//------------------------------//
// Familiar Faces 
// Story: The Apprentice, the Student, and the Charlatan 
// by Rytex 
//------------------------------//


The Apprentice, the Student, and the Charlatan
Chapter 13 - Familiar Faces


There was darkness, and there was pain.

Everything ached all over.  To Nova, it felt like he had just been slammed into a mountain.  It hurt to even move.  Hell, it hurt to even breathe right now.  With that in mind, he simply lay there, wincing every few seconds as his muscles ignited in protest.

Up above him somewhere, he could hear noise, but it was difficult to make out.  Even hearing things hurt right now.

A sharp pain stabbed into his side.

“Ow…” he wheezed, twitching.

“Oh, he moved!  And he made a noise!” came a mare’s voice from above him.  She sounded equal parts relieved and stressed.  “So he isn’t dead.”

“We have determined that already,” a second mare’s voice said, this one calmer, but it sounded colder, of sorts.  Hard, and calculating.  “The question is, how did he get here?  How did his arrival cause this much destruction to the mountain?”

Oh, so he did get slammed into a mountain.  Also, there was something oddly familiar about that voice…

With a very loud groan, and with no shortage of protests from his incredibly sore muscles, Nova Shine finally rolled over and sat up, shaking his head and opening his eyes for the first time in what felt like hours.  Everything around him was blurry, but he was distinctly outside.  The light and warmth of the sun confirmed that much to him.  

Next to him, the two mares that were talking had gone silent, but he paid them little mind.  Everything still appeared to be very blurry, but he could see a sea of green down below him.  Was that a forest?  Was the ocean actually green?

He rubbed his eyes, and everything thankfully came into a bit more focus.  So that clearly was a forest way down there.  And he was clearly up on a mountain of some kind.  More specifically, he was standing in a shallow crater on a mountainside, surveying the landscape beneath him.

“Excuse me, sir,” a hoof lightly tapped him on the shoulder.

Nova winced, as his shoulder’s soreness didn’t appear to be going away any time soon, and turned.

Sure enough, there were two mares standing there, and both were staring at him.

One of them was a green unicorn mare, with a maroon mane styled in a way that reminded him somewhat of Roseluck in Ponyville, swept forward without a care for neatness.  She seemed half-curious, half-wary of the new stranger that she had found sleeping in the middle of a crater on a mountainside, and Nova couldn’t blame her.  Her cutie mark was a single orange flower, which made Nova wonder what her special talent was.

The other mare, however, completely caught him by surprise.

She, too, was a unicorn.  Her coat was a pleasant shade of lilac, just like Twilight.  Her mane and tail were a deep navy blue, just like Twilight’s.  They both contained purple and magenta highlights in exactly the same place as Twilight’s.  Her eyes were a deep shade of purple, just like Twilight’s.  In short, her appearance, sans cutie mark, was identical to Twilight’s.

Speaking of, her cutie mark was a green three-leafed clover with the same six-pointed star set in the middle of it.  She also held herself far more stiffly than he was used to, and her purple eyes contained none of the warmth that his lilac mare had.  Rather, they were hard, cold, and calculating.

The first mare’s eyes, however, were certainly wary, but they were infinitely warmer than her counterpart’s in comparison.

He had been expecting this, but he had not been expecting to face Clover the Clever so soon.

“Could you, perhaps, explain how you ended up here?” asked the first mare.

Nova shrugged.  “I dunno.  One minute I was at my home, and the next I ended up here.”

The two mares looked at each other in confusion for a moment, then back at him.

“You do not know?” asked Clover.  Her voice was about as emotionless and dispassionate as Nova had ever heard from anypony.  However, while she clearly was trying to show no outward emotion, she frowned and her eyebrows knit together as she scrutinized him.  “That was an untruth.  Do you know?”

Wait!  She can sense energy?

“We haven’t even introduced ourselves,” Nova opted to say instead, before extending a hoof.  “My name’s Nova Shine.”

“Summer Blossom,” the first mare said, extending her own and bumping it.

Clover, however, looked down at the offered hoof, and back up at him with a frown.

“If you do not wish to explain, you need only say so,” she replied, still refusing to bump his hoof.  “In any case, I am Clover, known as the Clever, apprentice to Lord Star Swirl and lady-in-waiting to Her Royal Highness, Princess Platinum Belleblood XIV, sovereign princess of the Unicorn Kingdom--”

“Yeah, yeah,” Summer cut her off with a roll of her eyes, “I’m sure he gets it.  Point is, you’re Clover the Clever, Lady-in-Waiting to Princess Pain-In-The-Ass.”

“I would highly encourage you to not speak so brazenly about your liege-lord, Miss Blossom,” Clover huffed in a rare show of emotion, “especially since the easiest way not to make her such a strict boss is to fulfill your quotas, something you have been slacking in as of late.”

“I’m trying to!” Summer snapped, looking daggers at Clover, who remained as stoic as ever.  “If Silverbitch hadn’t stolen my best ponies, I’d be done by now!”

“So, could one of you point me in the way of Everfree?” asked Nova.

“Even though I am sympathetic to your plight,” Clover shook her head dismissively, “if you have a grievance with Shimmer Silvermane’s actions, you have not brought them forward.”

“Because her dad will just get her off and I’ll still have to make up the difference,” Summer pressed.  “Just like he has the last four times I have brought them forward.”

“Seriously, do I just follow this road down the mountain, or--?”

“Your precious princess would rather pander to those rich sycophants of hers instead of listen to valid complaints from those of us who can’t get our work done because of them,” Summer went on, now stomping forward to get right into Clover’s still-impassive face, ”all because she wants to be surrounded by a bunch of yes-ponies who kiss up to her and make her feel good, rather than actively try to make the Kingdom an actually-decent place to live!”

“While I do not disagree,” Clover replied, not backing down, though Nova did notice her voice got substantially quieter, as though she didn’t want to be heard, “it is not my place to criticize her Highness.  I am there to assist her in everything, and I have found no listing of you having come forward with your grievances against Lord Silverblood or his daughter in any of the records of open grievances.”

“Now you’re just dismissing my complaint on a technicality!” Summer snarled.  “I don’t--”

“SHUT UP, BOTH OF YOU!”

He hadn’t meant to tap into Princess Luna’s whole Royal Canterlot Voice thing, but seriously, they were starting to get on his nerves.

Summer just whirled around and stared stupidly at him, blinking several times as though she could not believe her eyes and ears.  Clover, however, was glaring at him with a combination of outrage and disbelief.  Nova had to wonder if anyone had ever shouted at her like that before.  Her eyes were bulging, her mouth had become a very thin line, and she was staring at him intensely.

“Look, you two seem like you have some serious unresolved issues you both need to work through,” he said in his most annoyingly-patronizing voice, as he started to pace around the both of them.  “I would very much like to help.  Truly, I would.  But unfortunately, I have been woken up from my nap on this very comfortable mountain road with all the tender love and care of a rampaging minotaur in a glass menagerie, and the both of you proceeded to have an argument while completely ignoring my questions.  I’m not entirely self-centered,” he said, knowing just how much his marefriend would disagree, “but I find it completely disrespectful to wake someone up and then ignore them like that.”

“With all due respect, sir,” Clover cut in, with her iciest tone yet, “Miss Blossom is the one who initiated--”

“I don’t give a flying feather whose fault it is, Twilight,” Nova snapped, startling her into silence, and the disbelief grew even more apparent on her face, even more than the outrage.  “You both are the ones who suddenly locked me out of a conversation you started about me in the first place, and in a seriously-childish way.  Aren’t you supposed to be a lot more dignified than this?  And you,” he rounded on Summer Blossom, whose stupid blank stare had given way to equal parts awe and shock, “did initiate everything by making fun of her boss, who happens to be your own, when she was simply performing a courtesy of her position.  I don’t know you very well, but I personally think that complaining about your boss to somepony you’re meeting for the first time is one hell of a first impression.  Both of you are advised to chill the buck out.”

As he finally stopped, the both of them just stared at him, neither one daring to speak.  Summer’s awe had shrunk considerably when she had been the target of his lecture, but Clover’s disbelief had not shrunk even one bit.  Nova wondered if it was because he had made a mistake and had called her “Twilight” or if it was from having the audacity to talk down to her.  Most likely equal parts.

“Now if you don’t mind...,” Nova sighed, trotting back to the mountain’s edge and staring back out over the expanse of land, trying to determine which settlement was Everfree..

“You just lectured the second-most-powerful pony in the entire kingdom,” Summer observed, breathlessly.

“No one has ever spoken to me in that manner,” mumbled Clover, sounding just as disbelieving as she had looked before he’d turned away.  “Not since my…”

“Well, there is that captain,” Summer pointed out.

“Do not remind me,” grumbled Clover.

“Much better,” Nova grinned, still surveying the valley below.  Now that he’d had time to think, he could identify two settlements down below.  One was a motley collection of buildings and farming fields on the plain, whereas the other was located in the heart of a vast forest, which hid its true size from his surveying gaze.  “Sounds like you’re starting to become friends already.  So, which of those settlements down there is Everfree?”

He had a feeling he already knew the answer.

“Everfree is located in the forest,” Clover replied, her voice still very soft but still with that calculating edge.  “The Three Tribes… we agreed not to claim it, so the alicorn sisters did and began to build a city in it.  Perhaps it is for the best that way,” she added, pawing nervously at the ground.  “A balance.  Unicorns in the mountains, pegasi in the sky, earth ponies on the plain, and the united principality in the forest…”

“Cool,” Nova inclined his head to the both of them.  “So, you mentioned you were behind on quotas?” he glanced back at Summer.

Summer once again blinked rather stupidly, before giving a quick shake of her head to return to alertness.  “Um, yes.  Sorry.  Yeah, I could use the help.  Why?  Are you offering?”

“I am,” Nova nodded, before grimacing.  “Sorry for yelling at you like that.  I’ve kind of had a long morning.”

Clover nodded tersely.  “Understandable.”

Summer sighed.  “Tell me about it.  And now I’ve gotta get back to it.  Tell Platty the disturbance is nothing to worry about,” she added, giving Clover a tired look.

“I… will do that,” Clover nodded again, before turning and giving Nova Shine one last once-over.  “What shall I tell her about you, though?”

“Nothing good,” Nova replied immediately, failing to suppress a grin.  As he said this, if he looked closely, he could just barely see the ghost of a smile touch Clover’s calculating frown.

“Very well,” Clover dipped her head.  “If you wish to aid Ms. Blossom, I’d suggest you do so with haste.  She will need all the help she can, as behind as she is.”

Summer let out a long drawn-out sound, half growl, half-groan.  Clover inclined her head at her, before turning tail and marching back off up the road towards the city.  

“I know she didn’t mean that to sound like a barbed comment,” Summer ran a hoof down her face, “but damn did it sound like one.”

“She’s got a point, though,” Nova shrugged.  “If it’s as bad as it is, maybe I should get to work on the pronto.”

“Why do you even want to help me, anyway?” she gave him a wary look.  “What’s in it for you?”

“A friend,” Nova smiled disarmingly at her.  “‘Sides, I’ve got time to kill, and despite my rather abrupt wake-up,” he stretched, and a series of loud pops and cracks came from his joints as he did so, “I feel like I could move a mountain right about now.”

“A friend, huh?” Summer arched an eyebrow.  “I find that hard to believe.  No one just does things for friendship in this city.  Well, more like this entire Three Tribe arrangement, really,” she added bitterly.

“So allow me to prove it,” Nova pressed.  “Wanna show me where your houses are so I can get in some morning magic work?”

“Sure,” Summer shrugged, turning and following Clover up toward the city.  “I mean, how much is one pony gonna change things?  I’m probably getting fired after today anyways.”


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


“Hoo boy,” Nova sighed, wiping his brow as he stepped back to survey his work.

Sixteen houses.  Sixteen complete, fully-built-and-garnished homes, of the twenty.four that were needed.  All done alone, all done in minutes at most.  It was tiring work, levitating hundreds of pounds of marble, wood, and so on, but if there’s one thing that Twilight had helped teach him, it was fine control over his considerable mana pool.

This was what separated him from the normal unicorns that were working.  While a normal unicorn could levitate maybe three or four things at once, more if they were basically doing the same thing, and while exceptional unicorns could lift more, Nova had been given his necessary confidence boost, allowing him to reach the prodigious levels the was always capable of, and he found it challenging-but-doable to manipulate as many as fourteen different objects of varying weights and sizes.

He tried fifteen, but outside of the tiny implements like screws and nails, he couldn’t quite handle that.

While the normal workers of Summer’s team had to carefully coordinate between themselves as they lifted the heavy marble and the numerous wooden supports, and other materials, Nova was able to perfectly perform alone, and that meant that he reached peak efficiency.

