Rarity The Flutterpony
“Starburst! Where are you?!” Nova was running through Ponyville looking for his brother. “STARBURST!” He came to the center of town and saw his little brother in a cage with chains on him weeping. Nova ran up to him. “Starburst, are you-“ Before he could finish, a cry rang out.
“GET HIM!” A horde of ponies leapt at him and within seconds had him in chains. The ponies threw him in the cage with his little brother.
“NO, please don’t do this, we just wanted a home!” Nova cried through the bars as he gripped them. He looked around frantically for something or some pony to help. “GIRLS, please help me!” His eyes fell upon the six girls he had come to call friend standing just behind Princess Celestia as she glared at him.
Applejack was looking at him and his brother with worry, Twilight had a sad frown on her face with a few tears coming out. “Twilight, please help us!” Nova cried desperately. Twilight simply closed her eyes and looked away while the others just glared at him. The princess raised a hoof and pointed away, the ponies that captured him picked the cage up and carried them away. “Twilight, Applejack, PLEASE HELP US!” They all just turned and left.
The ponies carried the cage to a swamp that seemed all too familiar to Nova. “Oh no, not froggy bottom bog.” The ponies set the cage down.
“Nova, what are they going to do to us?” Starburst asked sadly.
The cage opened and the ponies yanked Starburst out. Nova tried to reach for him but some of the ponies had spears and kept him back. “NO, NOT MY BROTHER, PLEASE!”
“Nova, help me!” Starburst cried as he was yanked out. Nova watched helplessly as they tossed Starburst to the edge of the water. Four long necks with heads emerged from the water.
The ponies stood back and watched. “NO, PLEASE DON’T DO THIS, I BEG YOU!”
The four heads licked their lips. One lunged down and gobbled Starburst up. “STARBURST, NO!” Nova cried as tears fell.
“Your next alien.” One of the ponies said. They dragged him out next and tossed him in front of the hydra.
Nova looked up at the beast in fear. “No, NO!” One of the heads reached down and grabbed Nova with their teeth, tossed him up, and swallowed him whole. “NOOOOOOOOOO!” Nova cried as he fell into darkness.
“NO!” Nova sat up in bed as his eyes shot open, he was panting heavily and sweating. “A nightmare, just a nightmare.” He looked down and closed his eyes as he placed his hooves over his face. He looked over to his brother’s bed and saw he was still asleep, Starburst was currently facing Nova, but turned over and now had his back facing him.
Nova quietly got out of bed and left the room. He used his magic to put up his pony disguise and went outside. It was the middle of the night, a half-moon decorated the night sky as the stars shined. A light breeze was blowing as it rustled the leaves of the nearby trees. Nova just sat there and gazed up at the stars. “Mom, dad, I wish you were here with us, I don’t know what to do. I’m afraid if we’re discovered, we’ll have to leave and go back to the loneliness of space. But I don’t like lying to my new friends. What am I supposed to do?”
“Nova?” Twilight’s voice called out to him.
Nova turned to face the source and saw Twilight walking up to him. “Oh, hey Twilight.”
“What are you doing up so late?”
Nova looked back to the stars. “I could ask you the same thing.”
Twilight smiled a little. “I was doing some late night studying when I happen to look out my window and saw you out here.” Her smile faded. “Is something wrong?”
“I couldn’t sleep, I had a bad nightmare is all.”
Twilight came up next to him and sat down too. “Do you want to talk about it, Nightmares are a manifestation of fears, if you had a nightmare, then something you’re afraid of is coming out in nightmares. It helps to talk about it.”
Nova lowered his head. “It’s just a nightmare, nothing to be concerned about.”
Twilight put a hoof on Nova’s shoulder. “Nova, I wish you would be more open with me, we are friends after all, if something is bothering you, you can tell me.” She gave a smile when she finished.
Nova looked back at her. “I wish I could Twilight, believe me, I really do, but……” He looked away and closed his eyes. Twilight saw a single tear run down his cheek.
“Nova, why can’t you tell me, does it have to do with this secret your keeping? Why can’t you tell me what it is?”
“I……I’m scared Twilight, I don’t know what to do. I want to tell you, to tell all my friends, but…..I’m afraid if I do, I…..I won’t be able to stay.” Nova seemed like he was on the verge of tears.
Twilight embraced Nova in a hug. “Why Nova, we won’t care about your past if that’s what it is.”
Nova hugged back. “It’s not my past Twilight, it’s………something else…..something that if it got out, could ruin us, me and my brother, we might not be able to have a normal life if it got out.”
Twilight broke the embrace and looked Nova in the eyes. “Nova, whatever it is, me and the others will stick by you, you’re our friend. We won’t think any differently of you if you told us.” She gave another sweet smile.
Nova smiled back. It soon faded again. “Twilight, I……”
“Yes?”
“I…….I’m sorry but I just can’t tell you……at least not yet. Every day we grow closer as friends, and every day I do feel more confident that I can tell you, but I’m just not there yet. I promise, one day I will tell you, just not yet. So please try to be patient.”
Twilight gave a sigh. “*Sigh* All right, I can wait, you can tell me and the others when you’re ready, just know that no matter what, we’ll always be friends.”
Nova smiled again. “Thanks Twilight.”
“Now why don’t you go to bed and get some sleep, it’s pretty late.”
“Yeah, you too, I’m looking forward to our date tomorrow night.” Twilight then walked off back to her home. Nova made his way back inside, dropped his disguise, climbed in bed and went back to sleep.
The next morning:
Last night left a lot for Nova to think about, but for now, he had other things to focus on. It was a Saturday and Starburst had the day off from school so Nova had taken Starburst to a field for something special. “Ok Starburst, today is the day we pick up on your magic training. I’m sorry I was neglectful on it before, but things have been rather hectic.”
Starburst responded with a smile. “It’s ok Nova, I understand.”
“I’m glad, that’s why starting today, we’re going to start it up again, and to start it off, I’ll be teaching you a fun one that I know you’ll like.”
Starburst smiled even bigger if that was possible. “Really, what is it, what is it?” He asked as he hopped up and down.
Nova gave a smirk. “Today, I’m going to teach you my flying spell.”
“YAHOO! ALL RIGHT!” Starburst cheered. “So that means I’ll be able to fly like you when you use it?”
“Yep, it’s simple enough and I think you can handle it with your level. Now, the spell is simple and will also come with the added effect of being able to walk on clouds.”
“Cool!”
“All right, now just close your eyes, focus your magic, and concentrate on what you want to happen, think insect wings, think flight.”
“Got it.” Starburst gave a nod. He closed his eyes and focused his magic. He grunted a little as he did and focused on the task at hoof. Within moments, a flash occurred on Starburst’s back.
“All right Starburst, you did it, way to go little bro!”
Starburst looked at his back and saw he managed to zap up a pair of insect like wings on his back. “STELLAR, I DID IT NOVA!”
“You sure did, now we need to cover flying with them. First, you need to get a feel for them, so I want you to-“
“LOUDER!”
“What the cosmos was that?” Nova asked after he was cut off by a shout.
“That sounded like Rainbow Dash.” Starburst pointed out. “Should we see what’s going on?”
“Good idea, go ahead and dismiss your wings Starburst, we’ll pick this up later.”
“Ok.” Starburst answered dissapointedly. He then focused his magic and managed to zap away his wings.
