Faithful Student book.  Once secure, he pulled it out, and offered it to Twilight. Twilight however, was still staring open-mouthed at the set-up.

“Twi?” Nova lightly jostled her.  “Are you okay?

“Th-this is… kinda overwhelming,” she sank onto her haunches.  “So… not only have you imported inamnipulon, a supremely-rare and valuable stone that probably cost millions of bits--”

“Billions,” corrected Tantalus.  “For how much I brought over, it was billions.”

Twilight just grasped her head with both her front hooves.

“This is… this is just insane!  To bring in that much inmanipulon would be too easily traceable, and the number of wizards you’d have had to bring in to cast the time stasis spell would have been staggering!  There has to be a paper trail of some kind!”

“You’re not wrong,” Tantalus dipped his head.  “However, the purchase of the inmanipulon was made by an off-the-books organization that served only as a front for the Crown, to acquire the stone for this job.  After which, the inmanipulon went through a dozen different transfers, until it wound up in my hooves. I used the inmanipulon on experimental anti-magic armor,which resulted in a large amount of waste, which was collected, ground into powder, and used to create the bricks that lay in the walls around you.”

“Take it from me, sis,” Shining smiled humorlessly.  “They really did think this whole conspiracy thing through.”

“‘They?’” Twilight’s eyebrows raised.

“I didn’t hire a large number of mages either,” Tantalus continued.  “Or any, as a matter of fact. There were only two of us who cast the spell.  Despite his utter hatred of me at the time, and despite the fact that he had attacked me only a year before, Ray accepted my request for his aid, with the caveat that I never speak to him again when it was all said and done.”

The last part earned a regretful look from Ray, but he didn’t say anything.

“He was the only pony I knew of whom I could count on to be able to understand the ludicrously-complex spell matrix that makes up time stasis, and while neither of us could hold a candle to either of you,” he glanced back at the both of them meaningfully, “we weren’t slouches in the magic department.  Nevertheless, with those reserves, we still nearly depleted ourselves, and we would have died if we hadn’t brought Night Light along to key him into the door.”

“Wait, Dad knows about this place too?” Twilight looked over at Shining.

“Mmhmm,” Shining nodded.  “I replaced him as the secret keeper when he felt the time was right, which wasn’t too long after I was made a full-time guard.  Got brought down here, had my resonance keyed into this door, and now any two of the five ponies whose resonances are keyed to the door can open it.”

“So you three, Night Light,” Nova ticked off, “and let me guess, Princess Celestia or Princess Luna?”

“Princess Celestia, yes,” Tantalus answered.  “We figured this way, if Ray and I were met with unexpected demises, they weren’t locked out of this room forever.  It would still be a task, to sneak in here and get everything, but it was possible.”

“I’m gonna need a lot of time to process this,” Twilight rubbed at her head.

“Yeah, certainly is quite overwhelming to think about,” Shining smiled knowingly.  “But all of it was to protect the two of you, and anyone else who becomes the new Night Apprentice and Faithful Student when the two of you graduate.”

“But protect them from who?” Aegis asked, sounding impatient.  “None of you have told me who this dangerous enemy is!”

“Give him the book,” Nova said, gesturing to Aegis.  Twilight did so, and Aegis snatched it out of her hand, glowering at everyone.  He really didn’t seem to be taking this whole situation very well. “Give that a read.”

Aegis did.  Upon opening the book to a random page, it seemed as though a white fog flew from its pages, blowing into Aegis’ face which caused him to drop the book and sputter a bit.

“Wha--” he shook his head rather wildly, as though clearing leftover cloud from his face though it had faded only a moment ago, “what was that?”

“The counter to the Remember-Me-Not Curse. Congratulations,” Tantalus smiled at him.  “You are now able to remember details about Nova’s and Twilight’s enemy.”

“Oh,” Aegis said, seeming a tad confused.

Nova, however, reached down and picked up the book.  If it was the book of the first Faithful Student, then that meant it had to belong to Clover the Clever, and that meant that it could possibly have had details about Envy’s origins, or details on what his idol was like at his age.  No doubt she had to have some relevant information on the subject.