It was a symphony of construction, and he was its conductor.  The moment marble slabs were placed, wooden supports would arrange themselves in position, and the nails and screws would drill themselves in as he worked.  Perfect and total harmony.  In just a little under five minutes each, he was able to fully construct a house to match the schematics shown to him by Summer, who could only watch, utterly flabbergasted as he worked.  Even the other workers stopped multiple times to see just what was going on with his work and they had similar reactions.

This new unicorn literally showed up in an explosion and was performing feats of magic that were nearly unheard of!  Of course, he was simply constructing the house itself, and not furnishing it, but that hardly mattered.  How was he able to do so much in so little time, when it took a group of them several minutes to do even one?  How was it that it always left all of them feeling fairly tired after doing just one house, yet this new unicorn looked like he’d taken nothing more than a light trot around the mountain?

Just how powerful was he?

“This is unreal,” Summer mumbled, staring at the line of houses Nova had finished over the last hour and a half or so.  It almost looked as though she couldn’t properly express how she felt about this with facial expressions alone.  “How…?  What... ?”

“Use your words,” Nova encouraged.

Summer responded by giving him a semi-annoyed glare and punching him on the shoulder.

“Ow!” Nova exclaimed, rubbing at the spot she’d hit.  She’s pretty strong for a fellow unicorn, he thought, wincing as the spot started to color with a bruise.

“I can’t believe this,” she fell on her haunches head in her hooves.  “How could my luck have turned around just like that?  I’m...” she started to smile dreamily, “I’m actually going to meet my quota for once!”

“Glad to help,” Nova sat down next to her.  “You said you needed twenty-four done, right?”

“Well, you got sixteen done, and my guys got another four finished up, with a fifth almost done.  It’s amazing they were able to work, given half of them were watching you the whole time,” she mused.  “We may not need your help for the rest of the day.  I think we might have it covered.”

“Great!” chirped Nova, but then he frowned.  “Wait.  No, I insist on finishing the job.”

Summer just stared at him, her mouth parted.

“I mean,” Nova shrugged, “it’s not too much more effort to do three houses.  Your workers can focus on getting the last one done, and it’ll make you look even better in front of Platinum to get it all done early.”

She let out a heavy sigh at the mention of Princess Pain-In-The-Ass.  “You know, now that you mention her, something tells me this might actually not be a blessing after all.”

“Oh?” Nova cocked an eyebrow.  “How so?”

“She might start expecting this kind of output from me from now on.”  Summer grimaced.  “Though considering Lady Clover’s gone and told her about you, maybe not.  Who knows.  So,” she leaned against the wall of the house Nova had just finished magicking together, “why’re you wanting to head down to Everfree?  Why not stay here in Unicornia?  A unicorn as talented as you would be the envy of every single pony in this city, Platinum and Clover included.”

Nova felt an odd prickle at the mention of one specific word in that sentence  Still, he couldn’t just say he was there to set into motion a series of events that would eventually lead to his own birth, and the creation of his archenemy.  Instead, he figured he’d take a page out of his family’s book and think of something pretentious to say in Roaman.

“Because,” he said, with a tiny smile, “aquila non capit muscas.”

Summer groaned.  “I don’t speak Roaman.  Are you secretly from Bitalia or something?  Are you just determined to be as mysterious as possible?”

“It means ‘The eagle does not catch flies,’” Nova replied, choosing not to answer either question.

“You calling us all flies?” Summer arched an eyebrow of her own, though she had a conspiratorial glint in her eyes.

“I mean,” Nova shrugged, “given how I’ve heard the social climbers here are…”

“Oh I’m not disagreeing with you, don’t get me wrong,” she waved her hooves defensively, “it’s just...  Platinum really doesn’t like ponies saying anything other than glowing praise about her.  Neither does any unicorn in any position of power here, quite frankly,” she added.  “But they really enjoy their compliments and like ensuring they’re all associated and emulating the most influential ponies around.”

“And you think I’d be right at home among them?” Nova asked, arching an eyebrow right back at her, trying to raise it even higher than last time.

“Buck no!” Summer guffawed.  “I’m saying, they’d try to make themselves at home around you.  If word got out that you’re capable of this,” she gestured at the sixteen houses, “and you look like you’re barely winded, and that’s on top of teleporting over from Dream Valley with enough power to leave a literal crater in the mountainside, they would never leave you alone.”

“Ah,” Nova nodded sagely.  “They’d want to associate themselves with me to climb the ladder.”

“Yeah, basically,” Summer leaned back against the house they were sitting in front of.  “I mean, you heard me earlier with Clover.  I’m not happy with how every time I lose a worker because of Silverbitch, my complaints get thrown under the rug because her daddy is Lord Silas Silverblood,” her voice grew mocking, “richest pony in Unicornia and when he speaks, the Princess listens and all that horseapples.”

“Do you two not get on very well?” Nova asked.

Summer raised an eyebrow as high as she possibly could.  The game was definitely on.  “Who, me and Clover?”  Nova nodded.  “Nah,” she shook her head.  “We actually get along just fine.  I’d even say she’s almost a friend of mine, even though we never really get to talk.  Just some frustrations of mine with her boss, and she takes her work seriously.”

“Yes, I could see that.”

“I mean,” Summer tossed a hoof lamely at the air in front of her, “Pain-in-the-ass wouldn’t be a horrible boss under normal circumstances.  That is, if it weren’t for the fact that she cares more about her sycophants than she does about her actual workers and if she actually listened to Clover or Inkwell or Captain Steelshod from time to time… but noooooo,” her voice grew scathing, “she’s gotta pay extra attention to Lord Silverblood or Lady Heartstrings or even Sir Glimmerfire when they tell her that she’s the most perfect pure princess who ever lived…”

“Sounds like you’re not all that angry at the Princess herself,” Nova observed.  “You just think she’s not listening to the right ponies.”

“Pretty much,” Summer sighed.  “She’s not a bad pony, but she just doesn’t want to hear others telling her she’s not doing a good job.  No one wants to be told they aren’t doing a good job, but Platinum is just so terrified of not living up to her father that she shuts out any bad criticism.  And that just lets the brown-nosers get her to do what they want with a few sweet words.  I’ve complained about Silverblood’s daughter stealing twelve of my best workers already, and she hasn’t done jack about it because he says nice things to her.”

“Stealing your workers?” Nova blinked.  “How?”

“I don’t know,” Summer rubbed her eyes.  “When she spots someone she likes, she just shows up, turns on the charm, and seduces him away from working for me.  One good roll in the hay, and she’ll have him wrapped around her hoof and he never ever comes back,” she growled.  “It has to be intentional at this point.  No other overseer has to put up with this.  And what in the world is going on over there?”

Summer jumped to her hooves and started cantering off toward where a crowd of ponies was gathering several meters away.  Nova blinked again, having not noticed the gathering crowd, but he got to his hooves and followed after her.

The gathered ponies were out near the edge of the day’s plot of houses to be built, and as Nova approached and the ponies came within range of him to sense their energy, he could feel a crowded semicircle of ponies there, with a lone aura standing in their center, no doubt the focus of the crowd.  As they drew closer, he could hear angry shouts from the crowd as well.

“We don’t want any part of you, you silver-coated skank!” one of them shouted.

“I can assure you,” came a haughty, sultry, scathing, and familiar voice from the center of the crowd, “I want no part of any of you either.”

Nova felt a chill creep up his spine the moment he heard it.  It wasn’t quite the way it would be a thousand years in the future, but it still sounded too similar.

Beside him, Summer’s face contorted into a furious snarl.  “No.  No, not today,” she growled, shoving her way in.  Nova followed her, slipping past members of the angry mob as the shouting got more and more irate, before he finally breached the front to find Summer and the source of the earlier voice.

Her coat was the brightest silver he had ever seen, but with a sort of matte sheen, which complemented the shining of her long silver mane and tail flawlessly.  She carried herself with a vain air, muzzle raised just enough to reach narcissist levels, and she was looking down it with a disgusted scowl, meeting Summer’s death glare with her own.

And her eyes were exactly the same shade of red!

Nova felt his muscles tense at the sight of it.  Memories flashed through his head.  A malevolent shadow being with those same horrible red eyes strangling Twilight, Trixie staring down at him with those red eyes and a knife held above him…

The new mare’s eyes flicked over to him, and the moment they locked eyes, Nova felt himself shiver, which only got worse when the mare’s disgusted look shifted into a sickening smile, before her eyes turned back to Summer.  Nova, too, looked over at his temporary boss and found that her eyes were wide, and she was now openly snarling.

“No!” Summer barked, stepping between him and the new mare.  “Not again!  Not today!”

“A new stallion friend, Summer?” the new mare said, in a malevolently-gleeful voice.  “What is this, the eighth stallion you’ve brought home in two years?  Afraid he’s going to run off and leave you alone just like the previous three did?”

Summer’s eyes bulged, and Nova knew that a line had been crossed.  It would probably be best to get Summer out of this conversation as soon as possible, before she did something she would regret.  He stepped forward, placing a hoof on her shoulder and tried to pull her back.

At that moment, however, he felt an odd shift in the aura of energy emanating from the silver mare.  She was clearly tapping into her Source to do something, and while he was certain she’d never try something particularly bold in the streets like this, he didn’t yet know the time period, nor the new mare’s history with Summer.

He started to pull back, drawing Summer away from what was sure to be an ugly confrontation, but the moment he did, he caught a scent in the air.  It smelled familiar… like something he could have sworn he smelled not that long ago.

The strongest smell he could identify was a fragrance of lavender.  Complementing it was a trace of the smell of book pages, and accenting both of them, there was the sharp metallic aroma of magic in the air.

Most perplexing about it, however, was that Nova felt his mind relax.  It was almost as if there was something whispering to him not to worry, but to simply allow the smell to do the thinking for him.  He relented, feeling his mind grow blissfully fuzzy, allowing him to fully indulge himself in the lovely aroma.  It smelled of nights in his house in Neighton, practicing magic with Luna; of nights in Ponyville, reading alone while Twilight was out with her friends.

But mostly, it smelled of her.  Of his beloved, whom he had only said his farewells to mere hours ago.

It smelled of home.

It was only when Nova found himself stepping forward that something else in his mind pushed back against the fuzziness.  His mind refused to let something else do the thinking for it, and Nova felt himself suddenly return to clarity.

He was standing halfway between Summer and the other.

What…?

The other’s eyes narrowed, and that same fragrance redoubled, only this time, Nova’s mind didn’t allow it to gain control for even a moment.  He resisted, and when he pieced all the evidence together, he realized what was going on.

“Seduction Scent,” he realized, before his magic sprung forth and the scent was cleared away from his muzzle.  In short order, he’d improvised a magical filter that would prevent him from inhaling the alluring aroma, allowing him to retain a clear head.  “You’re using Seduction Scent.”

Rather than react badly to her little ploy not working, however, the mare simply grinned in a predatory manner. “So someone finally was able to resist.  I’d heard rumors of a particularly strong unicorn falling out of the sky, slamming into the mountain, and then coming out here to help dear sweet Summer meet her quotas.  Such an angel you are,” she added with a husky purr.  “My name is Shimmer Silvermane.  I’m Lord Silas Silverblood’s daughter, perhaps you have heard of me?”

He thought back to the conversation between Summer and Clover.  So this was the Silverbitch that Summer had a problem with.

“Nova Shine,” he grunted.  “Never heard of you.”

The smile faltered, but only for a moment.  She strutted toward him, taking great care to show off her admittedly-lovely curves, and the gleam of the sunlight against her coat only accentuated them.  In all honesty, she really was a gorgeous mare.  Not a hint of pudge, a lean physique, and if it weren’t for the fact that she had just tried to charm him using mental control magic, he might very well have not minded her showing off for him.

However, not only had she tried that, but he was already rather happily spoken for.

“Quite alright, quite alright,” she replied sweetly.  “After all, you could hardly be expected to understand the power structure here in this new land of ours.  Why else would you choose to waste talents such as yours with the mob?” she added, with a filthy look thrown at Summer.

Summer opened her mouth to respond, but Nova threw her a sharp look of his own that cut her off.  He would handle this.

“For starters,” Nova replied, stepping back as she got a little too close, “this ‘mob’ haven’t tried to use mind control magic on me, so they’ve made a far better first impression on me than you have.”

Shimmer’s smile vanished instantly.

“But even with that aside,” he made a show of stretching, “I’m not really planning on sticking around for very long.  Ask anyone here, I’ve been asking about Everfree, and I was probably gonna start making my way there after I finished helping out this morning.”

“That would be a mistake,” Shimmer replied, her tone icy.  “Talent such as yours would be wasted there, I can assure you.  It would be far better served here, in the land of your fellow unicorns, don’t you think?”