The two walked on to the source of the shout. It didn’t take them long to see Fluttershy in front of Rainbow Dash. They saw her take a deep breath like she was about to shout. “yay.” She just let out a quiet cheer. Rainbow Dash facehooved and fell over.
The two brothers walked over as Nova greeted. “Um, hey you two, what’s going on?”
Fluttershy greeted first. “Oh, hello Nova, hello Starburst, Rainbow Dash is teaching me how to cheer.”
“Why, it’s simple enough.” Starburst replied. “You just shout with all you’re might, like this. YAHHOOO, WOOOO, GO!” Starburst yelled out cheerfully.
Rainbow Dash finally picked herself up. “Now that’s how you cheer. You really need to take notes Fluttershy, that little guy really knows how to cheer.” Rainbow said as she pointed to Starburst.
Starburst smiled and seemed to squee with delight from the praises. “So Rainbow Dash, why are you teaching Fluttershy how to cheer?” Nova asked.
“I need some pony to cheer me on at the Cloudsdale best young flyers competition.”
“The what now?”
Fluttershy informed. “It’s a competition Cloudsdale holds every year wear pegasai compete to try and win first place with their flying abilities.”
Starburst perked up at this. “That sounds cool, I’ll bet some of em’ are all…” Starburst quickly zapped up his little wings and started zipping around Nova’s head, causing his eyes to spin around in his head. “Zoom, zoom zoom zoom.” Starburst said as he flew.
Nova managed to snatch Starburst by the tail during one of his passes. Starubrst just helplessy buzzed in place. “Starburst, knock it off, you’re gonna make me dizzy, but I gotta say, I’m impressed how quickly you were able to use your wings like that.”
The two let their jaws drop as they saw Starburst buzzing around. “Did…..did your little brother just zap up a pair of wings and fly?” Rainbow asked.
Nova gave a smile as he released Starburst who landed next to Nova and dismissed his wings. “Yep, I taught him my flying spell.”
“That….is……AWESOME! You two can use your magic to make wings to fly?”
“Oh my goodness.” Fluttershy commented.
“Well, yes.” Nova simply answered.
“This is so cool, that means you two can be part of my cheering section, wait…..does this spell let you walk on clouds?”
“It does.”
“Great, so what do you say, will you come to Cloudsdale with me and cheer me on?”
“Can we go Nova, please please PLEASE, it sounds like it would be loads of fun.” Nova pleaded.
Nova rolled his eyes at his little brother. “All right, we’ll come with you to Cloudsdale and cheer you on Dash.”
To Nova’s surprise, Rainbow hugged him. “Thank you, thank you, thank you.” She broke the embrace. “But before we get going, I want to get in some practice before we leave, you’ll get to get a sample of what I have planned for my routine. Just sit back and enjoy the show.” Rainbow Dash then took to the air to begin her routine, she first landed on a cloud to start from.
Fluttershy cheered quietly. “yay.”
Nova gave a louder one. “You can do it Dash!”
Starburst cheered too. “GO RAINBOW DASH!”
Rainbow dove off the cloud and allowed herself to fall a bit before pulling up and started weaving through a series of trees that were lined up. After she successfully weaved through them, Fluttershy gave another cheer as Dash flew by. “woo.”
“Nice moves Dash!” Nova called out.
“Go Dash, Go!” Starburst cheered.
The next thing Rainbow did, she flew up to a few clouds and started flying around one to make it spin, she did the same with two others. Fluttershy’s eyes were rolling around in her head trying to keep up but gave another cheer. “way to go.”
“All right Rainbow Dash!” Nova cheered again.
Starburst followed. “Nice one Rainbow!”
Rainbow Dash then flew up higher into the sky, did a few loop de loops, then started barreling down at incredible speed. Nova was surprised by this. “No way, is she trying to break the sound barrier?”
Starburst looked up at Nova. “What’s a sound barrier?”
“It’s a term used for the limit of how fast sound can go, if you manage to go faster than that, you can make what is called a sonic boom. You may want to cover your ears Starburst.” The two did just that as they saw a cone form around Dash, she was picking up speed and the cone narrowed, she was almost there…..but then the unthinkable happened, Rainbow stopped in mid-air and was bounced back. “Oh no, DASH!” They watched her get flung back. “Come on, we better see if she’s ok.” Nova lead Starburst and Fluttershy to the direction Dash was heading.
They followed Dash’s trajectory to Twilight’s library. Fluttershy flew into the window while Nova and Starburst came in through the front door. The sight that greeted them was a mess of books all over the floor and the other girls lying on the ground. “Rainbow Dash, you rock, woo hoo.” Fluttershy cheered quietly. She then got a good look at the mess. “Did my cheering do that?”
Rainbow picked herself up and gave an apologetic smile to the girls. “heheh, sorry about that ladies.” Rainbow then narrowed her eyes. “that was a truly feeble performance.”
Fluttershy landed in front of Dash. “Actually, it wasn’t all bad, I particularly liked the part where you made the clouds spin.”
“I’m not talking about my performance, I’m talking about yours, that feeble cheering.” Dash said as she pointed a hoof at Fluttershy.
Nova came forward. “Now Dash, don’t you think you’re being a little hard there, you know how Fluttershy is, she was cheering her best.”
Twilight cut in. “What are you two arguing about?”
Fluttershy got a little worried. “Oh, were we arguing, I’m sorry.”
Dash then turned back to face the girls. “I wish you guys could come to Cloudsdale to see me compete in the best young flyers competition.”
“What’s that?” Twilight asked.
Pinkie got excited as she answered. “It’s where all the best Pegasus flyers get together and show off their different flying styles. Some are fast.” Pinkie started zipping around the room like it was a race track. “And some are graceful.” Pinkie tried to demonstrate it but was having trouble keeping her balance and fell over.
“Golly, I’d love to see you strut your stuff in that competition.” Applejack commented.
Rainbow agreed. “Yeah, I wish you guys could be there, Fluttershy is a great support, but her cheering isn’t exactly inspirational. At least Nova and Starburst are coming.”
This got their attention. “WHAT?” They all asked in unison. Twilight then came in on her own. “How are you two going to Cloudsdale?”
Nova began to explain. “My flying spell, remember, I just taught it to Starburst and he picked up on it quick, he’s getting good with his magic.”
Starburst smiled. “Yeah, watch this.” Starburst then zapped in his wings and hovered up a bit. “Cool huh.” Then to demonstrate further, he started zipping around the room. “WOO HOO, this is fun!”
Nova managed to grab Starburst by the tail again. “Take it easy Starburst, I don’t want you running into anything.” The girls, exception being Dash and Fluttershy, had their jaws on the floor.
Pinkie was the first to shake off her disbelief as she remembered how Nova had saved her that one time. “Wow, cool, now Starburst can fly just like you.”
Twilight soon recovered. “Nova, that’s incredible. I can’t believe Starburst is able to pull that off, he must be really strong with magic.”
“Like I said, I’ve been teaching him all his life.”
Pinkie then interrupted with a thought. “I wish I could go to the competition, I’d love to see Dash do a sonic rainboom. It’s like the most coolest thing ever, even though I’ve never seen it but I mean come on, it’s a sonic rainboom. How not cool could it possibly not be?”
This got Twilight’s attention and distracted her from the discussion of Nova and Starburst. “What’s a sonic rainboom?”
“That’s what I’d like to know.” Nova stated.
