Even In Other Worlds

by Rytex

Day One: Rainbow's Incident

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Nova sat on the roof of the building his apartment was built in the next afternoon.  Discord had said today would be the day he started to learn chaos magic, but he still hadn’t shown up.  Nova had to wonder if Discord was going to ignore the Princess’ orders.  Nova wouldn’t put it past him, given their history.

He was doing some thinking of his own at the same time.  How exactly was he going to go about restoring the Elements?  None of them exactly liked each other at the moment.  He had woken up early that morning, likely the product of all that sleep yesterday, and had spent the time remembering who was who.

All of them were obvious, but the more he remembered, the more his heart sank.  All of them had less-than-healthy relationships with each other.  The human Applejack really didn’t like Rainbow Dash’s carefree attitude, while Dash didn’t like her seriousness all the time.  They both hated Rarity, because she was too dainty to even lift a pen without squealing about the ink.  The three of them were not great fans of Pinkie Pie, who to them appeared to be quite the whore, with her constant partying and being the center of attention (and that’s not to mention how well-endowed she was).

Those four clearly hated each other.  As for Fluttershy and Twilight, they were more or less indifferent.  Twilight, being Twilight, spent all her time separated from everyone, reading.  Fluttershy, however, spent all her time separate, though Nova had no idea what she did every afternoon.  He wanted to say animal shelter, but there wasn’t one in the city.

However, there was one bright spot.  Most of them had an amicable relationship with him.  Twilight, Tracy Strong, after yesterday especially, seemed to be well on its way to being repaired, but as much as he would hate to admit it, Princess Celestia was right that he had to wait until everypony else was awoken.

He and Rainbow Dash (Rachel Dillon), both liked hoofball-- except on this world it was football.  He had to remind himself of that.  They never really talked about it, and given the Haze Spell on all the townsponies, he would be surprised if she remembered.

Just like he had done on Equus, he went out drinking with a group of guys every few nights, including Macintosh (Michael “Mike” Appleby).  Applejack (Ashleigh) saw her fair share of Nova, and so they appeared to be on the best terms.

As was to be expected, given their relationship in Ponyville, Nova and Rarity (Regina Mills) had a mutual dislike for each other, but that didn’t stop them from being civil.  If anything, they saved the best of their snark for each other.  Nova definitely appreciated the verbal sparring.

As for Pinkie (Penelope Poppentop), Nova frequented her parties, if nothing else than because Natalie wanted him to.  He never really liked being there, though he couldn’t deny they were fun; he just preferred to be home reading.  Still, at least she was sensible enough to keep booze ready.

Finally, Fluttershy (Felicity Sanders).  Nova’d had almost no relationship with her on Equus, aside from the occasional meeting with Twilight’s friends as a group, discounting the time she had helped save his life.  And here, just as with the others, she didn’t really interact with anypony, so he had no idea what to do about her.

The logical thing to do would be to find common ground between any party, and then get those two or more to become friends over that.  Probably one of the easiest would have to be getting Rainbow Dash and Applejack to get into a good-natured competition.  He knew Rarity and Fluttershy liked sewing, though that was from what Twilight had told him about her first disastrous Gala trip, so there was that.  As for Pinkie?  He had no idea.  As for Twilight?  He supposed he could just use his relationship with all five of them to get her to interact with them.

It wasn’t a good plan, but frankly, it was the best he could do without resorting to magic, which he wouldn’t be able to cast anyway.  Well, not yet at least.  He had felt something arcane, drifting just out of his reach in his new form.  When he plunged into his Source, or where it would be if he were a unicorn, his hands did gain a slight blue glow to them.  But beyond that, they did nothing.  He supposed he would have to work on that some more when he had the time.  Still, it was good to know that, given some work, he would be able to cast magic again.

He looked down at his hand and again tapped into his Source just like he had before.  A slight blue edge appeared around his hands and started glowing.  Nova held the glow there for a time, even though it was getting harder and harder to do so.  After several moments, when his hands started shaking with the effort and when he felt as if he had just run two miles, he let it go.  It would seem magic here was tied directly to one’s physical energy, as opposed to the mana within the Source.

Note to self.  Go running every morning.  Get used to the body and build up endurance.  That should help my magic.