Noa let out an impatient sigh from his nose.  “Okay, I can plainly see that you’re doing everything you can to get me on your side,” he gave her an annoyed look, “and whatever side that is, I’m not interested.  I’m leaving town soon, and really couldn’t care less what you’re trying to accomplish.”

“Must I spell it out for you?” her voice grew dangerously quiet, and she snarled.  “You would be beyond stupid to make an enemy of me or my father, and if you are not allied with us, you are an enemy.  And let me assure you that neutrality is not observed,” she added, her eyes narrowing dangerously.  “No one-- no one-- says no to Shimmer Silvermane.”

Nova snorted.

“I rather think I just did.”

With that, he turned tail and trotted away.





“...and then everyone stood up and clapped.”

Twilight just gave him an unamused look.  “Sure they did, Nova,” she replied flatly.

Nova smirked.  “Sorry, couldn’t resist.”





About forty minutes later, Nova was sitting in the shadow of one of the last few completed houses, eating lunch.  Since his encounter with Shimmer Silvermane, he’d marched right back to his station and finished his job.  He didn’t want to leave Summer in a bad position, especially given that his refusal of Shimmer’s offer was likely going to evoke instant retaliation, no doubt to prevent him from informing the guards of her use of mind-altering magic.

Thing was, why would he inform the guards when Summer and all of the eyewitnesses could?  They’d probably have more pull than some random unicorn that had shown up out of nowhere literally just that morning.

His lunch, which was just a simple sandwich made out of a few daffodils and daisies he’d found in a nearby flower bed, was interrupted when Summer herself came dashing around a corner.

“There you are!” she exclaimed, skidding to a stop right in front of him.  “Captain Steelshod’s sent out a couple of guards to--”  She blinked.  “What are you eating?”

“A sandwich,” Nova shrugged.  “Put my food between bread slices.  Easier to handle.”

Summer’s eyes faded out of focus for a moment, before she shook her head.  “Anyway, the captain’s sent out some guards to bring you in for questioning.”

Nova snorted, choosing to remain focused on his lunch.  “Questioning, huh?  I guess Shimmer went crying to daddy.”

“She has, unfortunately,” Summer grit her teeth.  “The captain seemed annoyed at most, but the Princess insisted you at least be brought in and asked about the situation.  I tried to vouch for you, as did Lady Clover for what it’s worth,” she added, with a slight sigh, “but Platinum seemed to think that was just my personal history with Silverbitch talking.”

“That was nice of you,” Nova inclined his head in her direction, before nomming a corner of his snack.

“Anyway, it would probably be a good idea to get out of here before the guards come,” she glanced back in the direction she’d come from.  “I mean, you’re not being arrested or--”

She broke off, blinking for a moment, before looking at the house he was sitting under.  “You… you did all of the remaining houses?”

“Sure did,” Nova replied nonchalantly, before taking another bite.

Summer stared at him, her mouth parted, and Nova was almost alarmed to see them watering ever so slightly.

“I... “  She broke off, her voice clogged with emotion.  “...thank-you.”

“No problem,” he replied, before scarfing down the last of his lunch and getting to his hooves.  If guards were on their way to take him in, then it definitely was time to go.  Fortunately, he had no more pressing business here.  Now all that was left was a hike down the mountainside and into the forest, which would probably take several hours.

Summer looked back at the street entrance nervously.

“You know,” said Nova after he swallowed his mouthful, “if things go badly for you here, you can come to Everfree.”

She looked back at him, more than a little surprised.  “Everfree?  But... why?  I don’t know anyone there.”

“You’ll know me,” Nova shrugged.  “I’m sure I can help you find something to do down there.”

Without warning, Summer just fell on her haunches and started laughing.

“What?” Nova asked, tilting his head.

“This…” she waved a hoof around while she stifled laughter with the other, “...this everything!  It’s… it just can’t be real.”

“It’s plenty real,” Nova assured her, holding out a hoof.  “Anyway, I gotta get going.  If things go bad here, come to Everfree and give me a shout, alright?”

She stared at him from her spot on the ground for a long time, before standing up, leaning over, and giving him a quick kiss on the cheek.  It was merely a fraction of a moment before her lips left, but it felt like far longer.

...and he didn’t push her away.

“Thank-you,” she said again, looking away.  “For… for everything.”

Nova simply smiled fondly at her.  “Any time.  I’ll see you soon, I imagine.  Remember, meet me in Everfree.”

“I think I will do just that,” she promised.

With that, Nova turned around and set off, trotting back through the city, following pathways that were familiar as ever, as he made his way out of the city and out toward the trail that led down the mountain.

The hike turned out to be something that he was prepared for when it came to time, but not physical exertion.  Even with gravity aiding him, it took him six hours to go from the city near the peak of Mount Canterhorn to its base.  And despite gravity aiding him, he was sweating up a storm, and his legs felt like mush underneath him as he approached a crossroads, where the road split in two, with a three-way sign standing at it.

”Unicornia behind me, Everfree City in the forest,” he read, something rather difficult as the sunset was behind the sign, and then he frowned.  “...they seriously called it Earthponyville?”  

It seemed to have been there as long as this all-knowing crossing sign had.  He snorted, and leaned against it as his mushy legs started quivering.

“Oh, that’s not good,” he observed, before he conjured a bottle containing an Elixir of Energy from within his Source.  “Good thing I stored a few of you away, just in case, eh?”

Bottom’s up.  In two quick gulps, the potion had been drained from its vial, and already, he could feel his mushy legs feel less like mush and more like legs.

Goodness,  he hadn’t felt this tired since he’d sprinted all the way from Neighton to Ponyville after finding out about the Vaults.  It had only been a few short months ago, yet it felt like it had been so long…

Probably just because of all the stuff that had happened since then, he reasoned.  His horn shone blue and a certain diary appeared in his grasp.  Like finding you and everything you have in your pages.  Still, I think I need to start exercising.

Once he felt strong enough to continue, he set off once again, trotting into the vast forest, though he paused at a spot he was sure would later become home to Sweet Apple Acres to snack on a dinner apple.  Finally, after several hours of non-stop trotting, he found himself trotting out of the forest and into a city.

The buildings were all simple wood or stone constructions, so nothing particularly eye-catching stood out to him.  Just the simple fact that he was here, in one of the most legendary locations in Equestrian history, was a bit overwhelming.

Unfortunately, he couldn’t stop to think about it.  It was now very late.  No one was in the streets, and most of the lights within buildings had been snuffed out, leaving him feeling as though he were standing in a ghost town.

“Sure is kinda spooky with no one around,” he observed, before trotting further into the city. It was rather nice out.  Since he hadn’t brought any currency with him (Twilight had said something about serial numbers and currency validation and “what if you crash the market by overinflating it if you bring too much with you?”), he was going to have to sleep under the stars.

It didn’t take long for him to find a nice quiet grove as he made his way further into the city.  Beside the river that would one day house a great sea serpent, a small grove of trees stood, squished between two other buildings.  Nova had no idea what it was for, but he wasn’t complaining.  It looked like the perfect place to sleep until morning.

So he trotted in, found himself a nice tree to sleep under, laid down, and closed his eyes.

...and he dreamed of Twilight for the first of many nights.


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


Yet another hoof was poking him in the side.  How inconsiderate of them.  Didn’t they know he was still sore from the events of the previous morning?

“Go away,” he swatted toward where the hoof was, but didn’t seem to hit anything.

“Wake up, citizen,” came a gentle, familiar voice.  “We have been trying to rouse thee for a minute now.”

“And we aren’t rousing,” Nova grumbled, turning over and trying to get back to sleep.  “Go away.”

There was an impatient huff, and without warning, Nova felt himself be hoisted up into the air.  His eyes bolted open just in time to see himself be floated over the river and he couldn’t prepare himself as he was unceremoniously dunked inside.

Nova yelped, accidentally inhaling some of the water, before he was yanked out and set on the ground, where he began coughing and sputtering, expelling the water from his lungs, heaving to clear the airways.

“Our apologies,” said the voice above him again sounding genuine, though with a small amount of amusement.  “Why art thou not in an inn?  There are laws against sleeping outdoors.”

“No… bits…” Nova wheezed, resorting to magic to clear his airways.  As his aura washed over his lungs and the water was teleported out, he let out a hoarse gasp, finally managing to breathe in a proper amount of air, though that did nothing to stop the burning.

“No bits?  Truly?”  The voice sounded horrified, before he felt her stamp the ground in frustration  “Fie, that ponies would be forced to live on the streets in Our city, ‘tis a travesty!”

“It’s not so bad--hrrk!”  His magic had not cleared out all of his lungs, and he was now having to hammer himself under his ribcage to eke out the last of the water.  “It’s quite nice outside,” he hacked, before turning to face his waker, “b-but that’s only when ponies aren’t inter...rupting…”

A pale blue alicorn filly stood before him, with a mane even paler than her coat, but unlike her future self, her mane hung limply by her side, much as it had in the early weeks of her tutelage.  Her barding was steel colored a navy-blue rather than black, and her shoes were a pale blue as well, but her eyes were the same aquamarine color, and were currently staring angrily further into the city.

“Princess Luna,” he stated, blankly.

Luna didn’t seem to notice.  She was looking every which way now, looking for something best known to her.  Nova, however, gave one last pulse of magic to clear out his lungs of river water, and mercifully, he felt the last remnants of liquid give way.

“Much better,” he sighed, falling over sideways again and curling up.

That got Luna’s attention again, and she looked down at him in surprise.

“Rise, citizen,” she commanded, motioning with a hoof for him to get to his feet.

Nova just lay there.

After a few seconds, Luna’s eyes narrowed at him.  “How dare thou?  Refusing a direct order from thy princess?  Thou couldst be imprisoned for such offense!”

“Then imprison me,” Nova replied, groaning.  “I just want to sleep.”

“And no innkeeper would allow thee to have a room due to thy lack of bits,” she growled.  It was honestly a little cute, as she seemed to almost be around his age, physically and mentally.  “Such lack of generosity is unacceptable.  It seems We shall have to do it ourselves.”

“Wait, what?” Nova asked.  Before he could do anything more, however, he found himself hoisted off of the ground as Princess Luna started to magically carry him away from his sleeping spot.  “Waiwaiwaiwaiwait!”

“What is it?” she gave him a passing glance behind her before turning forward and continuing on her way.  “We are taking thee to a room for the night, and we shall be having words with the innkeepers that rejected thee.”

“I didn’t have any bits so I never went into an inn to ask!” Nova replied, still flailing in her grip.  Her grip vanished, and he fell to the ground in a heap.  “...ow.”

“Thou didst not even ask?” she stared back at him, eyes wide and mouth parted while he got back to his hooves and brushed himself off.  “Thou must be a new arrival, then.  Citizen, in this land, thou should not be afraid to ask for anything.  But thou must never assume and thou must never demand.”

“Okay then,” he smirked slightly, “can I sleep in your bed tonight?”

There was a heartstopping second in which she stared at him uncomprehendingly.  But the moment she processed what he said, her face went from blue to red in record time, and most amusingly, it was her turn to sputter.

“E-excuse us?” she asked, the queenly mask she was attempting to wear now gone completely.  “H-how inappropriate!  I-- I mean, We could have thee f-flogged for such brazen--”

Nova put his expression into one of faux-confusion.

“Why are you acting so embarrassed?” he asked, really trying to sell it.  “All I’m asking is to sleep in your…” he trailed off, faking a dawning look of realization.  “Oh my, Princess Luna, am I trying to seduce you?”

Luna just stared at him, her face now reaching shades of purple.

“Th-thou art… thou art…”

“Use your words,” Nova encouraged, smirking.  First Summer, now Luna…

Luna just covered her face with a wing and let out a moan.

“We have made a terrible mistake,” she mumbled.  “Had we known that thou wouldst be so forward as this…”

Nova just chortled at seeing Princess Luna in this mortified state, before promising, “Okay, okay, I’ll stop tormenting you now.”  He grinned.  “Sorry, just a little payback for waking me up from my rather nice sleep.”

Luna slowly lowered her wing, gazing at him with an unreadable expression, though her face was still quite red.  “Not many ponies would have the temerity to speak so forwardly to Us.  Pray tell, bold stallion, what is thy name?”

“Nova Shine,” Nova inclined his head.

“And that, Nova Shine,” the tiniest of smirks crossed her muzzle, “is the closest thou hast come to showing Us the proper courtesies.  Thou art truly an odd stallion.  Thou dost not seem even remotely concerned with the possibility that We could immolate thee right now for thy lack of courtesy.”

“You’d miss me if you did,” Nova replied, standing tall and meeting her eyes with a confident smirk of his own.

Luna’s eyes narrowed, her mouth pursed, and the redness that had been steadily leaving her cheeks came back with a vengeance.

“Art thou mocking Us?”

“Nah,” Nova shook his head.  “I’d never mock you, your majesty.”

“Highness.”