“You two really need to get out more.” Pinkie then started to explain. “A sonic rainboom is legendary. When a Pegasus like Rainbow Dash gets going so fast.” Pinkie then jumped up and dove into the books. “BOOM, a sonic boom and a rainbow happen all at once.”
“And Rainbow Dash here is the only pony to pull it off.” Applejack pointed out.
Rainbow gave a smile. “It was a long time ago, I was just a filly.”
“I’ve never heard of something like that before, how can a sonic boom and a rainbow happen all at once from breaking the sound barrier?” Nova mused to himself.
“Yeah, but you’re going to do it again right?” Pinkie asked.
Nova could sense the nervousness in Dash as she answered. “Are you kidding, I’m the greatest flyer to ever come out of Cloudsdale. I could do sonic rainbooms in my sleep.”
Twilight came up to Dash. “Wow, if you pull that off, you’ll win the crown for sure.”
Rainbow perked up a bit. “The grand prize is an entire day with the wonderbolts. A whole day of flying with my lifelong heroes, it’ll be a dream come true.”
“yay.” Fluttershy cheered happily.
Dash just looked at her. “I’m gonna go rest up, don’t want to over prepare myself.” Dash then went over to Fluttershy. “You on the other hand, had better keep practicing. I need a cheering section to match my spectacular performance. Nova, Starburst, I’ll see you two later, we’ll meet up at my place in two hours so I can lead you to Cloudsdale.” Rainbow Dash then flew out the window.
Nova then said his goodbyes as well. “I’ll see you girls later, I still need to teach Starburst a few more things about his wings before we go with Dash to Cloudsdale. Come on Starburst.” Nova and Starburst then left for home.
A few hours later, Nova and Starburst were flying through the air with Dash and Fluttershy as their wings buzzed. Starburst was having fun as he did little loop de loops and barrel rolls. “WOO HOO, this is cosmic!” Starburst cheered.
Nova was glad to see Starburst having fun, but was a little worried as well. “Starburst, take it easy, you’re still new to this and I don’t want you falling.”
“Oh lighten up Nova, if I do fall, you’ll catch me, or Dash will.” The two came up closer to Dash and Fluttershy.
“Just remember Starburst, keep your wings on while we’re in Cloudsdale so we can walk on the clouds.”
Rainbow started on Fluttershy. “You’ve got to learn to be assertive Fluttershy. Don’t be afraid to speak up.” A few clouds parted as they got closer to Cloudsdale.
“Whoa.” Starburst said as he lay his eyes on the city of clouds.
“Rainbow, is this Cloudsdale?” Nova asked.
“Yep, it’s home to most Pegasus ponies.” Dash said with pride.
“I’ve never seen a place like this before, it’s amazing.”
“I’ll say.” Starburst agreed.
The four ponies soon came to a landing and were greeted by three other Pegasus ponies wearing white coats and helmets. “Well well well, what do we have here?” The one that greeted them had a dark brown almost black coat with an off white mane and tail and a silver dumbbell for a cutie mark.
The other had a yellow coat with a brown mane and tail with three basket balls for a cutie mark. “It’s our old friend, Rainbow Crash.”
The third one had a grey cot with a black mane and tail and three footballs for a cutie mark.
Nova was already getting a bad vibe from these three, and he didn’t like it.
“Get kicked out of any flight schools lately?” The first remarked which sent the others laughing.
“I didn’t get kicked out.” Rainbow retorted.
The first one then came up to her and continued taunting her. “Face it Rainbow Crash, flight school had too many rules, and not enough nap times for you.”
The second then got on her other side. “Huh, ask her about the sonic rainboom.”
“That’s nothing but an old mare’s tale. You don’t have the skills to try something like that.”
“Now wait just a minute.” All eyes fell on Fluttershy. She looked determined, but that quickly fell when she realized she was the center of attention. “Oh, I’m sorry, I’m trying to be more assertive.” She regained her determination as she continued. “Anyhow, she IS going to do a sonic rainboom.”
The first one stood firm. “No she’s not cause there’s no such thing.”
Starburst decided to get in. “How do you now meat head?”
Nova looked down at Starburst worriedly and saw a glare on his face as he looked at the bullies. The bullies narrowed their eyes on Starburst and moved in. “What did you call me shrimp?” The first said.
“I called you a meat head, what’s the matter, you too stupid to know when someone is calling you stupid”
Nova was about to say something to his little brother, but the stallion he insulted gritted his teeth. “You’re going to regret that you little pest.” He raised a hoof like he was about to strike, but nova used his magic to stop the stallion. “HEY, what’s going on?”
Nova got in front of his little brother and looked at the stallion in the eye. “Back off now.” Nova released his hold on the stallion’s leg.
“One side buddy, this little punk needs to learn some manners.”
“I’d say you’re the one who needs to learn some manners, you’re acting like little foals picking on others like bullies, and the fact that you were about to strike a young pony? I cannot believe it.”
“Listen pal….”
“No, you listen, that little pony is my little brother, and Rainbow Dash is my friend, if you dare raise a hoof to my little brother again or continue to make fun of Dash, then I swear by the cosmos I will make you regret it, so I suggest you pack up your toys and run on home to mommy, or else.” Nova lit up his horn as a warning.
The stallions got the message and just flew off. Nova gave a snort once they were gone. “Wow Nova, that was cosmic, you sure showed them.” Starburst cheered as he came up to Nova.
“Thanks Starburst, but next time, please be careful what you say around others like that.” The two walked over to Dash.
Rainbow gave Nova a smile. “Thanks for standing up for me against those guys Nova, but.” She gave a sigh as her smile faded. “*Sigh* Those guys are right.” She said sadly. “I’ll never be able to do it.”
Fluttershy tried to cheer her up. “But Rainbow Dash, just because you failed the sonic rainboom a hundred thousand times before during practice doesn’t mean you won’t be able to do it in front of an entire stadium full of impatient, super critical sports fan ponies.”
“YAAAHHHHHH!” Rainbow Dash started freaking out.
“Fluttershy, I’m sorry, but that wasn’t very helpful.” Nova informed.
Rainbow went off on a rant. “What do I do, every pony is going to see me fail, the wonderbolts will never let a loser like me join, princess Celestia will probably banish me to the Everfree forest, MY LIFE IS RUINED!”
Nova came up to Rainbow Dash and put a hoof on her shoulder. “Rainbow Dash calm down, your letting yourself get worked up over nothing, you can do this.”
“Are you kidding, I’m going to fail and my whole life will be ruined!”
Nova looked her in the eyes. “Rainbow Dash, listen to me, you....can….do this, you’re an amazing flyer, don’t let those jerks get in your head, you can do this.”
“Rare?” Fluttershy said as she seemed to stare at something with her jaw open.
Rainbow turned to her. “Rare, the sonic rainboom is way more than rare.”
Starburst pointed out what she was seeing. “Look, you guys, it’s Rarity.”
Nova and Rainbow turned around and saw that Rarity was hovering before them with what looked like a pair of butterfly wings with prismatic colors. Rainbow was the first to comment. “Rarity, are you……flying?”
“I most certainly am.” She responded with a smile. “Aren’t my wings smashing? Twilight made them for me, I just adore them.”
Fluttershy and Rainbow were the only ones who were speechless. Nova was the one to speak. “Wow, I didn’t know Twilight had a flying spell too.”
Starburst then chimed in. “Wow Rarity, your wings are pretty.”