Nova stood up and started walking across the flat roof of his apartment building toward the school in the distance.  It wasn’t the school that was drawing him, but something else.  A familiar, itchy kind of feeling.  He was starting to redevelop his energy sensing, and based on just how strong it was in one direction, there had to be something powerful in that direction.

Discord?

He climbed on one of his plywood bridges and clambered over to the next building, where he ran to the other side and peered over the edge.  Five humans were all chatting to themselves in an alley.  Three guys and two girls.  And all of them seemed to be wearing the same kind of purple, black, and gold sleeveless hooded jacket and purple pants.  A jacket whose hood was patterned with a pony skull with a wing protruding from the back of it.

Shadowbolts! Nova realized.  Why are they here!?

The obvious answer would be because he had been found out.  But if that were the case, why hadn’t they gone after him yet?  It would have been five on one, and the one wouldn’t even be able to use magic.  Something told Nova they were here for someone else.  He supposed he would wait to see who it was they were after.

In the mean time, reconnaissance.  Identify all enemies.

The first he noticed was a dark-skinned big burly man.  His arms alone looked bigger than Nova’s head.  He was leaning against the brick wall of the building Nova was atop and chatting to one of his friends.  She had somewhat short blue hair, wore gloves, but was also sleeveless.  Her goggles were hung around her neck, and she looked to be wearing some kind of black athletic leotard.  Nova cringed, though, because her pants were pretty low, giving him a view of more than he needed to see. Nova's first thought was that they were Nightmares Tranquillitatis, the quiet one of Luna's guards, and Crisium.

Next to him was a pale, smaller man, with short blue hair.  Nova thought he might be a newbie of the group, and his mind immediately went to Starstep.  It made sense that when Nightmare Moon was created, her guards were forcibly converted into the Shadowbolts.  Which meant everyone here was one of the Nightmares.

Fourth in the group was another girl who, thankfully, wasn’t as scantily dressed.  She was wearing a long-sleeved black jacket under her Shadowbolt coat, and her hair, also blue, hung down just past her shoulders. If the other was Crisium, this had to be Nightmare Imbrium.

Fifth and finally, the unmistakable leader.  He had rather wild blue hair, wore polarized golden-lensed sunglasses, also wore the same jacket his female counterpart wore under his Shadowbolt uniform, and he seemed to be carrying himself much more highly than the others.  If the new guy was Starstep, Nova would bet this was Nightmare Frigoris, Princess Luna’s best Nightmare.

So five Nightmares out of thirteen, he thought, staring down at them. Wonder if the other eight are on Equestria...

“God, she’s takin’ forever,” muttered the long-sleeved girl in annoyance, her voice confirming that it was Imbrium, based on Nova's interactions with her as a pony.  “You sure you told her the right place, Shade?”

“Of course,” said Frigoris in a cool voice.  “But let’s remember now, she is Rainbow Dash.  When is she ever on time to anything not a Wonderbolts tryout?”

“Still, a little punctuality never hurt anypony,” remarked Imbrium.

“You worry about yourself, Starry.  I’ll worry about the new recruit.”

What?  New recruit?

“Still, even for her, this is pushing it,” noted the burly one, his voice matching Tranquillitatis' to a T.  “Think she might’ve ditched, Nightshade?”

“Who would she ditch us for, Marauder?” Frigoris responded.  Nova realized in order to cover up their existing selves, Nightmare Moon must’ve given them new names.  “She has no friends; only that little girl who idolizes her, who she finds annoying.  Who would she go to in place of us?”

“Just a thought,” Marauder said with a shrug.

“She could have ditched us for herself,” suggested Starstep.  “She is pretty full of herself.  Maybe she thought she would be better off on her own.”

They paused.

“I can’t deny, that does sound like her,” said Starry.  “Think we should go looking for her?”

“No,” said Nightshade.  “At least, not yet.  We wait for another few minutes, then we go looking.”

“What do you think, Widow?” asked Marauder.  “You usually have good ideas.”

The girl Nova thought was Nightmare Crisium was quiet for a moment.

“When someone says they’ll be somewhere at a certain time, they’d better come through.  Especially for us.  I think she needs to learn that, wouldn’t you say Nightshade?”

Nova didn’t like the way Nightshade smiled.

“Good idea.  Rough her up a bit, but not too bad.  Still, she’s new.  We give her one more minute before we do that.”

Nova felt another nexus of energy suddenly spring up.  Knowing his range of sensing, this new being couldn’t be more than fifty yards away.  And it was moving.  Fast.