“Sorry?” Nova tilted his head.

Luna huffed.  “Majesty is a title reserved for a queen or king.  Highness is for princes and princesses.  The proper term is highness.”

“Oh.”  You learn something new every day.  “My mistake.  Still, I’d never mock you.”

Luna eyed him for a long moment, looking at him from head to hoof.  Nova simply met her gaze, with the small, confident smile on his face while he let her see whatever it was in him she was looking for.  Finally, she let out a sharp breath.

“Truly thou art an odd stallion,” she said, turning around and starting to trot further into the city.  “Still, if thou wishes to sleep in Our bed and art so forward as to actually ask that of Us, We suppose the least We could do is grant thee that wish.”

She turned and gave him a tiny smile as she said that.  Nova chuckled.

“I never actually thought you’d grant it,” he said, trotting forward and following her. “I just thought a guest room would work or something.”

“We are intrigued by thee,” Luna admitted, giving him a grin of her own.  “Thou didst not seem too perturbed by the concept of sleeping under Our stars-- quite frankly, thou wert annoyed that We interrupted thy rest--, thou acts as though We are no more than another common pony despite Our position, and thou art so brazen as to make such forward requests.  Why dost thou act this way?”

Nova shrugged.  “Why not?  Ponies are ponies, regardless of whether or not they have a crown.  I imagine you and your sister are no different.”

Luna frowned.  “O, that others would have such opinions of us as thee, but alas,” she hung her head, “thou truly art the first pony We’ve ever met to believe this.”

Nova looked over, concerned.

“What’s wrong?”

“Everything!” she exclaimed, stamping into the ground, and scowling.  “Everything is wrong, Nova Shine!  Why is it that Our sister gains so much love and adoration from our subjects, but it is only the odd ones such as thee who pay any attention to Us?  Do they not see how much We do for them!?”

Nova stopped, turning to face Luna in full, as she had stopped trotting altogether, and she was outright fuming, staring into his eyes with a fury he had never seen from her before in his own time.

“Who is it that wards off their nightmares?” she demanded of him. “Who is it that watches over their dreams?  Who paints the canvas of the night sky with the gentle brush of Her magic?  Who guides the moon and the tides of the great seas!?  Who watches over the students, who spend their nights secluded in rooms lit only by candlelight!?  Who does all of this, and receives nary a simple ‘Thank-you’, nary a single grateful comment!?  Who, Nova Shine!?  We wish to hear thine answer!”

Rather than do that, Nova did what was probably the boldest thing he did all night, and simply strode forward and gave Princess Luna a hug.

Underneath the contact, Princess Luna stiffened instantly, even recoiling a step.

“What on earth…?  Thou goest too far, Nova Shine.”

“It was just a hug,” Nova stated, giving her an earnest look.  “I learned pretty well from my old teacher that cooldown hugs like that are really good for calming down emotional ponies.

“Cooldown hugs…?” Luna narrowed her eyes at him.

“You know,” Nova traced a hoof along the ground lamely, “hugs that cool you down when you get a little heated, hot under the collar, that sort of thing?”

Luna blinked uncomprehendingly.  Nova inwardly facehoofed.  He was going to have to chillax with the modern slang, yo.  It wouldn’t fly with the ponies of this time, because they probably wouldn’t find it totally bodacious.

“You got pretty emotional and angry,” he re-worded.  “I learned pretty well from my old teacher that hugs like that are good at calming ponies down.”

Luna looked away the moment he said “emotional and angry”, with a look that was half-pensive, half-ashamed.  Almost like she was being reprimanded.

“Just… thought you needed it,” he added, finding the silence awkward.

“Nova Shine,” she said, quietly.

“Mmhmm?”

“We apologize for our tirade, but the truth is… We are lonely,” she confessed, her voice barely above a whisper.

“Yeah, I figured,” Nova replied, stepping up beside her.  “You know what you need?”

She looked over at him, her face forcibly kept expressionless.  Even a thousand and a quarter years in the past, she could try to keep her face neutral, but he could still see right through it just like he could in his own time.  She was on the verge of opening up, but one wrong word could close her off.

“What do We need?” she asked, sounding skeptical.

“You need a student,” he answered immediately, quite confident in his answer.

“...a student,” she repeated blankly.

“Yep!” Nova grinned, before starting to trot further into the city, with her following him.  “Just think.  You’d have someone there to talk to, someone there to teach, all that sort of stuff. Someone whom you could give some of your responsibilities to ease your own burden, and most importantly, someone there for you to confide in when you’re feeling overwhelmed.”

There was silence between them for several long moments as Nova headed toward the center of the city.  He had no idea where the castle was, as he hadn’t even been there in his own time, but the center of the city seemed to be the logical place for it to be.

“We shall think on this,” Luna said, her voice quiet.  “We think your suggestion has merit.  But pray tell, suppose We took a unicorn student,” she sped up to fall in beside him.  “Suppose We taught them magic.  What would We do for the pegasi and earth ponies?  We cannot leave them out; it could very well undermine any attempts at diplomacy with them.”

“Well,” Nova shrugged, “you could always teach pegasi air-specific fighting styles or something.  And for earth ponies, I don’t know,” he admitted, “but I’m sure you could figure it out.  But you do need some pony you can confide in and talk to.”

“Dost thou mean thyself?” she gave him a shrewd look.  “Forgive Us, Nova Shine, but such a position thou art suggesting would be a particularly enviable position in Our little principality.  Art thou suggesting this as a way to draw close to Us? or to Our sister, perhaps?”

“Mmm…” Nova bobbed his head back and forth, considering the question.  “Yes and no.  Yeah, after seeing you tonight, I definitely think I could be that pony for you, but no, I am not suggesting the position specifically to do that.”

She gave him a searching look.

“What wouldst thou call such a position?” she asked, her expression now unreadable.  “Let Us say, hypothetically speaking, that We decided to create such a position.  What wouldst thou call it?”

“Well, if the Princess of the Night was going to have an apprentice,” Nova tried not to come on too strongly,, “then--”

“Of course!” Luna exclaimed, beaming.  “Nova Shine, wouldst thou like to be Our first Night Student?”

Nova blinked.

“I was going for Night Apprentice.”

“We know,” Luna stated, giving him a flat look.  “And pardon Our bluntness, but the name sounds incredibly pretentious and unnecessarily dramatic.  Night Student is just far more practical and intuitive.”

“Yeah, but,” Nova tried to come up with a convincing argument, but “the timeline would break down” probably wasn’t going to work.  Instead, he found a new one.

“...what if your sister takes a Solar Apprentice?”

Luna gave him an odd look.

“...what if she does?”

“Wouldn’t you want your pupil to sound a lot more impressive than whatever she could come up with?”

Luna’s eyes narrowed at him, and she opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out.  After a short moment, she closed it and gave him a suspicious look.

“Art thou trying to turn Us against Our sister?”

“Not at all,” Nova shook his head.  “This is just one of those tiny petty acts of superiority that would probably get right under her skin and bother her from now until the end of time.”

Luna blinked.

“‘Bother her until the end of time,’ thou sayest?” she asked, a devious note in her voice, and an evil smile spreading across her muzzle.

Success!

“Oh yeah,” Nova smirked.  “Annoyances galore.”

“We can think of no better reason than that, Nova Shine.  Ah,” she exclaimed as the Castle of the Two Sisters came into view.  “Home and hearth!  Come, Nova Shine, and We shall show thee to Our chambers for thy rest.”

She cantered on ahead, leaving him to run after her on his hooves, which were still quite sore from his afternoon hike, and that wasn’t even considering the fact that his entire body still ached from slamming into a mountain that morning.  Still, he kept pace with Luna as she led him into the severe stone structure.

It wasn’t particularly impressive.  The stones that comprised the walls and main keep were still very rough-hewn, and the feeling it gave off was that they were building first, polishing later.  The only structures he could see were complete were the keep and curtain wall, the bailey was nearing completion, and there were several roped-off sections of the large grounds of the castle where Nova figured they were going to construct things like barracks for soldiers and that sort of thing.

“Come, come!” Luna beckoned from the entrance of the keep.  Nova stopped looking around and followed.  It was dark, so he couldn’t see much, but she led him in, up several stairs, and through a hall toward one of the top rooms of the castle.  Directly across from a set of double-doors with a sun emblazoned on them were a set of double-doors with a moon emblazoned on them, making it quite clear whose rooms they were, and Luna pushed in.  Nova was a little alarmed to see no guards hustling about, but he filed it away under questions for later.

Luna’s room, like the rest of the castle, was bare.  There was simply a bed, a doorway to a washroom, and some sort of wooden mannequin that appeared to have slots for her royal regalia.

“We shall speak with thee on the morrow, as will Our sister, no doubt,” she promised.  “For now, Nova Shine, please enjoy thy sleep.  We have awakened thee, dunked thee within the River Everfree, and burdened thee with Our troubles, and for that, We apologize.”

“No big deal,” Nova shrugged.  “Anything I can do to help.”

Luna bit her lip, looking as though she very much wanted to say something, but thought better of it.  “Go on.  Sleep as long as thou wouldst like.”

Nova gave her a grateful smile, before climbing into her bed.  It had to have been made of clouds!  It was the softest thing he’d ever laid down upon, and that wasn’t an exaggeration by any stretch!  If he were Luna, he’d spend all day here and never get up.

Luna muttered something else that he didn’t hear, but by the time she finished, Nova’s eyes had drifted shut and he was sleeping once again, and images of the love of his life danced in his dreams.


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


The next morning, Nova found himself being ushered into the throne room by a pair of attendants.  He had been allowed to wake and to eat, but the moment he was done, two ponies had practically marched him over to meet with the other Royal Sister.  Nova had been expecting this.  Word must have spread about the previous day’s excitement up in Unicornia, and it couldn’t have been hard to make the connection about who had caused it.

But the moment he was thrust inside, he found himself in a very plain throne room, a far cry from the relative opulence of Canterlot Castle.  The walls were uncolored stone, there was a simple carpet that led up to a single throne emblazoned with both a sun and moon at its head, and currently seated on the throne, with her sister standing beside her looking nervous, was Princess Celestia.

Nova was completely unprepared for just how different she was in her youth.

Celestia’s coat, while still primarily white, had much more of a pink hue to it, and her mane and tail were a bright pink as well.  Far from the authoritative maturity that her future self radiated, this younger version of herself seemed to have an air of playfulness about her, almost a complete 180 from the version of her Nova was used to in his own time.

Where the Celestia of his own time would sit tall and proud, the very picture of royal dignity and grace, this Celestia had been slouching in her throne when he had stepped in, looking bored.  Where his Celestia wore an impenetrable queenly mask that offered little more than a small smile no matter the circumstance, this Celestia was more than a little expressive.  The moment he had stepped into the room, her expression had brightened considerably from its previous look.

Until her expression turned downright predatory when she saw who it was.

“So thou art the stallion Little Lu-Lu brought home for the night,” she said, her tone brimming with mischief.  “We must say, Luna has excellent taste.”

“We told you, it wasn’t like that!” squawked her younger sibling, throwing her an annoyed look.  “All We did was offer him a place to sleep for the evening!”

“Oh yes,” Celestia’s catty grin widened, “after a walk under the moonlight and a deep emotional conversation, as you put it.  Truly sister, if you are courting and bedding this handsome stallion, you have Our full approval, but remember, good sisters always share.”

Luna’s face was a very brilliant shade of purple by this point as she sputtered and tried to deflect her sister’s teasing.  Nova had to suppress a chuckle, but then a thought occurred to him.

Why not turn up the heat?

“Don’t let her embarrassment fool you, Princess,” Nova said, trying to keep a straight face.  “She was so very forward with me last night.  Within seconds of meeting her, she was already inviting me in, and I gotta say,” Nova would forever treasure the mortified expression on Luna’s face, “if you are anything like her, I don’t think I’d mind being shared.”

There was a heartstopping moment in which Nova thought he might have gone too far.  Luna’s eyes bulged and her blush deepened even more.

Until all of a sudden, Princess Celestia fell right out of her throne, laughing harder than Nova had ever seen anyone before in his life.  Princess Celestia, raiser of the sun and one of the two immortal diarchs of Equestria, was currently on her back and laughing so hard she was kicking her hooves in the air, while Princess Luna, Mistress of Dreams and his own personal teacher, looked like she wanted to hide under a rock.

“...we have made a very terrible mistake,” Luna moaned, burying her face in her hooves.  “Why must thou encourage her?”

After several moments, Princess Celestia’s laughter subsided, and she pulled herself back up onto her throne, which proved to be difficult as she had to stifle even more laughter with one of her hooves.

“Luna, do not let this stallion out of your sight,” she instructed, before suppressing another giggle.  “You are to marry him if you must, because if you do not, then I certainly shall.”