Rarity responded. “Well thank you dear, after all, we couldn’t leave our favorite flyer without a big cheering section.”
“We?” Rainbow asked. Rarity motioned behind her and a large pink hot air balloon rose up from the clouds. The other girls were seen riding in it. Rainbow was stunned. “I….I can’t believe it.” She said with a smile.
“It’s incredible.” Flutterhshy commented.
Nova smiled. “Well I’ll be.”
Rainbow continued. “This is so cool, you guys made it.”
“Sure did.” Pinkie replied as she hopped out of thebasket.
“WAIT!” Rainbow cried as Pinkie jumped out. Pinkie just landed on the cloud and was standing on it. Applejack and Twilight then hopped out too and were all standing on the cloud. “How did you do that, only Pegasus ponies can walk on clouds, except for Nova and Starburst with their wings.”
“Pretty cool huh?” Pinkie asked as she cartwheeled past the four.
Twilight started to explain. “I found a spell that makes temporary wings, but it was too difficult to do more than once, so I found an easier spell that lets the rest of us walk on clouds.”
“And we came to cheer you to victory.” Applejack chimed in.
Nova gave a sheepish smile as he rubbed the back of his head. “Oops, uh, heh heh, um, sorry I didn’t stick around longer when you thought this up girls, I could have given you all wings like me and Starburst.”
Twilight just smiled at him. “It’s fine Nova, no need to apologize.”
Starburst then cut in. “Yeah, what matters is that we’re all together now to cheer Rainbow Dash on in the contest, which she is going to win hoofs down.” He ran up to dash and hugged her foreleg.
Dash looked down at him with a smile and ruffled his mane playfully. “Thanks squirt.” She then looked back to the others. “To be honest, I was starting to get the teeniest tiniest bit nervous. But I feel a lot better now that you’re all here.” Rainbow then got an idea. “Hey, there’s still some time before the competition, why don’t Fluttershy and I show you all around Cloudsdale.”
The girls cheered at this, even Starburst like the idea. “All right, I’d love to look around this place.” He decided to make use of his wings as he hovered up and stayed next to Nova as he walked with the others.
“I think that sounds like a good idea too.” Nova agreed.
The group walked up a cloud hill and got a great view of the area. “Here it is, the greatest city in the sky?”
Rainbow Dash announced. The girls ooed at the view as Pegasus ponies flew by.
Starburst then had a thought. “So does that mean there are other cities in the sky like this one?”
Dash looked down at Starburst to answer. “There is one other city called Las Pegasus, but it’s nowhere near as great as this place.”
“Oooh, aaahhh.” Rarity cooed as she was admiring herself in a mirror.
Nova just rolled his eyes at her. He went over to her to get her attention. “Come on Rarity, let’s go.”
Nova succeeded in getting her attention as the others walked by.
Rainbow Dash continued. “Some of the greatest pegasai in History came from Cloudsdale.”
Rarity was flying along and passed by three stallions working on a cloud structure, one of them had a jack hammer. They stopped their work when they saw Rarity fly by, the one with the jack hammer lost his grip and it bounced away and over the edge of the cloud. “Those wings are gorgeous.” One of them commented.
“Why thank you.” Rarity responded with a smile. She flew down and did a little loop de loop over the others heads.
“Be careful with those wings Rarity, they’re made from gossamer and morning dew, and they’re incredibly delicate.” Twilight informed.
“Don’t worry Twilight, I’m sure they can’t get worn out from too much attention.” Rarity responded.
“I don’t think I like where this is going.” Nova said to himself. He knew that Rarity can be a little vain sometimes, and now that she has these beautiful wings, she seemed to be acting a bit more vain than usual.
Applejack made a suggestion. “Since we’re up here, I’d sure like to see where the weather is made.”
“Great idea, come on guys, to the weather factory.” Rainbow agreed.
“This should be interesting.” Nova mused. “Don’t you think Starburst?”
“Yeah, I am curious about all that.” Starburst was smiling big.
Starbursts enthusiasm soon fell and he landed next to his brother once they neared it, there were a few thunder clouds nearby shooting off lightning. “Um, then again, maybe not.”
Nova looked down at Starburst and saw him shiver a little. “Hey Dash, hold up a sec.” He called to Dash, the girls all stopped and turned around.
“What’s up Nova?” Dash asked as she trotted up to him.
“We’re not going to learn about the lighting and stuff from the storm clouds are we?” Nova gestured his head down to Starburst.
Rianbow looked down at the little guy. “Awe, don’t worry, we can skip that part, we’ll stick to the fun stuff, come on, it’ll be fine.” Dash gave Starburst a reassuring smile.
Starburst returned the smile and the group continued on.
Before entering a building, they all dawned white coats and helmets. Rainbow led them to a room and started whispering. “This is where they make the snowflakes, each one is hoof made, as you can see, it’s a delicate operation.”
Starburst perked up at this. “Wow, so this is where the snow comes from.” He said while keeping his voice low so as not to disturb the ponies working.
Rarity flew up to a few snowflakes hanging from the ceiling. “Ooh, the snowflakes look even better from up here.” Her wings started causing a gust of wind that blew the flakes all over the place. The ponies working there started rushing around to try and save the snow.
“We’d better move on before Rarity ruins winter and causes a drought.” Rainbow informed.
The next area they came too left Starburst in wonder. Rarity had fallen behind somewhere as she wasn’t with the group. “And here is where they make the rainbows.” Dash informed.
“Wow, this is cosmic, I didn’t know rainbow’s started as a liquid.” Starburst exclaimed.
The girls, except Applejack, looked at Starburst with a bit of confusion for his word choice.
Nova tried to fix the situation. “It’s just something he likes to say when he gets real excited about something.”
Applejack cut in to help. “You know youngins, they always like to come up with new words.” The girls just shrugged it off.
“I wonder what they taste like.” Pinkie mused. She dipped her hoof in the liquid rainbow and gave it a lick. Her face shifted through all the colors of the rainbow before settling back on her original color. “Spicyyyyyyy!” Pinkie said with a rasp and ran off. The girls and Starburst, except for Fluttershy, laughed.
Nova tried to hide a laugh and just smiled.
“Yeah, Rainbow’s aren’t really known for their flavor.” Rainbow informed.
“Whoa, where’d you get those amazing wings, I want a pair.” The three bullies from before were following Rarity as she flew ahead of them. The stallion with the bumbell for a cutie mark was the one that spoke.
Rarity agreed with the statement. “Hmm, yeah, I guess I could see that.”
She eventually came up to the others. “Oh great, those three again.” Nova mused.
“What’s Rarity doing with those three jerks?” Starburst asked.
The first bully noticed Rainbow. “Oh look, it’s Rainbow Crash again.”
The second chimed in. “Yeah, Rainbow…um….Crash.”
Rainbow got upset. “Rarity, what are you doing talking to these guys?”
Rarity answered. “Oh, they were just admiring my wings Rainbow Dash.”
The first bully started up. “Yeah, you should just forge the sonic rainboom and get yourself some wings like these.”
Nova stepped forward. “HEY, didn’t I warn you three to leave Dash alone, or do you need another reminder?” Nova walked past the girls as they watched him. Nova walked up and stopped in front of them. “Like I said, I don’t appreciate others making fun of my friends, so you better keep your trap shut and get lost.” Nova glared at them with such intensity.