Shit! he thought as he recognized the aura.  That’s Rainbow Dash!

After a moment, he heard the heavy footsteps of her running, before they slowed, and she plodded into the alley.

“Sorry... *huff*” she gasped from leaning onto her knees.  “Got… *huff* held up… by the fucking cops.”

“The cops, huh?” asked Nightshade.  “They have been rather active lately.”

“Held up for what?” asked Marauder.

“I dunno,” said Dash sourly, standing up and leaning against the wall.  “I think he was just trying to waste my time on purpose.  He kept askin’ me for stuff I’m pretty sure he knew I didn’t have.”

“Well,” said Nightshade, with a meaningful glance over at Widow, “since this is your first time meetin’ with us, and since it was the cops holdin’ you up, we’ll let it go.  Now, first thing’s first, my teammates’ll introduce themselves.  Just go in order.”

He indicated Starry.

“I’m Starry Night,” she said.

“Corsair,” said Starstep.

“Black Widow,” said Widow.

“Marauder,” grunted Marauder.

“Strange names,” Dash said.  “I’m Rachel, Rachel Dillon.”

“Ah, yes,” said Nightshade.  “See, we dropped our names, at least among ourselves.  But you don’t just pick a name with the Hellsings.  You gotta have it given to you.  Like me, for instance.  They call me Nightshade, because I’m about as painless as poison when you rile me up.”

“I’m Black Widow, because honey, you mess with me and I’ll bite.”

“Corsair and I,” said Marauder, “are named because we’re pretty damn good at mugging.”

“And I’m Starry Night because it’s my job to distract people when they’re getting robbed by us.”

She knows they’re thugs, and she’s still going with this!? Nova thought, outraged.

“Finally, your initiation,” said Nightshade.  “Don’t worry.  We don’t plan on hurting you more than you can bear, but you gotta understand,” Marauder slid behind her, blocking her way out, “you need to know the price for disloyalty.  We’re your new number one priority, you got that?”

Marauder shoved her forward, where she fell straight onto Corsair, who tripped her.  Dash hit the wall behind him hard, letting out a grunt of pain.

Enough’s enough, Nova thought, placing a foot on the top of the little ridge around the roof of the building, and jumping off.

Having done this sort of thing for however long they had been in this world, Nova’s body acted on its own, landing right in the middle of all the Shadowbolts in a frog-like stance to lessen the fall.  When he had landed, his Equestrian instincts took over, and he immediately assumed a bipedal fighting stance.

Following Twilight’s ascension, he had gone straight to Shining Armor, and he had asked him to teach him how to fight with his hooves.  There would likely come a time, he reasoned, when he would be unable to use magic, and he would need to defend her.  So he had taught him hoof to hoof combat.  The training was cut very short, courtesy of the curse, but Nova still had picked up quite a bit.

And now he would be using some of the bipedal stuff.

“The hell is this?” Nightshade asked, rounding on Dash.  “You bring him along in case ya got beat up, you little pussy?”

“H-he’s n-not with me,” Dash grunted, wiping some blood from her mouth.

“Well, in that case, you’re pretty lucky he came along,” Black Widow said, smiling sadistically at him.  “We’re going to show you exactly what happens when someone ditches us, and we don’t even have to beat you up to do it.”

She reared back, but Nova had already sprung at her, catching her midriff, wrapping it up, and tackling her into the brick wall.  With a sickening crunch, followed by her head smashing against the brick, she fell down, unconscious.

“The fuck?” Nightshade asked, surprised.  “This guy’s got some fight in him.  Well, we can’t just let him take out Widow, can we?”

Marauder clenched his fists and growled, Corsair pulled out a small knife, and Starry pulled out a pipe from behind one of the trash cans she had been leaning by.

“Get in here, Bolt,” Nightshade admonished Dash.  “You’re one of us now, which means you fight with us.”

Dash spat the blood from her mouth and assumed a fighting stance.  Nova recognized it instantly as a rather poor one.  Sure, Rainbow Dash was an excellent fighter and a black belt in some pegasus martial art, but pegasus martial arts didn’t translate well to the ground.  Nova, however, may have had a small amount of training, but that translated into a huge advantage against unrefined styles of fighting.

Dash was the first to attack.  Nova easily parried her punch and tripped her, sending her to the ground.  He didn’t want to hurt her, but the others, he had no such desires to keep healthy.