“You are making this up,” interrupted Twilight, looking thoroughly unconvinced.  “You’re trying to tell me that Princess Celestia, repeat PRINCESS CELESTIA, was a shameless flirt when she was young?  And that she flirted with you?”

“I’m telling you, I’m not making this up!” Nova replied defensively.  “It really happened.  Sense my energy and see for yourself.  And she wasn’t a flirt, she was just teasing her sister, and I played along.”

Twilight glared at him while Nova just held up his hooves to show he had nothing to hide.

“I swear!”

Twilight blew air out of her nose rather sharply.  Nova was starting to realize that whether he’d realized it or not, he was pushing her jealousy buttons.  Eesh, if they were getting pushed now, how bad was it going to be when he got into details about him and Clover?

“So, Luna was going to make you her student, right?” Twilight continued, thankfully choosing to drop the thread that was agitating her.

“Well…”





“You have chosen well, sister,” Celestia said, surveying him rather quickly.  “His keenness of mind is evident, and if he has truly proven his capability at offering you this companionship, then you have Our blessing.”

“But what of the earth ponies and pegasi?” Luna asked.  “Surely this must appear as though we are playing favorites to the unicorns!”

“Oh, we are?” Celestia arched an eyebrow.  “This is intriguing news.  We thought you had taken a student to ease your loneliness during long nights spent in solitude.”

“We-- I-- you--!” Luna sputtered, her wings flaring.

“Luna,” Celestia reached out a hoof and placed it on her younger sister’s shoulder, “your motive is pure, We understand that.  We will cross that bridge when we come to it.  But for now, We would suggest installing your handsome concubine into his--”

“HE’S NOT A CONCUBINE!”

“Our apologies, We meant your handsome bed companion--”

“TIA!”

Celestia chortled, even as her sister sputtered at her, red-faced and clearly miffed.  Even Nova couldn’t resist a chuckle.  This relationship was such a far cry from the way things were between them in the future.  It was just so interesting to see how different they were.

“In all seriousness, sir Nova Shine,” Celestia addressed him directly, a pleased smile on her face, “dost thou object?  Wouldst thou be opposed to providing companionship for Our sister?  As she tells it, thou suggested the idea, and thou put forth thine own name for consideration.  So allow Us to ask.”

She leaned forward, her eyes gleaming, and Nova could see a cold threat hidden in them.

“Why?”

“Simple,” Nova responded, meeting the princess’ threatening look with a calm and sincere one of his own.  “I had the chance to speak to her last night.  I’ve seen a side of her that I would wager not even you have.”

If she took offense, she did not show it.  Instead, she seemed even more interested, and leaned forward just a little bit more.

“I know better than most what being alone can do to a pony,” he continued, remembering his time before he had allowed himself to really have friends like the ponies of Neighton, or Twilight and Spike, or Aegis, or Trixie.  “And I don’t think anyone should ever have to suffer through it.  Least of all one of the two alicorns responsible for the place I want to call home.”

Celestia’s eyes narrowed, and her smile widened dangerously.

“So thy reasons are purely altruistic?” she asked, her voice nearly lowering to a hiss.  “Because We have seen the hearts of many ponies like thee, who claim to be doing what they are because they care.  Most ponies who say this, of course, are doing it for selfish reasons, and We will not allow such ponies anywhere near Our sister.”

“Yep, mostly,” Nova affirmed, completely unperturbed by Princess Celestia’s implied threat.  “Look, Princess, yeah, there are going to be benefits to being this position, and I am more than aware of what kind of influence this will grant me, but I’m being 99% honest with you when I say that I really am doing this because I want to help Princess Luna out.”

“And the remaining 1%?” she arched an eyebrow.

“I like the idea of having an impressive title to flaunt,” Nova shrugged.

There was a long moment where Celestia and Nova simply stared each other down.  Luna glanced between the two of them nervously, even making a move to step between them, only for Celestia to keep her back with a simple wave of her hoof.  Nova half-wondered if he was pressing his luck just a little too far.

Finally, Celestia grinned.

“We like thee.  Thou art honest and sincere, as far as We can sense, thou art clever and unafraid to say what thou wishes to say, and thou dost so in such a way that is blunt yet not insulting.” She waved Luna forward.  “Very well, Nova Shine. We shall entrust thee with Our sister’s wellbeing.”  Now she smiled coldly.  “Do not make Us regret it, or else We shall ensure that thou will regret it far greater than anything else thou ever did.”

Luna let out a very audible sigh of relief, before breaking into a broad grin.  “Excellent!  Then, should We proclaim it?”

“We don’t see why not,” Celestia shrugged, before settling back into her throne.  “You may do the honors.”

Luna smiled adorably, before drawing herself up.  Nova, Celestia, and the guards within the room all plugged their ears in just the nick of time

“HEAR YE, EQUESTRIANS!  WE, PRINCESS LUNA, DO HEREBY DECLARE THAT WE TAKE THE UNICORN NOVA SHINE AS OUR PERSONAL STUDENT!  HENCEFORTH, NOVA SHINE SHALL BE KNOWN--”

She glanced at him for a moment, before giving him a fond smile.

“--AS OUR NIGHT APPRENTICE.  SO SAY I, PRINCESS LUNA!”



The rest of the morning was spent observing formalities and installing Nova into his new position, but the evening held one final surprise for him.  With everything else taken care of, Nova found himself trotting back out to enjoy some fresh air after being in the castle all day.  The grove he’d slept in the night before seemed like an excellent place to go, so he had set off for there.

And who should he find sleeping there, but a familiar green mare, snoozing under the same tree he had.

“Summer!” he exclaimed on recognizing her.

Summer frowned, before cracking an eye open at the source of the noise.  On seeing who it was, she bolted upright.

“Nova!  I-- how…?”

She stopped as he opened his mouth to fire off some quip, before clamping his mouth shut with her magic.

“No, no snappy remarks,” she interjected, even as he gave her an annoyed look while he trotted over.  “How did you know I would be here?”

“I didn’t,” Nova replied as her magic dropped.  “Still, I slept in this spot last night, and it seemed nice enough for a return visit.  So, what are you doing here in Everfree?”

Summer made a show of taking a long deep breath in, holding it for a few seconds, before blowing it out of her nose slowly.  All the while, Nova could see a vein start to bulge in her temple.

“You thought right,” she finally grumbled.  “Things did, in fact, go badly.”  She sighed, falling on her haunches again, only this time, Nova trotted around and sat down next to her under the shade of the tree she was under.  “After you left, Steelshod came with his guards, asking where you were, and I told him the truth.  You’d left for Everfree.  Clover confirmed that you did have an interest in this place.  So when you couldn’t be brought forward to pay for ruining Silverbitch’s day, she took it out on me.”

She put on a fake haughty voice and swept her hoof up to her brow.

“Oh daddy, this mean filly is friends with a colt that didn’t gimme what I want!  Ruin her job, please!”

“Juvenile,” Nova replied.

“Right?” she asked rhetorically.

“No,” Nova shook his head, “I meant, this whole mocking mimicking thing.  You’re better than that, Summer.  I get that you’re mad, but there’s nothing you can do about it now, and you won’t exactly make a good first impression when we go meet the Princesses.”

Summer blinked.

“I’m sorry, could you repeat that?” she swung an ear in his direction.  “I could have sworn you just said when we go meet the princesses.”

“Did I say that?” Nova mused airily.  “I meant ‘When the Princess of the Night’s new personal student takes the smart-ass unicorn to meet her and her older sister.’”

Summer stared at him for a long moment, her mouth moving, though she couldn’t seem to say anything.  Finally, she seemed to settle on a response.

“Pot,” she said.

“Hm?”

“Kettle.”

“Oh.”

“Black.”

“Just come on,” Nova gestured to follow him, hiding a grin.  “I’m actually not kidding.  Unless you’d rather spend the night out here in the cold for Princess Luna to wake up and dunk you in the river?”

“Right behind you,” he heard her say, feeling her fall in step behind him.  “What was that stuff about Princess Luna?”

“Nothing,” Nova answered.  “She didn’t like the fact that I slept outside last night.”

“Oh.”

There was another pause as he led her down the somewhat-familiar path to the center of the city toward the castle.  She seemed to be taking in the sights.  Or she just had no idea how to take all of this.

“So what kind of job are you taking me to get?”

“Who said anything about me getting you a job?” he replied, cocking an eyebrow and glancing back at her.

She frowned.  “You did.  Yesterday.  Said if things didn’t work out, to come down here and you’d find me a job.”

“Oh, right,” Nova replied.  “Weeeeelllllll, I think I might have to change that a little bit.”

“Of course,” sighed Summer, her head drooping.  “Everything has to be too good to be true, doesn’t it.”

“I was actually going to see if I could nab you a job as the Construction Overseer, given you have some experience with that kind of thing…”

Summer stared at him for a long moment, but then just shook her head.  “I’m going to have to stop being surprised by this kind of thing, aren’t I?”

“That you are,” Nova grinned back at her.  “Follow me, Summer.  Let me repay your kindness yesterday with a promotion today.”

He ended up giving Summer more than just a job that day.  He ended up giving her a new stallion to fall head over hooves for as well.


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


The first few weeks of Nova Shine’s apprenticeship to Princess Luna were honestly rather dull.  She spent some time getting a grasp of his abilities, which were considerable.  Celestia was of the opinion that Nova needed no teacher, as educated with magic as he was, but Luna held fast.  Instead, Nova found himself ferrying messages out to Earthponyville (which had just renamed itself to Ponyville), as well as to a pegasus messenger or two, with the aim of establishing diplomatic ties to both of the tribes.  It wasn’t the education he expected, but he did remember that the story he’d been told about himself mentioned that he was a diplomat for the first several weeks.

Also, he had been given a pretty bitchin’ blue cape, joined at the neck by a polished blue stone with a diamond crescent moon set in the center of it, with an etched scroll cut in between the crescent’s arms, and a hood spilled around his shoulders when it wasn’t put on.  The cloak was the best thing they could come up with for a symbol of his station, and he used it all the time, which gave him considerable influence and authority when going about his negotiations over what the Principality needed.

Their immediate needs were more food, and better weather control, because even though the Principality was growing, they still didn’t have enough farmers to feed the growing populace, or pegasi to clear the storms and bring the needed rain.

Fortunately, their trust in Nova Shine had paid off, as now General Hurricane and Chancellor Puddinghead themselves, as well as their entourages, sat in a chamber of the Castle of the Two sisters, deliberating over a treaty that would bind the two tribes and Principality in a trade partnership.  The earth ponies would provide food and brute strength for labor to the two nations, the pegasi would provide weather control and military defense, and the Principality would allow for lumber trading and currency.  It would be a three-way alliance that would bring them closer together, and allow the Principality to eventually lure Princess Platinum into the alliance as well, because the three nations would need enchanters and artisans eventually.

...or at least, that was the idea.  A few of the ponies there didn’t see things that way.

“I admit, I find this proposal intriguing,” admitted General Hurricane in an oddly-soft voice, reading over the documents Nova had brought with him from the Princesses.  “Princess Celestia is quite correct that we need the food and we would very much like to have access to the Principality’s lumber.”

It was absolutely astounding to Nova just how much four of the ponies in attendance today resembled a certain four ponies from his own time.  Hurricane was a dead ringer for Rainbow Dash physically, but he was male, his coat was grey, his eyes were white, and his mane and tail were tri-colored black, silver, and gold, and on his flank, whenever it showed underneath his armored barding, was a pair of crossed lightning bolts on a round blue shield.  He was wearing a set of golden armor that was light enough to allow for agile movement, but heavy enough to show who was in charge, as well as to actually stop any attempted attacks, and he wore a Nimbusian-styled helmet with a red galea.  And much like Rainbow Dash, he carried himself with a confident swagger as if he owned the room.

One of his advisors, meanwhile, was quite literally stallion Fluttershy.  Timid, shrinking, and rather scrawny, Lieutenant Pansy surveyed the room nervously from his spot on Hurricane’s right.  His armor looked too big on him, it was colored silver, and it was far lighter in protection than his commanding officer’s, being merely some plates on the essential parts and a much simpler helmet, but it had some gold trimmings, likely to show his rank.  His mane was an identical soft pink, his coat was an identical soft yellow, and his eyes were still blue, but replacing the butterflies of Fluttershy’s cutie mark were flowers.

“It has everything we need, and it offers equal compensation, in my opinion,” Pansy said, his voice just as demure as Fluttershy’s from his own time, but still firm.

“This offer seems too good to be true,” frowned the other pegasus on Hurricane’s left.  This light-blue mare wore no armor; instead, she wore a forest-green dress suit decorated with a few medals.  Her short black mane was neatly cropped, her face was hard and angular, her beady blue eyes seemed suspicious of the earth ponies and principals whenever she looked at them, and she always seemed tense whenever she was addressed by anyone but Hurricane or Pansy.  “I don’t think we should accept the terms at this time.”