The three knew that they had him outnumbered, but he was a unicorn, and the way he was glaring at them made them cringe. “Uh, you know what, never mind, we’ll just get going.” The three then flew off.
Nova then turned and looked up at Rarity. “Rarity, would you mind telling me WHY you were hanging out with those three knuckle heads, they were making fun of Dash before you all showed up.”
Rarity just brushed it aside. “Like I said, they were just admiring my wings.”
Nova just sighed in annoyance. He looked over and saw Dash look sullen. Fluttershy made a suggestion. “Come on girls, let’s go see how clouds are made.”
Nova had Applejack with him in the back of the group. “Applejack, thanks for helping me back there with Starburst’s talk, I really need to inform him to be more careful about that.”
Applejack smiled. “No problem partner, but what is with all this talk about stars and galaxies and cosmos and such?”
“My kind worship the stars and universe, it is the home for all life, it is all existence, so when we do so, we are praising existence and giving it our thanks for letting us exist, or sometimes, we use it to hope for the best when bad things happen. We believe in a higher power, an all-powerful being that is responsible for all creation that watches over us, much like your princess Celestia and Luna watches over you.”
“Golly, I never thought there could be a higher power than Celestia.”
“Everything came from somewhere Applejack, my kind just believe that it was a being with the power of creation that made the universe, so we worship it and give it our thanks for it. We know this being as the great goddess Galea.”
Fluttershy was heard trying to comfort Dash. “Don’t listen to them, you’re going to win that competition for sure.”
Rainbow Dash was still feeling down. “Are you kidding, I can’t do the sonic rainboom, and just look at these plain old boring feathered wings, I’m doomed.”
Nova came up next to Rainbow with Starburst hovering along. “Dash, listen to me, you are not doomed, don’t let those three get to you, you’re an amazing flyer.”
“No I’m not, I’m totally going to blow it at the competition.”
Nova then got in front of Dash and stopped her. “Dash, look at me, don’t listen to what others say, listen to me. I’ve seen you flying and you are amazing, you have the talent, you just need to start believing in yourself and don’t listen to what others say if they’re trying to put you down. If you keep thinking like this, then you’re only going to psych yourself out and will blow it for sure. Just believe in yourself.”
Starburst chimed in. “Yeah, what he said, I know you can do it, your amazing.”
Dash let out a weak smile. “Thanks you two, your right, I do need to believe in myself, come on, let’s keep going.”
Dash and Fluttershy lead them to the cloud factory next. As soon as they entered, every worker there turned their attention to Rarity as she just soaked up the attention. Rainbow Dash was starting to look unnerved by this. “What, these old things?” Rarity said as she showed off her wings. “Go ahead everypony, photos are encouraged.”
Applejack, Fluttershy, Twilight, Nova, and Starburst just glared at her. They then looked to Rainbow and saw her looking worried. Twilight walked over to Rarity. “Rarity, we’re supposed to be helping Rainbow Dash relax, remember? Put your wings away and stop showing off.”
Rarity just fluttered up a little higher. “Oh, how can you ask me to put away perfection?” She managed to fly up to a point where the sun was right behind her and her wings ended up changing the colors of the light that shone through her wings and beamed them down on the ponies. They all gawked in amazement. Rarity noticed this and laughed. “Wah HA HA!”
Rainbow Dash was now on the floor shivering with fear. Twilight and Nova saw this and came up to her. Twilight tried to talk to her. “Rainbow Dash, are you ok? You don’t look so good.”
Rainbow answered nervously. “Of course, why wouldn’t I be Ok, everybody is so in love with Rarity’s wings that they won’t even notice when I totally BLOW IT in the best young flyers competition.”
One of the mare workers spoke up. “Hey, there’s an idea, YOU should enter the competition.”
Another elderly mare worker then came in. “Yeah, I could watch you fly all day long.”
Rarity seemed to like this idea. “There really isn’t any pony who uses their wings quit like me, perhaps I should compete.”
“WHAT?” Rainbow shouted as she stood up. Nova narrowed his eyes at Rarity as she flew off. “What am I going to do, I’ll never win the competition now.”
Nova decided to talk with Rarity. “Girls, excuse me for a moment, I need to have a chat with Rarity, Starburst, you stay here with the others ok?”
Starburst answered with a sad smile, he was feeling bad for Dash. “Ok.”
Nova flew off after Rarity. “Rarity, we need to talk.” He called once they were away from others.
Rarity turned to face him. “Yes Nova, what is it?”
“Rarity, what are you doing?”
“What do you mean dear, I simply decided to enter the competition so others can admire my beauty.”
“Have you forgotten the whole reason we all came here, we’re supposed to be here to support Dash and cheer her on, but instead you’re showing off like some prissy pony and making Dash even more nervous. You need to forget about entering the contest and start being a friend to Dash.”
“Pft, I am a friend to Dash, she’s just fine.”
“NO she isn’t!” Nova narrowed his eyes. “Because of you, she’s an even more nervous wreck than before with all this showing off your doing, if you go through with this, you’ll only prove what kind of friend you are, and it won’t be a good one. I suggest you consider what is more important here. Being a good friend, or showing off for a bunch of total strangers.”
Rarity seemed to look a little regretful. “Well, I suppose I could just not try hard to win.”
“YOUR MISSING THE……Guh, forget it, if you want to go through with this, FINE, but you may end up losing a friend or two if you do.” Nova then flew off back to the others.
Upon his return, Twilight addressed him. “Any luck with Rarity?”
“I might as well have been talking to a brick wall, she’s still set on entering this thing.” Nova then turned to Dash and put a hoof on her shoulder. “Dash, come on, don’t let this rattle you, like I said, you just need to believe in yourself, do that and you can accomplish anything. Trust me, you are going to win this no sweat.”
“I…..I don’t know.” Dash looked to the side.
“Dash, look at me.” Rainbow turned back. “You. Can. DO. This. Just believe in yourself.” Dash gave a smile at Nova, Nova smiled back.
“Thanks Nova, you’re a great friend.” The group then left for the collosieum where the contest was to be held.
The ponies were now gathered at the collosieum and Pinkie had managed to find herself a giant foam finger with #1 on it. Starburst was next to Nova, who was next to Applejack, she was next to Pinkie, to fluttershy, finally Twilight. Pinkie was waving the finger around joyfully. Nova heard laughing under the cloud they were sitting on and saw the three bullies from before. He narrowed his eyes at them. “HEY!” He called to them, they turned and looked up to face him. “You three better not be laughing at who I think you’re laughing at.”
They cringed a little. “No, of course not.” The lead bully said.
Nova sat back on his seat and left it at that. The girls saw this, they weren’t sure what to make of it since they weren’t there when Dash was being teased by them. Applehack asked first. “Nova, what’s your problem with them?”
“My problem is that those three are a bunch of immature bullies, they were picking on Dash before you all showed up, you heard what they called her in the factory where they made the rainbows. I just don’t like others picking on my friends.”
This earned him a smile from them.
The announcer for the performance took center stage as he began his announcement. “Fillies and gentlecolts, please rise and join me in welcoming our beloved princess Celestia!” Celestia and two of her gaurds came floating down and took a seat in a large setting for her.
“Princess….Celestia.” Nova said quietly. “Oh no.” Nova started shaking nervously and sweating. Starburst slid up closer to his brothers side to try and hide himself from her view even though she wasn’t looking in their direction.