Corsair lunged with his knife from Nova’s left.  By reflex, Nova sucked his chest in, but his cloak proved its usefulness by deflecting the knife away.  Even in other worlds, it would appear that Princess Luna’s spellshields worked.  Having taken the time to study every one of the enchantments on it back when he was enchanting Twi’s, he knew there was a spell preventing wear and tear by any physical source, including blades.

He grabbed Corsair’s extended arm at the wrist and bashed the back of his hand, which caused him to drop the knife.  Then he ducked and pulled Corsair over his back, causing him to land back first on the ground with a heavy thud.  For good measure, he stomped right where the celiac plexus would be on a pony, just below the sternum, and was rewarded with a loud yell and some coughed-up blood from Corsair.

He suddenly felt energy behind him and he ducked, just as a metal pipe flew over his head.  He kicked backwards, as if he were bucking a tree, and he felt his feet connect with a body, lifting Starry off of her feet and sending her flying backwards.

Nova got to his feet quickly and inspected the scene.  Dash had gotten back up, and Starry was struggling to get off the ground, but Black Widow was still unconscious and Corsair was wheezing painfully on the ground beside him.  Marauder and Nightshade both looked impressed, though.

“Not bad, kid, not bad at all,” Nightshade remarked, giving him a few claps.  “So you can take on a couple of newbies all on your own.  You kinda hit Widow before she could do anything, so she’s kinda out of the running, but now you get to deal with the two of us that actually know how to fight.”

Marauder reached into his jacket-vest and pulled out a set of brass knuckles, which he slipped on.  Nightshade shifted into a low stance, both arms extended in front of him in a stance Nova recognized as something from Neighpon.  So Nightshade knew his own martial arts, eh?

Marauder lunged forward, throwing a quick punch at Nova’s gut, but Nova spun around in a full circle upon contact, deflecting the punch and opening Marauder’s back to him, but just as Nova started to throw a punch, Marauder used the momentum to bring his other fist in a backhand motion toward Nova’s head.  Nova ducked under the blow and sent a short series of quick jabs at Marauder’s abdominals.  That worked about as well as he expected; in other words, it barely did anything.

Marauder aimed a punch downward, which Nova dove away from at the last second, crashing into Rainbow Dash and sending them both tumbling to the ground.

“Hey!” she shouted, sending a wild swing his way, but he blocked it and got back up just in time to see Marauder charging at him.  He bent over just as Marauder swung, causing him to miss.  Marauder’s momentum carried him straight into Nova, where he fell onto Nova’s back.  Nova finished the move by straightening up as powerfully as his muscles could, flipping Marauder heavily onto his back on the ground, almost right on top of Dash.

Starry charged, but Nova just side-stepped and tripped her, sending her crashing on top of Marauder.

“We-he-hell,” Nightshade said, suddenly grinning broadly, “we got ourselves a real fighter, here.  Trained in martial arts, are we?”

“Not really,” Nova admitted.  “A man needs to know how to protect his loved ones, even when he doesn’t have a weapon on hand.”

“So Miss Dillon there is a loved one, then?” teased Nightshade.  Behind and below Nova, Dash’s face went rather red.

“Can’t say she is,” Nova responded, “but she’s still a really good friend, and I’d hate to see her get involved with you Shadowbolts.”

Nightshade’s eyebrows shot straight up as high as they would go.

“Shadowbolts, eh?”

Nova felt himself grow cold.  He’d just revealed himself to them.

Shit! he thought.

There came a loud and resounding tap from behind Nightshade, who turned around quickly.  Nova peered over his shoulder to see none other than Discord standing there, watching everything with a frown.

“What do you want, old man?” asked Nightshade.

“I’m here for those two,” Discord said, jabbing his cane at Nova and Rainbow Dash.  “Just like them to run off and get themselves into trouble the moment my back is turned.”

“What, are they your grandkids?”

Nova and Dash couldn’t contain a chuckle, but Discord just shook his head wryly.  “No, ‘fraid not.  The boy’s my protégé, though, and I find he’s run off and gotten himself into some trouble.  Now, are we going to do this the easy way?  Or are you going to make me come over there and show you why I’ve lived the last seventy years without a scratch?”

Nightshade scoffed and shifted into his fighting stance.