With that in mind, he started rifling through the pages, searching for a mention of Nova Shine, or of Envy.  Perhaps other relevant information would be there as well. If anyone was bound to know anything about the first Nova Shine, it would be the mare he loved but could never have.

However, Clover’s journal was ultimately rather mundane.  It detailed daily studies and activities, spoke at length about time spent with Princess Celestia, and it contained information on daily life in the city of Everfree.  However, it was mum on information on who Envy might be, or the first encounter.

There wasn’t even much information about Nova Shine. There was a passing mention here about some diplomatic mission he went on to the nearby Earth Pony capital, there was a minor complaint about Nova not taking his studies seriously there… whatever the present-day Nova had hoped to find in that journal didn’t appear to be there.  Still, perhaps there was more information about Envy later on in the diary. Considering the Princesses mentioned that Envy first struck toward the end of Clover’s tenure as the Faithful Student, it would make sense to start there.

With that in mind, he flipped to the back of the diary.

Upon seeing its contents, his brow reflexively furrowed in confusion.

What in the…?

But as he scrutinized the page’s contents, things began to click together in his head, and his mouth fell open.

Is this…?

“What’s this?” he asked, showing the page to his father, who glanced at it.

“Oh, that,” his father grimaced.  “I’m afraid that is indecipherable.  Not for want of trying. There’s a few more sections like that in Clover’s diary and in a small part of Nova Shine’s second diary, but his first diary is entirely encrypted like that, and despite my attempts to have it cracked by Equestria’s top cryptanalysts, no one has a clue.  No one character appears more or less frequently enough to where we can determine which character equals what.”

Nova stared at the page.

“You said Nova Shine I’s diary is entirely encrypted in it?”

“It is.”  Ray sighed. "Unfortunately, that's why we don't really plan on letting you have it, despite him being your idol. You can see this one, though," he reached up and got the second of Nova Shine I's diaries.

Nova handed Clover’s diary off to Twilight as he took his idol’s.  It took some finding, but he was able to find the encrypted section toward the back of the book. As he scanned the first few paragraphs of dots, dashes, and triangles, however, there could be no denying it.

“Aegis,” he hissed, practically bolting over to show it to him.

“What’s up?” Aegis asked, before Nova shoved the diary under his nose.  “Nova, mate, you don’t need to…”

He trailed off as he stared down at the page’s mysterious encryption.

Dots.  Dashes.  Triangles.  It was all there.  Aegis had to see it!  He was, after all, the one who took hours every time they exchanged a letter...

“Is that…?” Aegis hissed, looking stunned. “In a thousand year old diary?”

“Maybe,” Nova muttered, before closing the diary and handing it back to Twilight.

“Okay, what’s going on?” asked Twilight, glancing suspiciously between the two of them.  “What’s in the diary?”

“See for yourself,” Nova found the page in question and gave it to her.  Twilight, of course, didn’t have the same reaction that the two of them did.  She just stared blankly down at it, before looking back up at him.

"It's in Clover's diary too," Nova said, flipping through the pages and showing her in her own book. Twilight's brows knitted together in confusion at the sight of it.

“Why would Clover encrypt things in her diary?  Was she afraid somepony was snooping?”

“Beats me,” Nova shrugged.  “Wonder why Nova Shine would use it though.  Was he paranoid?”

“An interesting thing to think about,” Twilight commented, before turning back to the beginning and reading again.  Nova, however, went back up to his father.

“Think you can get me the first of Nova Shine I’s diaries?”

Ray blinked.  “Didn’t I just say it was completely encrypted, and we haven’t been able to crack it, and that we weren't planning on letting you have it?”

“Yes,” Nova dipped his head, but persisted.  “However, I wonder if I might be able to make ground where others have failed.”

Ray sighed patiently.  “Nova, look, I do believe you are a brilliant stallion.  Do not mistake me thinking this a waste of time as me not having faith in your abilities.  But your grandfather and I have taken his diary to the foremost minds in cryptanalysis over the years, and not a single one of them has been able to make any ground whatsoever.”

“I understand that,” Nova glanced at Clover’s diary, which Twilight was no longer reading due to her paying attention to this conversation, “but... “

“But…?” Ray arched an eyebrow.