Applejack noticed this and spoke. “Nova, you gonna be all right sugar cube?” She remembered how he got so scared whenever the princess was around.
Before he could answer, the announcer continued. “Please welcome our celebrity judges for the best young flyers competition, THE WONDERBOLTS!” Six pegasai in blue flight suits flew overhead with a trail of smoke and lighting, they lined up sideways, then single file, they spiraled together and closed in touching their hooves, they then broke apart, causing fireworks to go off. Three of them flew off while the other three took their place at the judges booth.
What could be seen of their coats was just their muzzle, wings and ears. One had a yellow coat with a two toned orange mane and tail. The other had a light blue coat with a very dark blue mane and tail. The third had a cream yellow coat with a two toned light blue mane and tail.
The announcer continued. “And now, let’s find out who will take the grand prize as this year’s best young flyer.” The crowd cheered.
Nova was looking very scared then. Applejack whispered to him. “Nova, what’s wrong, why you so scared?”
Nova answered back in a whisper. “Princess Celestia is here, that’s why.”
“Why are you so concerned about her, why are you so afraid of her?”
Nova shout whispered to her so the others wouldn’t be alerted to his distress. “BECAUSE SHE’S THE PRINCESS, not to mention she can move a bucking STAR. That is something I have never seen before. Do you know what stars are made of?”
“Uh, no?”
“To put it simply, stars are nothing more than giant balls of burning gas, they are HUGE! And she can move the one near this planet every day! Not to mention her sister can move an entire MOON! She might see right through mine and Starburst’s disguise at any minute and do something horrible to us for invading her land.” Nova was practically hyperventilating at this point as the contest went on.
Applejack put a hoof on his shoulder. “Nova, calm down, the princess would never do anything bad to ya, if you told her, she would welcome you with a smile.”
Nova put both hooves on her shoulder. “Applejack, NO….RISKS…remember, I can’t take any chances.”
Twilight and the others finally noticed Applejack and Nova having a conversation. Twilight was the first to speak. “What’s going on, is everything all right?” Twilight then saw how nervous Nova was looking. “Nova, what’s wrong?” She then remembered how he acted whenever the princess was around. “It’s Celestia ins’t it?” She asked solemly.
Fluttershy then spoke up. “Why are you so afraid of her Nova?”
“Afraid, who’s afraid, I’m not afraid, no fear here nope, I’m just fine, really.” He spoke rapidly, almost Pinkie Pie level.
Twilight raised an eyebrow at him. “Nova, we can tell your afraid, why does the princess scare you so much?”
Nova took a moment to try and compose himself. He took a deep breath and exhaled. “Twilight, I’m fine, really, let’s just get back to the competition shall we?”
Twilight turned her attention to Applejack. “Applejack, what were you two talking about?”
Applejack was now feeling a little nervous now that she was on the spot. Starburst peeked out from around his brother and looked at Applejack. Nova looked worried as well. “Nothin, honest.”
“Applejack, what were you two talking about, does it have something to do with why Nova is afraid of Celestia?”
“Well I….I….” She looked to Nova who was sweating greatly now and Starburst was just looking worried. Nova clapped his hooves together as if he were begging her not to say anything. She turned back to the others. Fluttershy had a blank look, Pinkie was just smiling, and Twilight had a bit of a stern look. “Look, it’s nothin, really.”
Pinkie Pie chimed in. “Oh my GOSH, she knows Nova’s secret!” She cheered.
“WHAT, no I don’t!” Applejack defended.
“You DO know, Applejack , I can’t believe it, you’re keeping secrets from us?” Twilight cried out.
Applejack gave out a sigh. She turned to Nova with a sorrow full look. “I’m sorry Nova.” Nova looked very panicked now. Applejack turned back to the others. “Yes, I know his secret, but it ain’t mine to tell, he made me promise not to tell ya’ll and I’m gonna keep it. So if’n ya’ll want to know what it is he’s hidin, ya’ll are just going to have ta wait fer him ta tell ya.”
Twilight gave Nova a stern look. “NOVA, what gives, you trust her but not us with this, what’s going on?!”
“Well….I…..I…..you see….” Nova tried to speak.
“It’s my fault!” Starburst called out. The girls looked down at Starburst as he came out from behind Nova. “I……..I’m the one that told Applejack our secret. Please don’t be mad at him, he didn’t know I told Applejack for a while and I’m the first one that made her promise not to tell, so please don’t be mad at them, be mad at me, I’m the one that told Applejack.” Starburst hung his head.
Twilight couldn’t help but soften her look. She let out a sigh. “*Sigh* All right, I’ll let it go. Like I said before, I can wait.”
Nova looked sorrowful. “I’m sorry Twilight, I really am, it’s just….”
Twilight cut him off. “It’s fine Nova, I’m sorry for getting so upset before.”
“You had every right to be upset Twilight, I’m surprised you two aren’t though.” He directed at Fluttershy and Pinkie.
“It’s not a big deal to me.” Fluttershy said with a smile.
“Me too, besides, secrets you want to tell a friend is like a present, the longer you wait, the more exciting it will be when you finally tell it.” Pinkie said.
Nova smiled at them. “Thanks girls, you have no idea how much I appreciate that.”
The girls and the two aliens just sat there and watched the rest of the competition as the contestants showed off their stuff.
The contest was just about over as the girls talked about what they had seen. Twilight was the first to comment. “I loved number seven, doing fifteen barrel rolls in a row can’t be easy.”
Fluttershy shared her thoughts too. “My favorite was number ten, she seemed like such a nice pony.”
“I wonder why we haven’t seen Rianbow Dash or Rarity yet, the competition is almost over.” Applejack pointed out.
“I just hope Rarity decided to drop out and Rainbow is feeling better about this.” Nova said.
“Me too.” Starburst agreed, the competition had helped him and Nova settle their nerves from being in such close proximity to Celestia a bit.
The announcer spoke up. “And now, for our final competitor of the day, contestant number fifteen!” Rainbow Dash came flying out, but Nova could see she still looked nervous. “….And apparently contestant number four.” Rarity followed out too wearing a lot of mak-up and feathers.
Nova face hooved and groaned. “Ugh, I was hoping I might have gotten through to her, but I guess all she cares about is looking fabulous.” The other girls just cheered.
“Come on Nova, we just need to cheer for Dash and hope it will be enough to get her confidence up.” Starburst said.
Nova smiled down at his little brother. “Your right Starburst, lets cheer for Dash.” Nova then shouted out. “GO RAINBOW DASH, YOU CAN DO IT!”
Starburst followed. “JUST BELIEVE IN YOURSELF!”
Dash seemed to hear them as she looked over and gave a nervous smile. Rarity then came up to her and seemed to say something. Music started playing through the speakers of the stadium that sounded like something from a ballet. Rarity started dancing around with a few twirls and such.
Rainbow Dash started her routine, she flew to a series of cloud pillars and started weaving through them, near the end of it, she crashed into the side of one and was sent flying against the side of the stadium in front of the three bullies just below where the girls and Nova and Starburst was sitting.
The lead started saying something. “Nice work Rainbow-“
“AHEM!” Nova cleared his throat loudly to get their attention, the three looked up at Nova to see his horn glowing threateningly as he glared at them, they shut their mouths. “Rainbow, come on, just believe in yourself and you can do this!” Nova called out to her.