“Bring it, old man,” he challenged.  Discord merely tipped his hat at Nightshade in response.

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you,” he said cheerfully, before walking forward, leaning heavily on his cane.

“Is this guy joking?” Nightshade remarked to Nova and Dash.  Nova just shrugged.

Discord had moved within arms reach of Nightshade.  Nightshade had his arms raised, ready to strike-- when Discord, faster than Nova thought possible from him, hoisted up his cane, slid his hand down to the bottom, and smashed the brass knob at the end into Nightshade’s face.

Nightshade gave a cry of surprise and pain as he stumbled backwards.

“Go on, you two,” Discord said, lifting the cane again.  “Get her back to your apartment, Nathan.  I’ll handle them.”

*SMACK*

“Let’s go,” Nova said to Dash, reaching under her arm and helping her up.  Dash resisted at first, so Nova persisted.  “It’s either come with me, or stay and get the same fate as them,” he barked.  That helped her make her decision quickly.

Nova led her around to the building his apartment was in and up the stairs, unlocked the door, and hurried inside.

Following the third hit, Discord returned the cane to its normal position.

“Lest we forget, Nightshade, Moony’s the one in control of you, and I’m on an equal level as her,” he said, grabbing Nightshade’s hair and yanking him up.  “When I tell you to surrender someone to me, you are to ask me if I want some chocolate milk and some cotton candy as well, is that clear?” he hissed.

“C-c-crystal,” Nightshade groaned.  Discord threw him back to the ground and snapped his fingers.  Ropes appeared, binding all five of the Shadowbolts together.

“Wh-what the--?” Nightshade tried to ask, but a gag appeared in his mouth, courtesy of Discord.  And since Discord was being his usual troll self, it was a yellow ball gag with a smiley face on it.

“I can’t have you running off to Moony and telling her that Nova Shine knows who you are,” Discord said to the one conscious Shadowbolt.  “That would ruin the fun.”

Nightshade made frantic sounds behind his gag, but Discord smacked him with his cane again.

“Any more noises out of you and I’ll do more than just remove your memory,” Discord said.  “I might just kill you and blame it on one of the Changelings.”

“T-traitor!” spat Nightshade, muffled through the gag but coherent enough for Discord to understand.  “Y-you’re on their side!?”

“Amazing how persuasive Fluttershy can be sometimes,” Discord remarked, before grabbing Nightshade’s face over the eyes.

Dash sat on Nova’s couch, staring sullenly at the floor.  Nova, on the other hand, had already gotten her a towel wrapped around ice for her to hold over her mouth where she had hit the wall, but she seemed to be ignoring it.  Other than the fact that she had come with him, she seemed to be doing her best completely ignoring him, too.

“Hold that over your mouth,” Nova said firmly, indicating the ice pack.  “It’ll help the swelling go down.”

“It’s your fault there’s swelling there to begin with,” she snapped.

“I disagree,” Nova said.  “You tried to hit me.  What was I to do?  Just sit there and take it? And let’s not forget, Corsair tripped you into the wall, not me.  I just let you hit the floor when you missed.”

She said nothing, but continued glaring at the floor.

“Besides,” Nova continued, “you saw what I did to the other four.  I’d say you should count yourself lucky I was trying to save your ass and not kick it.”

“‘Save’ my ass?” she asked, looking up at him with her magenta eyes, which really didn’t help Nova’s emotions after finding his memories of Twilight.  “Those guys were my friends!  What do you mean ‘save’ my ass?”

“If they were your friends, why were they going to beat the crap out of you to show you what happened if you didn’t stay loyal to their little group, eh?” Nova asked.  Again, Rainbow Dash had no retort.

“Tell me,” Nova said, walking over and sitting down next to her, “what made you so desperate for friends that you went looking for those assholes?”

“They’re not assholes!” protested Dash, glaring at him.  “Nightshade’s really nice when you get to know him.”

“Oh, yeah,” Nova replied sarcastically, “never mind the fact that he ordered his guys to knife me up.”

They heard the door open, and in came Discord, looking no worse than if he had just gotten done with a mildly challenging physical activity.  If anything, he looked quite happy to have engaged in some conflict.

“Oh, man, I missed those days where I could just up and beat someone with my bare hands,” Discord said, flexing his fingers and looking quite pleased with himself.  “That made me feel decades younger, I must say.”

“What did you do to them?” Nova asked.