Hurricane frowned at his second advisor.  “You say the offer seemed good, but you don’t think we should take it?” he asked skeptically.  “More suspicious than usual today, Surge.”

“Sir,” Surge replied, unperturbed by Hurricane’s teasing, “I am merely pointing out that when offers seem too good to be true, they usually are.”

“But it’s not an offer, lieutenant,” Pansy pointed out.  “It’s a trade proposal.  We’re exchanging something they both need for something we need.”

Over at the earth pony table, things weren’t going much better.

Puddinghead, who was identical to Pinkie Pie with the exception of having pastries on her flank instead of balloons, was tilting and twisting the parchment with the finalized proposal on it every which way and trying to see into the mysteries of the universe through it, based on the expression on her face.  To her right, a pony with the same build as Applejack, but with a chocolatey-brown mane and tail and a light tan coat, seemed to have a resigned look on her face as her superior did whatever she was doing.  Both were wearing outfits that just had to be jokes.  They were so over-the-top, with garish color combinations and even overly-poofy shoulders on the sleeves, Nova suspected someone had to be having a laugh when they’d made it, but it had gone over Puddinghead’s puddinghead.

“AHA!” Puddinghead finally shouted in a voice just as identical to Pinkie’s as her appearance, jabbing a hoof at the parchment.  “They aren’t including the Birthday Cake Contingency on this proposal!”

“Chancellor, there weren’t any birthday cake contingencies that were talked about,” Smart Cookie sighed, pinching the bridge of her muzzle.  She even sounded like Applejack, but without the drawl.  “What even is the Birthday Cake Contingency?”

“Duuuuh,” Puddinghead rolled her eyes. clearly annoyed that her Number 1 wasn’t up to speed.  “it means we have to store birthday cakes inside of the trees in case of birthday cake emergencies!  You just never know when you’ll need to celebrate someone’s birthday!”

“Ugh,” Cookie started massaging a temple, where there was a vein that was dangerously throbbing.  “Chancellor… please, just let me do the negotiatin’.”

“I must concur,” sighed her other advisor, an elderly-looking earth pony with a magnificent bushy white moustache.  He was also wearing a big floofy outfit, his coat had greyed with age, and his mane had gotten to the point of being salt-and-pepper in composition.  “Please, madam, leave it in our capable hooves.  I’m afraid you may do something rash.  I think we need more time to go over this proposal than Cookie believes.”

“Everything seems plain as day here,” Cookie shrugged.  “Don’t know why we need any more time.  We have food and farmers, but we need weather control and lumber, and the others are willing to provide.  Don’t know what else we need to go over.”

“You’re new to this,” the other stallion patted her arm patronizingly, “but there’s a reason trade proposals are worded in legalese.”

Cookie scowled at her counterpart.  “Look, Silver, My birth name may be Tough Cookie, but there’s a reason everyone started calling me Smart Cookie.  I’m well aware of the reason why trade papers like this are translated after they’re agreed on, but we haven’t even gotten that far yet.  It’s written in plain-as-day Equish while we hammer out the details!”

“Feh!” Silver made a face.  “It’s that way now, but just wait until those airheads start using that excuse of ‘weather controllers’ to start pilfering our food again like the snakes they are.”

“What did you call us!?” snapped Surge from across the way.

“You heard me,” Silver snarled across the room, which caused all of the whispered conversation to grind to a halt.  “Sure, they may have everyone’s best interests at heart,” he jabbed a hoof at Nova and his two guards, who were simply standing by and watching the proceedings, “but I remember plain-as-day all the raids you pegasi did to steal food from our hard-working farmers!”

“Oh, stuff it!” rebutted Surge, flapping her wings a couple of times to fly over their table and glare directly at Silver.  “You air-sick lowlanders were just hogging all the food for yourselves!”

“Yeah, because you harpies went and attacked us!” Silver stepped around the table and met Surge’s glare with his own.

“Mudtrudger!” shouted Surge, not backing down.

“Featherbrain!”

“Hey, lay off!” Hurricane stepped over to stand next to his advisor and glowered at Silver.

“Oh save it, General Compensator,” spat Silver, scowling.  “I know what you’re really after, and we’re not biting.”

“Oh yeah, tough guy?” Hurricane stepped right up and stared down his muzzle at the wizened stallion, which only prompted Puddinghead to join in.

“Tough talk, picking on an old guy like that!” she snapped, stepping next to her own advisor and challenging Hurricane.

“Maybe he should have kept his fat mouth shut then!”

The room erupted into chaos as Puddinghead and Hurricane joined in.  Soon, even the two guards for both parties were leveling insults at each other.  Cookie and Pansy just looked at each other helplessly, and then over to Nova, who was frowning at the entire proceeding.  Having been slow to react, he stepped in and cleared his throat loudly and obviously.  Thankfully, this drew everyone’s attention, including the two bickering advisors.

“Okay, I can see we’re getting a little hot-headed after being cooped up in here for the last hour and a half.  Let’s take a half-hour break, and we’ll resume negotiation.  If you have any questions over the proposal, feel free to ask me about them.”

As everyone started to clear out, Nova then added one last warning.

“And if any of you make such uncalled-for comments like that again, you will be tossed out.  We’re trying to have a productive discussion here, and I’ll thank you not to disrupt it.  I don’t give a flying feather what your rank is.”

As everyone left the room, the tension in the air was quite palpable.  The only ones who weren’t moving were Pansy and Cookie, who, like Nova, seemed to simply be waiting for the room to clear out.

Finally, when it was just them and Nova’s two guards, Nova let out an exhausted sigh and fell onto his ass, letting the tension he’d had in his entire being for the last several moments drain out of him.

“I feel ya,” Cookie said, trotting over and standing in front of him while Pansy made his way over as well.  “I don’t know what’s gotten into Silver Tongue lately, but he’s been obstinate that we shouldn’t be accepting anything from the pegasi.  No offense, dear,” she added to Pansy, who had draped a wing across her back.

“None taken,” Pansy replied, leaning over and giving her a quick peck on the cheek.  “I’m having a hard time with Storm Surge too, and clearly we’re not doing a good job of dealing with them.”

Nova’s eyes flicked between them.  He wasn’t aware that Pansy and Cookie were in a relationship.  This might actually help their collective case.

“So, we’ve never properly gotten a chance to meet,” Cookie said, offering a hoof, “though Clover told us about a unicorn who just teleported all the way here from Canterlot.  That’s you, right?”

“That’s me,” Nova nodded.  “You’ve been talking with Lady Clover?”

“Of course,” Pansy smiled.  “While our new duties mean we don’t get to see each other as often, and that mare is just so devoted to her work that she has to be forced to take days off, we’re still pen pals.  If we can get a trade agreement nailed down here today, I’m sure having us to vouch for you is gonna do wonders when you stroll on up to Unicornia and try to rope them into this.”

“Platinum doesn’t strike me as the type to cooperate,” Nova made a face.  “As I understand it, that Changeling delegation from a few days ago was only in the city for a few hours before Platinum had them kicked out.  I just don’t think she’s going to be helping us out unless Clover makes her in some way.”

“Eh,” Cookie shrugged, “Pudds didn’t want to talk either, but I managed to convince her to come out here.  I bet we might even be able to get Silver to come round by the end of the day.  I appreciate how there ain’t none of that fancy mumbo-jumbo in there meant to confuse anyone.”

“It’ll be translated that way eventually,” Nova admitted, before standing back up.  “Wanna walk around the castle?  We’ve got some time to kill.”

“Sure thing,” Cookie grinned.  “I like what that new mare’s done with the place.  Last time I was here a few months ago, things were coming along real slow-like, and now it’s almost looking like a fully-built castle.”

“Yeah, Summer’s been a huge help,” Nova smiled with pride at his friend.  She really had been the perfect mare to oversee construction on this place.  Without Shimmer Silvermane there to cause trouble, she’d whipped things right into shape, though a few afternoons with Nova helping her out directly may or may not have played a part.  “The place should be finished in over a year, but the bare essentials are getting all touched up.”

“Gonna give us the grand tour?” asked Pansy.

“Eeyup,” Nova drawled in his best imitation of a certain red farmpony.

There weren’t many rooms to show off.  The library was coming along nicely, the kitchens and Great Hall were complete and now being furnished, the throne room was, of course, rather spartan compared to others, the dormitory wings were now fully furnished and ready to house guests, and now the main construction project was the barracks and training yard.

“You see out here,” Nova gestured at a large expanse of earth that several earth ponies were flattening by stomping on the ground, “we’re trying to set up a yard for any volunteers to train. Won’t just be open to the guard; anyone who wants to train a martial skill is welcome here.  We’ll have a barracks out here eventually, in that half-finished building over there.  Back there’s the in-progress chapel as well,” he indicated a tower that was half-way built off in the distance.  “For weddings or other dramatic events,” he grinned wryly, “you know, that kinda stuff.”

As they made their way back toward it, however, Nova suddenly frowned.  There were two unauthorized ponies in the under-construction chapel.  That wasn’t anything particularly special, however.

“Stop, stop,” he hissed, thrusting out a hoof to bring both Pansy and Cookie to a stop.  They both gave him quizzical looks, but he gave them a quick “Shh!”ing motion, and started creeping up toward the chapel as silently as possible.

“What’s going on?” Pansy asked, glancing at the half-finished tower with an odd look.

“You’re not gonna believe who’s hanging out in here,” Nova said, paying extra attention to the two energy nexuses within.  “Cookie, can you go and get the Chancellor, the General, a few guards and bring them all here?  They’re gonna want to see this.”

Cookie furrowed her brow, clearly puzzled by this, but with a shrug, she trotted off, doing as asked.

“What about me?” Pansy asked, watching his mare trot off.

“Keep an eye out.  Don’t want the two inside to know we know they’re here.” Nova replied.  With a small shimmering, his cape appeared around his shoulders, and before Pansy could say another word, Nova drew up the hood of his cape, causing himself to disappear entirely from view as the cloak’s invisibility charm activated.  Pansy’s eyes widened, but the pegasi military discipline kept him from crying out, much to Nova’s relief.

He crept in, taking great care not to make any noise on the ground as he did so.  The chapel at the moment was simply a large empty hall, but sitting near the far back of it, in a particularly-dark corner of the room, were Silver Tongue and Storm Surge, the two diplomats who had gone at it before this break…

...only they weren’t doing so now.

Quite the contrary, they appeared to be having a hushed conversation, and Nova found hushed conversations to be enlightening.

“...can’t allow this treaty to be signed today,” Silver Tongue whispered, his eyes firmly fixed on the entrance, where Pansy was doing an excellent job of staying out of view.

“I don’t think there’s much we can do to stop it,” Surge replied, frowning.  “That meddlesome unicorn has taken every possible complaint I could have and made it a non-issue.  This whole ‘too-good-to-be-true’ excuse won’t last long.”

“We don’t have to stop it from being signed,” Silver replied with a patient sniff.  “We simply have to delay it as long as possible.  Still, we should inform our employer.”

“Gotta make it quick,” Surge cautioned.  “We’re running low on time, and they’ll start looking for us if we’re late.”

Silver fished around in his outfit for a moment, before pulling out a small gleaming crystal, which he set on the ground.  Nova cocked his head at this.  Were they actually going to contact their employer?

Just in case, and knowing he had heard some particularly juicy bits already, Nova silently cast a spell he’d been preparing on a small pebble he found on the ground.

The crystal, which was completely clear, suddenly started glowing a faint grey light.  Unsurprisingly, the voice that came from it was distorted, no doubt to protect the enchanter’s identity.

“What is it?” the voice asked.

“Sir, there’s a problem,” Surge cut right to the chase.  “I don’t think we’ll be able to prevent the trade agreement from being signed today.”

“I agree,” Silver nodded.  “The princesses have seen fit to delegate the moderation of these talks to a new unicorn servant of theirs, and he’s proven himself to be a massive nuisance.  Every complaint we have is quickly revised and removed.  We cannot get by much longer on simply casting unwarranted suspicion on the document, and we had to resort to a more drastic measure a few minutes ago.”

“I see,” the voice said.  It fell silent for a long moment, before speaking up again.  “Do what you can to delay it for a few more days.  We are nearing a point of no return.  Already the Grey Monarch has sent an infiltrator to find out what befell his daughter.”

Off in the distance, Nova sensed Cookie and everyone else approaching.  Good, good.  Now to make them see it with their own eyes.

A faint glimmer of his horn later, and everything he was seeing and hearing was now being broadcast on the wall outside the chapel, where Pansy waited.  Nova was amused to notice Pansy jump about a mile in the air when video and sound started showing up on a stone wall, but he was satisfied to see the entourage come to a screeching halt the moment he believed they saw it.