Rainbow pushed off and went back to her routine. She flew up to begin phase two, she flew up to a few clouds and started making one spin, then she moved to another, then another. “Look, phase two is working.” Fluttershy cheered.
On the third one, a small puff of cloud smacked Dash in the face and caused her to go flying back. The cloud was sent flying right at Celestia, she ducked and the cloud just dissipated on impact.
Rarity was still going about her routine, she paused for a moment, looking like she was talking, she then started flying upwards. Dash started doing the same. Dash was flying up as fast as she could while Rarity just fluttered up.
Rarity stopped at a point to where she was in perfect position to shine the light from the sun through her wings, her voice was heard as she prepared to do so. “Look upon me Equestria, for I AM RARITY!” The light shone brightly in the prismatic colors over the stadium, the ponies were in awe at the sight. After a moment, Rarity’s wings suddenly burst into flames and evaporated.
“Oh no, her wings evaporated into thin air!” Twilight cried.
Rarity screamed as she fell. “AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!” Every pony looked on in fear as she fell. She fell down through the stadium. The wonder bolts sprang into action and dove down after her. They drew closer but Rarity was flailing as she fell. She ended up knocking out her would be rescuers.
“Nova, you have to do something.” Starburst said as he turned to Nova.
“What, I can’t fly fast enough to catch her!” Nova said worriedly.
Twilight pleaded. “Please Nova, you have to try!” She gave a pleading look.
Nova gained determination in his eyes, he quickly ran off and dove down after her, Rainbow Dash was passing by at the same time as he dove. They looked at each other, nodded, and continued to fly down after the victims. “Goddess Galea, give me strength.” Nova prayed to himself. Together, Dash and Nova were picking up speed, the ground was fast approaching. A cone started forming around the both of them. They went faster and faster.
Their cones narrowed to a sharper cone, just a little more. Within moments, they both broke through the sound barrier and both made a loud sonic boom. Rainbow’s erupted with a circle of rainbow colors while she was leaving behind a trail of a vibrant rainbow, Nova made a white glittering circle that spread out as well and looked like a shooting star as he was glowing white and left a stardust like trail behind. They both managed to catch the falling ponies just before they hit the ground, they pulled up and flew over the stadium. Rainbow dash was holding Rarity and the wonderbolt with the firey mane and tail, while Nova had the other two.
They arched over the stadium then came back up through the bottom. A few Pegasus ponies came, a pair of them held Rarity up while a few others took the unconscious wonderbolts from them. The crowd was going wild with cheering, even fluttershy was jumping up and down and cheering. “SHE DID IT SHE DID IT WOOOOOOO!”
Rainbow looked to Rarity with tears in her eyes. “I did it, I did it.”
“You sure did, thank you Rainbow Dash.” Rarity thanked. “You saved my life.”
“Oh yeah, I did that too, HAH, best day EVER!”
Nova put a hoof on her shoulder. “I told you you could do it, all you had to do was believe in yourself.”
Rainbow turned to Nova with a smile. “Thanks Nova, you were right, I couldn’t have done it without you.”
“Sure you could have, you’re the one that flew fast enough to catch Rarity and that other wonderbolt.”
“True, but the whole time I was trying, your words kept going through my head, I just had to believe in myself, and I did, thank you Nova.” Rainbow then took Nova in a hug.
Nova returned the hug. “You’re welcome Dash.”
Later, Rarity was sitting in the hot air balloon with the others gathered around her. Starburst ran up to Nova and Rainbow Dash. “WOW you two, that was AMAZING, that sonic rainboom you did Rainbow Dash was ga……I mean, it was incredible, I’ve never seen anything like it!”
Rainbow Dash smiled down at him. “Thanks Starburst.”
“And Nova, that thing you did was awesome too, what was that?”
Twilight chimed in. “I’m curious too, what and how did you do that thing with Dash?”
Nova seemed a little lost. “I don’t know, I’ve never flown that fast before, then again, I never had a reason too. I don’t know what it was.”
Dash spoke up with an idea. “Well we gotta call it something, Hmmmm, I GOT IT, how about a sonic starboom!”
“A sonic starboom?” Nova questioned.
Twilight mused aloud. “Well you did look like a shooting star as you flew.”
“Yeah, and you were leaving what looked like a trail of stardust behind as you went too.” Starburst said.
“I thought it looked pretty.” Fluttershy commented.
“Gotta say partner, that was one amazing stunt you pulled back there, just as amazing as Rainbow’s sonic rainboom, which was amazing by the way.” Applejack said as she looked at Dash.
All eyes turned to Rarity as she began her apology. “I want to apologize to all of you for getting carried away with my beautiful wings.” Rarity almost cried at the loss. “I guess I just lost my head.” The girls sounded off with forgiveness. Rarity then turned to Nova. “Nova, you were right, I was being a terrible friend with my behavior, I hope you can forgive me.”
Nova smirked. “As long as you’ve learned your lesson here, I can forgive you.”
Rarity then turned to Dash. “And I’m especially sorry that I decided to jump into the contest at the last minute after you had worked so hard to win it. Can you ever EVER forgive me?”
“Awe it’s ok, everything turned out right, right? I just wish I could have met the wonderbolts when they were awake.”
Nova looked behind Dash and saw a few ponies approaching. “Dash, your wish is granted.” Rainbow turned to see what he was talking about and saw the three wonderbolts standing before her. Rainbow’s eyes went wide with surprise. “Oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my gosh!” She exclaimed quickly.
The lead bolt, the one with the fiery mane, addressed Rainbow. “So you two are the little ponies who saved our lives, we really wanted to meet you, and say thanks.”
Nova just smiled. “No problem, glad I could help.”
Dash was having trouble forming words. “Oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my gosh!”
Pinkie piped up. "HEY, Dash made a wish and it came true, does that mean whenever you do that sonic starboom, ponies can make a wish on you and have it granted?!"
Nova smiled at her. "I think this was just a coincidence."
“Princess.” Twilight’s voice was heard.
Nova turned and saw Celestia land before them. Nova became panicked. “No, nononononono.” He grabbed Starburst and quickly hid behind the basket of the hot air balloon.
Celestia cheerfully greeted them. “Hello Twilight Sparkle, and hello to your friends too.”
Rarity began to apologize to Celestia as well. “Princess Celestia, I’m sorry I ruined the competition, Rainbow Dash really is the best flyer in Equestria.” Dash looked to the side in embaressment with a smile.
“I know she is my dear, that’s why for her incredible act of bravery, and her spectacular sonic rainboom, I’m presenting the grand prize for best young flyer to this year’s winner, miss Rainbow Dash!” Celestia then placed a crown of a pair of wings and a lightning bolt in the middle on her head.
The crowd cheered. Rainbow went back to her excited vocabulary. “Oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my gosh!”
Celestia then turned to Twilight. “So Twilight Sparkle, did you learn anything about friendship from this experience?”
“I did princess, but I think Rarity learned even more than me.” Twilight responded.
Rarity began telling of the lesson she learned. “I certainly did, I learned how important it is to keep your hooves on the ground, and be there for your friends, Nova tried to teach me that but I didn’t listen, and I am sorry for it.”
“Speaking of which, I would also like to extend my gratitude to Nova for his bravery as well, where is he?” Celestia asked Twilight.
“He was here a second ago.” Twilight said as she looked around.
Rarity gave away his hiding Spot. “Nova dear, why are you hiding behind the basket?”
“Quasars!” Nova thought to himself.