“Oh, nothing that won’t heal,” Discord said darkly.  “I beat them so hard, I’ll be shocked if they even remember what happened to them, you understand?” he asked, raising an eyebrow to Nova, who got it immediately.

“I understand.”

“Now, as for you, Miss… Dillon, was it?” Discord asked.  Rainbow Dash nodded, but she kept glaring at Nova.  “It would probably be best if you went straight home.  I already am aware that you were in the process of joining those, er, gentlemen and ladies,” he said distastefully, “but trust me when I say their intentions for you were far more dubious than you seem to be aware of.”

“How?” asked Dash, shifting her glare to Discord.  “What did they have planned for me?”

“Do the words ‘raping and pillaging’ mean anything to you?” Discord said.  If Nova didn’t know better, he’d think he was almost enjoying this.

Dash paled and her glare turned into a slightly fearful look.

“R-rape?”

“Mmhmm,” Discord said.  “Lucky for you Nathan here intervened.”

“I listened in on top of the building I jumped off of,” Nathan explained.  “They really didn’t have the best of intentions for you.  If I were you, I’d start picking better friends, Rachel.”

Dash hung her head, and Nova heard a sniff, just as Discord continued.

“You have something they want,” he explained, “or rather, something they don’t want.  It would be foolish to explain it to you now, but Nathan knows about it as well.  That’s why he couldn’t just stand idly by and watch this all happen to you.  Knight in shining armor, this one,” he added, which caused Nathan to roll his eyes.

“Guess I owe you, don’t I?” she asked, sounding more than a little let down.

“I wouldn’t go that far,” said Nova, though he had a pretty useful idea at how he could cash in this little debt, involving Sweet Apple Acres, or whatever it was called.  “Just doing what any good friend would do.”

“I’m your friend?” she asked, sounding quite surprised and looking up at him with those magenta eyes that made him think so much of Twilight.

“‘Course,” Nova said.  “Now, I’m sorry to do this, but Imma have to kick you out.  I kinda had an appointment with Mr. Sire today, and it’s probably best if you make yourself scarce before the cops show up to haul that bunch away.”

“‘Kay,” Dash said, getting up and walking to the door.  However, with her hand on the knob, she stopped.

“What is it?” Nathan asked.

Dash said nothing.  Nova got up and headed over to see what was the matter.  Suddenly, there was a rainbow-colored blur and the next thing Nova knew, Dash had kissed him on the cheek.

“Thanks,” she said hastily and not meeting his eye.  But then she punched him in the chest.  “That doesn’t leave this apartment, ya got that?”

Nova clutched at his gut.  Yeah, same old Dash alright.

“And you too, Mr. Sire,” she said, looking straight at Mr. Sire with a strong sort of expectation.

“I won’t tell any person in this town,” he said, sounding a bit too sincere about that.  Nova instantly recognized the loophole.

With one last look at Nova, she opened the door and ran off.

“Heheheh,” Discord said, “wait till I tell Twilight.”

“Well, she’s not the first,” Nova said.  “Summer Blossom, Clover, Trixie, and now Rainbow Dash.”

Nova watched as she sped out of sight, thinking hard.  Based on how she didn’t think she had any friends, it was likely the curse had done the same to the others.  It would make sense that Envy would want them thinking they were alone.

“Now,” said Mr. Sire, “about your slip-up.”

“Yeah,” said Nova.  “Slip-out, more like.”

“Whatever the case, you’re a fool for opening your mouth.”

“Not for attacking them?” Nova asked, surprised.

“I watched you hold your own.  That I don’t mind, especially when you’re saving one of our tickets home.  But letting slip their real name?  Don’t do it again.  You’re lucky I was there.  If I wasn’t, he would have called Nightmare Moon on the spot and you would have been back under the curse before you could say the full name of Q from Star Trek.”

“You don’t sound very mad,” Nova noted.

“I’m not mad.  I’m not your parent, Nova Shine.  I’m only here to keep an eye on you.  But let’s just say I’m not exactly happy with you either.”

“Fair enough,” said Nova.  “Was the rape thing made up?”

“Unfortunately,” said Discord, his countenance darkening, “it wasn’t.  It was the Shadowbolts’ intent to break her somehow.  In her mind, with no friends to go to, she would just enter a sort of blank trance and depression, possibly even to the point of suicide.  She’s lucky you jumped in.”