“Sir, with all due respect, I believe the unicorn when he says he will toss us out if we misbehave again,” protested Surge, frowning.  “If we do anything too drastic, we won’t be in a position to stall these talks any longer.  And speaking of, we’re running low on time.”

“Do what you can, but if worst comes to worst, do what you must,” the voice said again.  “It is of paramount importance that this treaty not be signed.  My client wants the four factions separate for his designs.”

“Maybe he can pay us better then,” snapped Silver.  “We’re doing what we can, but we’re losing.”

“Correction,” Nova said, now feeling as though he had heard enough, “you’ve lost.”

Both of them flinched at the noise, eyes bulging, and Surge’s combat instincts kicking in as she snapped into a combat-ready stance.  With a dramatic flourish, Nova swept his hood off of his head as he bowed in one smooth motion, revealing himself to the two would-be conspirators.

At the sight of him, both Silver and Surge tensed, but Nova didn’t pay them any mind.  Instead, he snatched up the crystal on the ground.  “I’ll be holding on to this,” he said with an intentionally-smug tone of voice, before he became serious again as he frowned down at it.  "So, who’s the mysterious mastermind behind this particular plot?”

The crystal was silent, but the enchantment was still active.  Nova just needed to keep it up long enough to get a feel for where the enchantment was going.  Surge vaulted herself at him, but a quick bolt from his horn sent her to the ground, writhing as he hit her with a spasm spell, which set her muscles twitching madly.  Silver tried to make a run for it, but a magical leash spell yanked him right back.  Nova would have to thank Twilight for teaching him that one.  A moment later and the magical link had bound him completely, leaving him tied up next to his partner after Nova’d hauled him back.

“Welp, your plan here has failed,” Nova said to the crystal, making sure to bind the conspirator’ muzzles so they couldn’t say anything.  “I’ve made sure to show this nice little conversation to General Hurricane and Chancellor Puddinghead both so they can see what their fine advisors have.been up to.  Clearly, you’ve had them on your payroll for a while, haven’t you?”

Again, the crystal remained silent, but the enchantment still remained active.  It was pointing eastward…

“Silent treatment, huh?  Don’t want to give away your identity?” he asked, smirking.  Maybe he could goad the voice into giving something away.  “Smart, but ultimately fruitless.  Your plan has been upended.”

“Fool,” the voice dismissed.  “If you think this plan began and ended with those two, you are in for a nasty surprise.  Even now, as I’m sure you heard, it all comes together.  Your efforts will be too little, too late.  You will never be able to find us, much less put a stop to our efforts.”

Pointed… upward? he thought, frowning. The enchantment’s energy seemed to have an incline to it for some reason.  Why?  If it was a communique to another pony, wouldn’t it be at ground lev--

Nova blinked.  He had figured it out.

“I will never find you, huh?” he asked, grinning.  “Because I look forward to cooperating with some allies of mine in rooting you out from your little den.  And I know just the perfect place to start.  After all, I do hear Unicornia is nice this time of--”

The enchantment abruptly cut off, and Nova smirked.  Sure, it probably would have been smarter to leave him thinking he hadn’t been found out, but that was perfectly fine.  He had everything he needed, and he was going to make sure to send a message to this guy.

There was no hiding from the Night Apprentice.

“Come on in, everyone.  We’ve got two ponies who have been very naughty today,” he called, before turning his attention to the two ponies on the ground.

It took only a few seconds, but in came Pansy and Cookie, leading with them Platinum, Hurricane, and their guards.  Both leaders were furious, and with merely a gesture, both sets of guards detained their advisor.  Silver seemed to recognize he would never escape, but Surge twisted and resisted every step of the way.  Once they were perfectly detailed, Nova dropped the magical binds, and the moment Nova’s binds dropped, they tried to explain.

“It wasn’t what it looked like!”
“It was a total fabrication by the unicorn!”
“This was a setup!  The unicorn made it look--”
“We’re only doing what’s best for our--”

“Oh shut up!” Cookie yelled, looking daggers at Silver.  “We all know what we saw.  You’ve been trying to sabotage these talks!  It explains every objection you’ve ever had, no matter how trivial!”

“You two,” growled Hurricane, gesturing at the two pegasi guards, who were now trying to bind Surge with rope to prevent her escaping.  “Escort her to the sky-cells in Pegasopolis and make sure she’s still bound.  She’s gonna answer for all of this.”

One of the guards saluted, and both hauled her away, even as she tried to shout excuses the whole way.  In contrast, the elderly Silver Tongue simply stood tall and proud, even as the earth pony guards started to take him out.

Puddinghead just shook her head as they went, her mane seeming to deflate ever so slightly.

“Why?” she finally asked, in a small voice.  “Why try to sabotage these talks?  Why try to make everyone mad at each other like that?”

“Money,” Nova replied simply.  “Paid off by their employer in Unicornia.  He still needs to be dragged out into the light.”

Nova sighed.

“General, Chancellor,” he addressed them both with a polite bow, “I’m going to have to bow out of our negotiations for today, and probably for a while.  If what we all heard is true this is part of a larger plan to keep us all divided, the unicorns need to know about it immediately, especially since, as you heard,” he gestured at the crystal on the ground, “someone involved is operating out of Unicornia.”

“Understandable,” General Hurricane nodded.  “Give ‘em hell, Sir Night Apprentice.”

“With those two do-badders kicked out, I’m sure we can get things fixed in time for the general’s next birthday party.  Still gotta get the Birthday Cake Contingency in there, though,” Puddinghead frowned.

“Thank-you for your aid,” the general offered a hoof.  “The proud Pegasus Nation will not forget this.”

“Neither will us Earth Ponies!” Puddinghead extended her own.

Nova bumped both of their hooves, before motioning to Cookie.  “So, think you can write a letter for me?”


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


The pegasi chariot deposited him right at the city gate just as Celestia began to lower the sun.  It felt odd to see what would become Upper Canterlot halfway through being constructed.  The roads and alleys were both familiar and unfamiliar.  High Street led exactly where it always led, up to the palace off in the distance.  However, other streets, such as Mane Street, didn’t quite seem to lead anywhere just yet.  Nova doubted Mane Street hadn’t even been planned as the main market thoroughfare it would eventually become, but that would change in time.

Oddly enough, it turned out that Novus Manor had not yet been constructed.  Neither had the Lulamoon Estate, or Celestia’s school, or other major landmarks.  The only major landmark in this entire city of marble, amethyst, and gold, was Unicornia Palace.

At least for now.

After purchasing his room at a nearby inn, Nova found himself in a bar, as he always did on nights where he had nothing to do.  And as always whenever he went looking for a bar, he went looking for a bar owned by one of the Brew family.

Even way back in this time, the Germane family were peddling their craft.  Even way back in this time, that rumor that they all came from the Germane town of Brewmen was still a thing.  And even way back in this time, their beer was just as good as it was in his own.

“Aaaaah,” Nova sighed as he set the tankard down and wiped some foam off of his mouth.  “Excellent as usual.”

“Glad do hear id,” the bartender beamed.  He had the usual amber coat, but his mane was neatly cropped and he had tan eyes, that seemed to sparkle in the evening light.  .His accent was unmistakably Germane as well.  Maybe he was an opportunist searching for prime real estate to sell his beer, but he had certainly found a good place.  “Alvays glad to see mein drinks are enjoyed.  Are you ze Night Apprentice zat has zee city ein such a stir?”

“That’s me,” Nova dipped his head.  He was, thankfully, alone at the bar this evening.  It was a simple place, a few tables and poufs, some Germane memorabilia hung on the walls, but nothing had another pony at it.  “Nova Shine.”

“Stout Brew,” he extended a hoof, which Nova bumped.  “Mein cousin Pale ist moving to Everfree soon.  I am sure he vill be finding himself a regular customer vhen he opens his establishment, ja?”

“Of course,” Nova took another great quaff.  “Ah… Always down for a Brew’s beer.”

Stout Brew just beamed, but went to retrieve more drink for him.  When Nova pulled out his bits purse, Stout just waved a hoof.  “On ze house.”

“Huh.”  Who was he to turn down free beer?  “Thanks.”

“Bitte,” Stout replied, still beaming.

“So, settle a bet for me,” Nova took a quick gulp.  “The Brews have their own pilgrimage city, yeah?”

“Pilgrimage?  Nein, ha!” Stout Brew guffawed.  “Brewmen is simply our… how you say, ancestral home.  Vell, apart from our cousins who come from Bielepferd, but many of us aren’t convinced Bielepferd exists.”

“Why not?”

“Ve have our reasons,” Stout shrugged.  He glanced out one of the windows.  “Einen Augenblick, bitte,  I must put ze cat out.”

“Go ahead,” Nova motioned with a hoof.  In truth, it gave him a reason to feel out the real reason he’d come out here.

He was certain that whoever this unseen mystery pony was, they would probably try to intimidate him or otherwise keep him from going and meeting Princess Platinum tomorrow.

Cookie’s quick letter to Clover had taken all of fifteen minutes to receive a reply, informing her that yes, the Night Apprentice would be granted an urgent audience with Princess Platinum the next morning. She and Pansy had even been kind enough to fill Clover in on everything that had transpired that afternoon in Everfree, so Clover would be there to back him up.

Nova took another drink.

He was not ready for tomorrow.  It was supposed to be the day he met and hit the ground running with Clover, but…

...he missed Twilight.

Another drink.

After Stout had stepped out, he closed his eyes and let his energy sense pick up everything it could.  He had known he was being tailed the moment he’d left the hotel.  The Night Apprentice was something of a high-profile position, so it’s not like he could really hide without resorting to his new cloak, but even if he could, he wanted to draw them out and send them scampering back so that the stallion in charge knew he was untouchable.

Sure enough, scattered around the building in this otherwise-barren section of the city and discounting Stout were fifteen ponies and… one other thing.  Nova could tell there was a sixteenth being keeping an eye on things around them, but he felt… different.  Familiar, but not in a way Nova recognized.

Hmm…

“Mein apologies,” Stout suddenly barged his way back in, looking concerned and glancing back outside, “but I zink it may be best if you vere to leave immediately.”

“This about the sixteen ponies out there that are waiting for me to exit so they can ambush me?”

Stout blinked.

“Ja,” he nodded slowly.  “You know?”

“Known they were following me since I left my hotel,” Nova shrugged.  “Close up after I’m gone.”

“Stick to ze busy roads,” Stout cautioned as Nova started trotting toward the door, not the least bit concerned about what was about to happen to him.  “Shall I call ze guards?”

“Give it a few minutes, but yeah,” Nova nodded.  “Don’t know how much it will help, though.  Thanks for the drink, and the chat.”

“Mein pleasure,” Stout opened the door.  “Ze most populated sections of ze city are zat vay.”

“Thanks for the advice,” Nova gave him a tiny salute… and then set off in exactly the opposite direction, heading instead toward some of the still under-construction sections of the city, which got the attention of all sixteen of his followers, and Stout even seemed thoroughly non-plussed as he wandered off.

He didn’t think too much about it.

His tailers weren’t exactly subtle.  They kept their distance, sure, but they were still very much out in the open.  Nova led them along until they were in a wide-open fountain plaza he knew would eventually go on to become the “Canterhorn Heights” district of Canterlot, someplace a bit out of the way, open enough for a fight, and perfect for a night of ass-kicking.

He approached the plain marble fountain in the middle of this plain empty section.  He knew it would eventually have a nice stylized statue of Princess Celestia on it, but for now, it seemed the unicorns just wanted it built.  His followers stuck to the shadows of half-constructed buildings or empty built ones.  Poo.  It seemed he was going to have to taunt them a bit.

“Alright boys,” he called out, cracking his neck, “come on out.  It’s playtime.  I know all sixteen of you are there.”

All sixteen of them froze in their steps, and he could sense some of them shifting uneasily.  One of them, the leader by the feeling of things, stepped forward into the moonlight.

He was a burly unicorn, with mousy hair that was dark in the moonlight, and a greenish coat, but it was hard to tell exactly what color it was with the darkness around them.  He wore a few straps on his barrel that had an assortment of small weapons like knives and such, and adding to the intimidation factor were a few scars on his chin, and he was glaring at Nova Shine as he approached.

“You knew we were there,” he growled.

“The whole time,” Nova smiled sweetly at the stallion, knowing it would probably get under hjis skin.  “You’re not exactly good at the whole hiding thing.”

“Don’t need to be,” the stallion snarled.  “We’re gonna give you one chance, Nova Slime.”

Oh come on, Nova sighed in his head.  There are much better ways to insult my name.

“If you head back to your hotel now, pack your shit, and get the fuck out of our city, we won’t have to get… physical.”

As he said this, fourteen of the other fifteen stepped into view.  The only one who didn’t was the odd different one, who hung back.  They were all equally burly, all had all manner of scars and intimidating marks, and all had various colors, manes, and weapons at their disposal.  One had iron horseshoes, another had a pipe strapped across his back and another one… was that a net?