“Do you trust me?” Nova asked, meeting his father’s eye with an unwavering gaze.

Ray held his gaze, though he seemed taken aback.  “I… do, yeah, but--”

“Dad,” Nova lowered lowered his chin a fraction to make his stare a more meaningful one.  “I’m not doing this just for the hell of it. I just… I don’t want to explain it unless I’m absolutely certain.  If my hypothesis proves incorrect, I can simply return the diary tonight before we leave tomorrow.”

Ray and Tantalus looked at each other, not really sure what to do.  It was, after all, not exactly the ideal way to spend an afternoon, coming down here to the headquarters of many of Canterlot's most widespread criminal organizations.

“Please,” Nova bowed his head.

After a long moment, he heard Ray sigh.

“Very well,” Ray said, reaching the book-grabber over and taking hold of Nova’s Shine I’s book within the confines of the spell.  “Tantalus shall hold you to that. Return the book this evening if your theory proves incorrect. We don’t know what secrets that diary contains, but we’d rather not risk losing them.”

“You have my word,” Nova promised.  “It will be returned if I’m wrong.”

The moment he took the book out of his father’s grasp and opened it, however, there could be no doubt.  The very moment his eyes fell on the first line of encrypted text, he knew. He knew.  There was no way it couldn’t be.

But what does it mean!? he thought, flipping through the pages at breakneck pace, hoping to find something to debunk his new theory.  How can it possibly be the same one!?

“Nova?” Twilight asked.  “Is everything alright?”

Nova immediately looked up at his father and Tantalus.  “I’m… I’m keeping this book for the foreseeable future.”

Both of them just stared blankly at him.

“You’re… you’re keeping it?” Tantalus repeated, as though he could not believe his ears.

“Y-yes,” Nova replied breathlessly.  “I’ve seen everything I need to, to know that there could very well be a way forward.”

“You know something we don’t?  That decades’ worth of cryptanalysts don’t?” Ray asked, though he didn’t sound derisive in the slightest.

“I… just might,” Nova replied, his voice having quieted to barely more than a whisper.

“What did you see?” Twilight asked, sounding very concerned.  “Nova, are you okay? Even for a white stallion, you look very pale.”

“I’m fine,” Nova nodded.  “Just… I’ll tell you later.”

Twilight did not look convinced in the slightest, but she relented all the same.

“We need to leave,” he said, still feeling very breathless.  “I’m going to need as much time as possible.”

“But we just got here!” protested Twilight.  “We can’t take all of them with us, can we?” she looked over at Tantalus.

“That would be ill-advised,” Tantalus gave a slight shake of the head.  “I would recommend taking the diaries of Night Apprentice Sanguine, Faithful Student Star Dancer, Night Apprentice Comet Novus, and Faithful Student Sunbeam.  They were the previous two iterations before Nightfall, so their information may be the most relevant.”

“Then I’ll do that,” Twilight said, and then she paused.  “One last question. Are these safe to store in our Sources?”

Tantalus gave her an odd look.  “Of course. They’re just books.  Why wouldn’t they be?”

“Just wanted to make sure,” Twilight answered, as each book Ray passed to her disappeared into her Source with a brief flash of magenta light.  “Looks like you were right,” she added, giving Nova a nudge. “Probably shouldn’t have brought all those extra suitcases.”

Nova, however, didn’t seem to notice.  Nova Shine I’s diary had long since been stored away, and now he was staring at the ground, his eyes unfocused and glossy, completely oblivious to his surroundings.

“Nova?”

“Hm?” Nova looked up, startled out of his thoughts.  Twilight was staring at him, her concern growing. “Something the matter?”

“What’s wrong, Nova?  I can tell something’s bothering you.”

Nova just shook his head.  “Later, Twilight,” he said, perhaps a bit harder than he’d wanted.  “I just… I want to make absolutely sure it’s what I think it is.”

“Everything alright?” Aegis asked.

“I hope so,” Nova muttered, staring down at the ground again, and once again becoming lost in thought.  Aegis and Twilight exchanged looked, but said nothing. However, shortly thereafter, Tantalus and Ray shut the hidden vault away and they all took their leave.