“Did you know about this?”

“As a matter of fact,” Discord said, stroking his beard, “I did.  You may have heard Dash explaining her lateness due to a police officer wasting her time.  I pulled some strings with Good Queen Chryssie.”

“Is she on our side?” Nova asked.

Discord frowned, which wasn’t a very good sign to Nova..

“I don’t know.  I don’t know if she would be on our side.  The only two of our little pantheon of evil that I can definitely nail down are Envy and Nightmare Moon, who are firmly against us, excepting of course myself.”

“How do I know I can trust you, being a chaotic embodiment and all?” Nova asked.

“Simply?  You can’t, and you don’t have to, but I’m on your side.”

“That’s very reassuring,” snarked Nova in deadpan sarcasm.

“Would you rather the situation be that I were on Envy’s side and was working to help keep the Element Bearers distant while simultaneously seeking to further my own ends?” Discord asked.  “Right now, even if I were on Envy’s side, I would very much prefer living on Equus in my beautiful normal body instead of this rough, flawed shell.  And to be honest, I’d wager I’m not the only one of our little coalition who thinks that way.”

“Oh really?” Nova said, interest piqued.  Any of the others they could get on their side would go a long way.  Chrysalis would have to be the best prospect, considering she controlled the Changeling Police.

“Yes,” Discord said, waving a hand.  The curtains on all windows were drawn instantly.  “Prior to your unfortunate encounter with the Shadowbolts, I, too, had been informed about Rainbow Dash’s temptations at the hooves of the Shadowbolts, back before they first took up the Elements.  When I saw her taking off and carrying a purple and black hooded vest, I called on one of my associates for a favor.”

“Chrysalis, I’m guessing, since you pulled some strings with her.”

“Correct,” Discord said, nodding.  “I had her get one of her cops to hold up Rainbow Dash and confiscate ‘illegal’ things like her vest.  I was hoping to completely deter her, but unfortunately, it only delayed her.  So, it seems we are both lucky the other was present to help.”

“So Chrysalis seems to be the one most likely to join our cause?” Nova asked, surprised an quite satisfied.

“It would seem so.  But first, Nightmare Moon has to be cleared from the playing field, a task you are in no condition to even attempt to accomplish,” he added.  “I assume Celestia told you to just run if you ever faced her sister?”

“You doubt I could take her?” Nova asked.

“Simply, yes.  Even with Chaos magic, she is still Princess Luna, the most powerful spellcaster Equus has ever seen.”

“Even ahead of Star Swirl or her sister?” Nova asked.

“Did I stutter?” Discord said, giving Nova a small glare.  “Luna was always the more intellectually-inclined one.  Her magical ability far outstripped that of her sister.  Why do you think Celestia had to resort to the Elements of Harmony to defeat her?  If she was stronger, she could just defeat Luna on her own.”

“Without mine or Comet’s help,” Nova added, suddenly realizing just how powerful Luna was, despite having faced her personally some time ago.

“And consider this, Nova,” said Discord, smirking.  “The real Princess Luna is even stronger.”

“Figures,” Nova said.  “The Nightmares can only comprehend so much about her.”

“Which means that,” continued Discord, “while they may be able to control the power of Princess Luna, being that they are creatures with no inherent magic of their own, they lack the experience.  They don’t know what you’re capable of, and so when the time comes that you face Nightmare Moon, because that will happen, remember that she is only nothing but power.”

Nova caught a slight gleam in Discord’s eye.

“So you want me to go after Nightmare Moon?” he asked.

“What choice do we have?” Discord responded, “but consider that by attacking her instead of waiting for her to come to you, you gain an element of surprise in your plan.  Not now, of course, but when you’re stronger.  However,” he added, jabbing Nova in the sternum with his cane, “do not overestimate your abilities, or underestimate her’s.  The last thing we need is for you to be put back under.”

“Then let’s get to it,” Nova said.

Discord smiled.

“Alright,” he said, “we’ll get started.  We’ll need some space to work with, so right here in front of the door will be fine.”

“So, how do you know when you’re a master of Chaos magic?” Nova asked.

“Hold on there, cowpony,” said Discord.  “Celestia’s done a number on you.  That much is evident.  Chaos magic isn’t like other magic.  You can’t just look at it, outline a few simple spells, and then bing bang boom you’re a master.  Chaos magic is very simple, in that either you can do it, or you can’t.  There is no in-between.”