“Aww,” Nova kicked the ground in fake-disappointment.  “Here I was hoping you’d be stupid enough to try it.”

The speaker scowled.  “You can’t beat all o’ us.”

“Actually,” Nova grinned, “I can.  And I will.  But because I’m a firm believer in fair play, I’ll give you a choice instead.  Scurry on back to your master or whatever and tell him the jig is up, or do the idiot thing and make the first move against me.  Please pick option 2.”

“Scourge, a-- a thought occurs,” the stallion to his left said.  “This stallion knew we were all here, knew we were here to rough him up, and still came out here alone to an empty section of the city.  I don’t think the boss sending us after him was a good idea.”

“Please,” scoffed Scourge.  “He’s all talk.  He can’t possibly account for all of us.  He’s still just a normal scrawny little rat who needs to be exterminated.”

“Oooh, wouldn’t that be something if it were true,” Nova faux-sighed.  “Tell you what.  I’ll give you all the first shot.  See how that goes.”

There was a long pause.

“Scourge, I think this might be a trap.”

“Shut it,” Scourge growled.  “There’s sixteen of us.  We take him on together, he can’t do anything.  Now let’s go beat this punk son of a bitch!”

He charged.  And to Nova’s surprise, the others did too.  Emboldened by their leader’s courage, they all followed suit at top speed, galloping toward him with some raising their weapons.  Nova simply teleported out of the way when they all got close.  They really weren’t that bright, were they?  Did they think he would just stand there and take it?

Well… it, ah… it wasn’t going to go the way they thought.

Three quick flashes of blue light and a few well-aimed stunning beams later, and every single one of them was unconscious on the ground, except for that same different one at the back, and Scourge, who was now looking around wildly at his unconscious comrades.

“Wha-- how--?”

“Told you,” Nova’s horn shone and all of them were rounded up and tied to the fountain’s centerpiece, before he plucked the brass pipe from the ground.  “Pro tip, I’m the student of Princess Luna herself, who learned directly from Lord Star Swirl.  On a scale of One to Invading Arstrotzka in the Wintertime, your bad decision today ranks closer to the latter.”

Scourge tried to run at that.  The fool.

“No, no, wait!” he yelped as his leg was caught by a spell from Nova, who proceeded to drag him back toward the fountain to be tied with the others.  “Please!”

“No can do,” Nova tied him down but left him conscious, before hefting the pipe in his dominant hoof.  It was a bit unwieldy, but he didn’t need to swing it very hard to get the desired effect.  “This is gonna hurt, and you’re gonna have a hell of a headache when you wake up,” he warned.

“Wait!”

Nova didn’t wait.  With a quick swing, the pipe connected with a crunch, and Scourge slumped in his magical binds.  He was alive, but he was definitely not going to be feeling great when he woke up.

“Now, about you,” Nova called out to the different one.  “I can tell you’re not a normal pony, and you’re certainly too smart to be running around with these idiots, since you hung back and didn’t come after me.  So what’s your story?”

The other pony didn’t move at first, but after a long moment, he nervously stepped into the light.  He was scrawny, with a reddish coat, and a black mane and tail, and he kept his eyes fixed on the ground.

As he got closer, Nova could now properly gauge the energy radiating off this pony’s aura.  Unlike the other unicorns, this pony was constantly giving off some kind of magical energy.  Energy that, conveniently enough, seemed to be pony-shaped…

Wait…

“Are you a changeling?” Nova asked.

The stallion tensed immediately, and Nova knew he’d gotten his answer.

“Wait, I’m not gonna hurt you or anything,” Nova tried to calm him down, “I just think it’s weird that a changeling is involved with some sort of crime gang here in Unicornia.”

“I’m not,” the changeling grunted, still looking around.  “I’m… here on a mission.”

“Mission?  So am I,” Nova grinned.  “I’m bringing the guy you work for to justice for trying to drive a wedge between the Three Tribes and the Principality.”

“I don’t work for him,” the changeling said again, curtly.  “I took the place of one of his goons because we think he’s--”

He cut himself off, glancing at Nova again.  Nova noticed that at no point did his aura flare.  He seemed to be telling the truth.  Perfect reason to maybe enlist his help…?

“You think he’s what?”

“I’m not at liberty to say.”

“Okay, but the important thing is,” Nova took a seat next to him on the cold ground, “we might be able to help each other.  I don’t need to know what your mission is,” he added hastily, as the changeling gave him another wary look, “but you’re clearly in that crime group to keep an eye on things, right?”

“I’m looking for someone, and the Grey Monarch believes they have been foalnapped,” he replied cautiously.  “A crime group seemed to be an excellent place to start looking.  Beyond that, I will say no more.”

His aura did flare at that.  No, he didn’t join the crime gang as a place to start looking.  Did the crime gang know where the foalnapped individual was?  Or maybe it was the quickest way to get to them…?

“Well,” Nova held up his hooves in front of himself in an open gesture, “it seems to me that, although our goals aren’t completely in line, we both have something that the other could use.  You represent a line of communication between me and this boss--”

“I’ve never met them,” the changeling grunted.  “I had a feeling I would tonight after this mission.”

“Oh.  Well then,” Nova tried again, “we can still partner up when needed.  You will need to report back, right?”

"You are willing to immediately trust me despite the fact that I am a skin-changer and I could be lying?" the changeling asked, arching an eyebrow.

"I can sense lies," Nova shrugged.  "Makes it pretty easy to tell when ponies--"

""Creatures."

"--when creatures are being honest," he amended.  "Don't know about you changelings, and I can't make you trust me, but if you and I are both working to bring this sumbitch down, then even if you don't trust me, our work benefits each other."

"That... makes sense, I suppose," the changeling conceded, though he didn't relax in the slightest.

"So, you're supposed to report back now, right?"

“Yes,” the changeling replied carefully.

“Good.  I just need you to run back to that boss and let him know I can’t and won’t be bullied away from rooting him out.  And if you need any help from me finding this individual of yours, I do represent the Principality of Equestria.  You help me out, I help you out in any way I can.  Well, any way I can that doesn’t involve going against my nation’s best interest,” he amended.

“I can assure you,” the changeling said, with a tiny, sardonic smile, “locating this individual would be in everyone’s best interest.”

“Good!” Nova chirped.  “So… wanna help a guy out?”

The changeling sighed.  “I will deliver your requested message.  Why do you want them to know that they underestimated you?”

“Because if I have them panicking,” Nova smirked, “they might do something stupid.  Something desperate.  And that could very well be their undoing.”

“I see,” the changeling frowned.  “If they are panicking, it could very well be the perfect way to disrupt operations long enough for me to locate my target.  Perhaps… perhaps this could work.”

“Glad to hear it.  Now, if you’ll excuse me,” he stood up, “I need to get me some beauty sleep.”

“I shall contact you if I require your assistance,” the changeling promised.

“I’m Nova Shine by the way,” he added.

“I shall keep my name to myself,” the changeling grunted.  He trotted off, and after a few seconds, he was gone.

Nova waited for some time before following him.  Changelings in the city looking for someone, an entire crime organization trying to put a stop to him and drive them all apart… what was the endgame?

Nova couldn’t help but get an uneasy, prickly feeling regarding the castle a few hours later that evening as he started to slide into bed.  Almost as if something about the castle itself wasn’t right.  He’d had plenty of time to think about things now.  Tomorrow, it seemed, was going to be quite the eventful day.


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


After the previous night’s festivities, and after the odd feeling he’d had coming from the castle before he fell asleep, Nova was in a particular hurry that morning, practically dashing through half-familiar streets to make his way up to the castle.  The morning streets were mostly devoid of ponies, but he did find himself dodging the occasional early bird or street goer as he sprinted his way up to the castle.  

After a quick check of identity, he was allowed into the castle with nary a second glance, and he cantered his way toward the throne room.

Changelings in Unicornia, a conspiracy to keep the four factions from allying… it must end today.

Instead of heading into the throne room, however, Nova instead found himself staring at a line of pikeponies standing in front of the large double doors that led into the room itself, and there were a few finely dressed nobles clamoring at the entrance and shouting at a unicorn who looked to be wearing much finer armor than his compatriots.

“--is an outrage!  Princess Platinum assured me she would hear my proposal this morning!”

“Has the princess taken leave of her senses!?”

“Who put you up to this!?”

The captain wore the same set of captain’s armor that Shining Armor would wear centuries in the future, purple with gold trim and several embossments that shone in the morning sunlight.  He seemed to have a look of resignation on his face as he stood at attention, letting the crowd yell at him.  Nova couldn’t help but notice that he looked abnormally young for a captain, not much older or younger than him.  His coat was grey, and a few stray tufts of black hair stuck out under his helmet from where his mane was, and his steely-grey eyes were dutifully kept forward despite the mob.

However, as Nova Shine approached, the captain’s eyes flicked to him, his brow twitched, and he instantly broke attention.

“Are you Night Apprentice Nova Shine?” he asked curtly.

The crowd did not seem to appreciate that he ignored them but suddenly was giving Nova the time of day.

“The princess will hear about this, captain!”

“This is unacceptable!  you hear me!?”

“SHUT UP!” the captain finally roared, glaring at the crowd, who very nearly jumped out of their collective skins.  They clearly had not been expecting the captain to yell back at them.  “You four,” he glanced at four of his six fellow guards, “please escort our guests out of the castle, since it doesn’t look like they will allow us to do our jobs without any obstruction.”

The crowd were stunned into silence at that, but the four guards ponies did as asked, practically shoving them out of the hallway toward the castle entrance, leaving Nova alone with the captain and the last two.  The captain relaxed almost as soon as they were gone, tension releasing and letting out a long sigh.

“You’re Nova Shine, right?” he asked again, giving him a cautious look.  “The Night Apprentice?”

“That’s me,” Nova nodded, his cloak appearing around his shoulders as proof.  “Princess Platinum should be expecting me.”

“Take him into custody.”

Nova blinked.  Before he could do anything else, the guards had moved onto both sides of him and were busy fastening manacles to his feet.

“Wait, what?”

The captain didn’t seem to be in a particularly giving mood that day, because all he did was watch his two guards bind Nova in his place and keep their horns glowing threateningly in case he tried something.  Nova wasn’t even remotely concerned about his binds-- he could get out of those whenever he wanted--.but rather why he was being detained in the first place.

“Okay okay,” Nova shook his head and rolled his eyes.  “Does this have anything to do with the scuffle in the fountain plaza last night?”

“Scuffle in the fountain plaza?” the captain's eyebrows rose.  “You’re behind the ponies we found tied up there, too?”

“They kind of attacked me last night,” Nova shrugged, which was hard to do given his restraints.  “Ask Stout Brew at his bar.  Bunch of unicorns were tailing me, I led them into the fountain plaza, then knocked a bunch of them out.”

The captain sighed.  “Sergeant, go get a few guards on the task.”

The guard on Nova’s left saluted and trotted off, leaving him there with only one guard and the captain, who was now massaging his temples.  Nova, however, decided he didn’t really fancy spending the whole day in manacles, so with a quick flash of his horn, the manacles fell off and he stepped out of them, kicking them away.

“Hate those things,” he commented, even as the captain and other guard both started protesting.  However, he simply let out a sigh of his own, and with a quick burst of light, both of them were rendered mute, something that probably wasn’t helping the situation, but he wasn’t in the mood.

“One at a time,” he admonished, as though he were talking to two screaming kids, and then he let go of the muting spell on the captain.  “Okay, captain, since you clearly didn’t know about the fountain scuffle, I’d like to know what it is you stuck me in manacles for.”

“Where were you last night?” he demanded, stepping right up to Nova and giving him a challenging look.  “Foreign dignitary or not, any crimes committed in our borders can and will be punished according to our law, and you happen to be a pony of interest.”

“Yeah, and I don’t even know what for!” Nova replied, staring the captain down while the other guard just stood there helplessly.  “So unless you tell me exactly why you thought it was a good idea to stick me in chains the moment you knew who I was, I’m walking out of here and heading back to the Princesses to let them know just how hospitable you’ve been.”

He and the captain stared at each other for a long moment, challenging each other with stares alone.  Grey eyes bored into blue, but blue eyes just stared coolly right back.

Finally, the captain obliged.

“Very well, Night Apprentice,” he said, his voice scathing.  “If you must know, we’re taking you into custody for the same reason we’re not letting anyone into the throne room today.  Unfortunately, it would seem you’re a pony of interest in an urgent incident that’s swept over the castle this morning.”

Oh don’t tell me…

“What sort of incident?” Nova asked, feeling as though he already knew the answer.

The captain frowned.  “Princess Platinum has gone missing, and unfortunately, you’re a prime suspect.”