Celestia spoke as nice a tone as she could. “Nova, please come out, I only wish to thank you for your bravery earlier.”
Nova peeked out from behind the basket. Starburst stayed where he was. “Um, h-h-hello princes, it’s…..always a pleasure.” Nova gave a fake smile.
Celestia frowned as she saw the fear in him. “Nova, would you please step forward.”
Nova gulped, he slowly moved out from behind the basket, the girls looked on in worry as they too saw he was afraid. “y-yes p-princess?”
“Nova, why is it you seem so afraid of me, have I done something wrong?”
“What, n-no, of……of course not, it’s just that…….well…..your royalty and all and, well, I just don’t want to do any-anything to offend you, heh heh. *Gulp*”
“And what of your little brother, why does he hide from me?” Celestia said as she looked over to the basket just in time to see Starburst pull his head back behind it.
“Well, he’s just…….um…….intimidated by your size princess, what with you being so tall and all, and…..he doesn’t get to see you as often enough to get used to you is all. Not that you should take time from your royal duties to do so.”
“Nova, as princess, I care for the well-being of all my ponies, if something is troubling you, you may feel free to contact me and ask me for help, I am always willing to aid my little ponies.”
Nova’s fear seemed to die down a little. “You……..r-really?”
Celestia gave a warm smile. “Of course, I am a princess after all, and as such, it is my duty to do what is best for my subjects.”
“Um, thank you…….your majesty, I’ll……..keep that in mind.”
“Uh, hey Rainbow Crash.” The three bullies came up to the group, the leader was the one to speak.
“Dash!” The second corrected.
“Oh uh, sorry, Rainbow Dash, we just wanted to congratulate you on winning the competition.”
“That sonic rainboom was AWESOME!”
Rainbow Dash walked up to them. “Heh, thanks guys.”
The first one started apologizing. “We’re real sorry we gave you a hard time before.”
“Awe, that’s ok, don’t worry about it.” Nova was actually smiling as he watched the scene, his fears of Celestia had been subsided for now.
“Hey, do you want to hang out with us, maybe you could show us how you did that incredible trick.”
Rainbow smiled. “Sorry boys.” She flew up and joined two of the wonderbolts. “But I’ve got plans.” Dash flew off with them.
With the scene over, Nova then remembered that he was still standing before Celestia. “OH, uh, my would you look at the time, sorry princess, but me and Starburst need to get going, I have an order for Rarity I need to get to work on.”
Rarity cocked an eyebrow at this. “You do, but I don’t remember….”
Nova cut her off. “Ok gotta go bye!” Nova quickly grabbed Starburst and flew off as fast as he could without getting close to causing his new signature move, the sonic starboom.
Later that evening:
Nova was nervous for his date with Twilight. This was going to be his first date ever and wasn’t sure what to do, he wasn’t even sure what the dating customs were for these ponies. “By the stars, what have I gotten myself into.” He was pacing back and forth nervously in front of Starburst. Since this was a date, Starburst wouldn’t be coming along, so Twilight agreed to let Starburst stay at the library and have Spike watch him.
“Nova, calm down, Twilight is really nice, you’ve got nothing to worry about for galaxies sake.”
“Are you kidding, I’ve a lot of things to worry about, what if something happens and I’m accidentaly exposed, what if something goes wrong, what if she doesn’t like me like I may like here, what if…..”
“Nova!” Starburst called out.
Nova finally stopped and looked at Starburst. “What?”
“Just remember what you told Dash at that competition, just believe in yourself and you can do anything.”
“*Sigh* Your right Starburst, I need to heed my own advice here.” He smiled at Starburst. “Have I ever told you how thankful I am to have you as a brother?”
Starburst smirked. “Not recently.”
“Come on Starburst, lets head out, time for my date.”
A little later in the night, Nova and Twilight had come to a resturaunt and found a seat inside. It was a lovely night, the sky was clear and a crescent moon hung in the sky. The two sat across from each other as they went over their menus. Nova looked over his at Twilight. “By the stars she is beautiful, I can’t believe I’m on a date with her.” Nova thought to himself.
Twilight looked up from her menu as she noticed Nova looking at her. “Is something wrong?” She asked.
Nova snapped out of his little world. “Huh, oh uh, no, I was just thinking how your eyes seem to sparkle like the stars.”
Twilight blushed at the compliment. “Um, thank you Nova.”
“You know, I thought you might cancel this date after finding out that Applejack knows my secret and you still don’t.”
“I’ll admit, I am a little sad that she knows and you won’t tell me, but your little brother is the one at fault here.”
“I am sorry about that Twilight, but like I said, I’ll find the courage to tell you and the others one day.” “Would it really be so bad to tell her now, she’s so caring. She really is a good friend, maybe I could tell her……..oh, but what if she ends up telling Celestia, Galea knows what she would do to me and Starburst if she found out.”
“Nova?”
“Oh, sorry Twilight, I was just thinking.”
“Is it ok for me to ask what about?” Twilight asked carefully.
“Come on, maybe I could at least try something, maybe ask her if she would tell Celestia.” “Twilight……..um……If I told you something…….something big and important that could possibly have an impact on Equestria, would you be able to keep it between us?”
Twilight looked in thought for a moment. “Well……..I suppose it would all depend on what it is you tell me…..wait, is it about this secret you’re keeping?”
“Kind of.” “Kind of? Come on, just tell her.” “I mean……yes, it does, if I told you what it was, would you be able to keep it between us?”
Twilight looked confused. “What kind of secret do you have that could potentially have an impact on Equestria?”
“Please Twilight, just answer the question.”
“Well……like I said, it would depend on the nature of what it was, if it was as big as you seem to make it out to be, I might have to inform her.”
“I was afraid of that.” “Come on, just tell her already, you like her, so what if she tells Celestia, Twilight is just too good a friend to keep her in the dark like this.”
“Nova, does this mean you’re ready to tell me?” Twilight sounded very hopeful.
“I….” “Yes.” “I….” “YES!” “I………..I’m sorry, no, not yet.” “OH COME ON!”
“Oh, all right then.” The disappointment was evident in her voice.
“I’m sorry twilight, I really am.”
Twilight shook her head and gave a smile. “It’s fine Nova, I can wait until you’re ready.”
The rest of the night went on without anything special, but they did enjoy the night together, they merely talked about other things and laughed.
Nova walked Twilight to her door, he came in to retrieve Starburst and found him asleep upstairs in Twilight’s spare bed. Nova gently levitated him up and placed him on his back. He turned to Twilight and whispered so as not to wake Starburst. “I had a wonderful time with you tonight, maybe we could do this again sometime.”
Twilight smiled. “I’d like that.”
“And…..maybe…..if you want, we could……go to the galla as a date?”
“That sounds like a wonderful idea, I’d love to be your date.” Twilight leaned forward and gave Nova a peck on the cheek. Nova blushed a little.
“Uh, ahem, anyway, I should get Starburst to bed, I’ll see you tomorrow Twilight.”
“I’ll see you tomorrow Nova.” Nova silently made his way downstairs and out the door as Twilight closed it behind him.
“Why can’t you just tell her, Celestia doesn’t really seem all that bad, maybe you really are just overthinking things, these nightmares are just that, nightmares. These ponies have been such wonderful friends, so why should I worry about what would happen if they find out me and Starburst are aliens, Applejack, and those three fillies know and they don’t care. But then again……”