“No pressure, then,” said Nova, smirking.  “Only the fate of Equestria depends on your ability to cast it.”

“I should have worded it better,” Discord said.  “Anypony can do it, as long as they are in touch with their natural magic.  Before you ask, yes, even pegasi and earth ponies,” he added, for Nova was about to ask.

Nova walked over and sat on his couch, while Discord remained standing in the space between the kitchen and the living area, right in front of the door.

“Chaos magic, as its name implies, is a very indirect form of magic,” Discord said.  “As I said before, you either can do it or you can’t, but everypony has the capability to.  This means that basically, all I will be doing is helping you to tap into your Chaos magic, and then leaving you after that.  The rest is just pure ingenuity.”

“Really?” Nova asked.  “That’s all that is?”

“Well, I always look at it this way,” Discord said, giving Nova a little smirk, “Chaos magic is nothing more than stand-up comedy, and you’re the star.  The basis of Chaos magic is literally coming up with things on the fly, as they are.”

“Do you happen to have any zebra in your blood?” Nova asked, smirking.  “That was a pretty good imitation of Zecora.”

Discord then decided to demonstrate his Chaos magic.  Nova sank into the sofa, which was all of a sudden made of Jell-O.

“Hey!” Nova shouted, feeling himself sink into the sickly-squishy material that made up his favorite couch.

“Interrupt me again, Nova,” Discord said in a dangerous voice, but with a very evil grin in Nova’s direction.  “See what happens.”

He snapped his fingers, and Nova was bounced out of his gelatin restraint, and the couch returned to normal.  Nova picked himself up from where he had fallen, and went over to prod his couch to make sure it wasn’t secretly still a giant hunk of goo.

“You know, for a branch of magic that’s supposedly stand-up comedy,” Nova remarked, giving Discord an annoyed look, “that wasn’t very funny.”

“You know what they say about comedy, Nova,” Discord said, shrugging.  “Every joke has a butt.”

“...Touché,” Nova conceded.

“The main difference in casting Chaos magic as opposed to, for want of a better term, Order magic,” Discord continued, “is that with Order magic, you have to shape and bend magic to your will.  Chaos magic, on the other hoof-- or in this case, hand-- you simply have to let it happen and trust your imagination to do its job.”

He snapped his fingers again, and in a flash of white, a trumpet materialized in his hands, and a mariachi band appeared around him.  With a short high note from Discord on his trumpet, they all started playing.

“A mariachi band?” Nova asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Would you rather it be Vinyl Scratch and her dubstep?” Discord asked, snapping his fingers again.  The band vanished, but a flash of light immediately to his right made him jump.  A human girl, slightly shorter than him, with spiky two-toned blue hair and purple sunglasses was grinding against his right side as dubstep played with no discernable source.  Nova went very red when he noticed Vinyl was only wearing a bikini only half-a-second later.

“D-Discord!” Nova exclaimed, his face easily able to put Pinkie Pie to shame.

“Oh, fine,” Discord said, snapping his fingers again.  Vinyl vanished, but not before she managed to start molesting his ear.  Nova couldn’t help but wonder exactly what it was about his right ear that made it so attractive for ponies to lick and nibble.  First Clover, now Vinyl…

“Now, for such a relatively simple branch of magic, a lot of preparation goes into it,” Discord said.  “You have to temper your imagination.  This is key, because if you don’t, you might lose control of the chaos you wish to wield, and bring to life everything you don’t want to bring to life.  Exhibit A,” he snapped his fingers, and a censored naked human Granny Smith dancing with a stripper pole appeared, “this.”

Nova yelped and slapped his hands over his eyes so hard it hurt.

“Exhibit B,” said Discord, snapping his fingers again, “that.”

Nova peeked through his fingers to see that Granny Smith had vanished.  In her place was a white pony with a horn and a mane that looked like fire.

“What the hell?” the unknown pony asked, looking in every direction.  Then it clapped its hooves over its mouth.  “I can talk!?”

With a snap of his fingers, Discord made the creature vanish.

“What was that?” Nova asked.

“A creature from another world,” he said.  “As for a specific specimen?  I believe it is called a Rapidash.  But imagine if I had brought a less-equine monster. There’s this artificially created purplish one with two necks, a long tail, and psychic powers that could destroy the universe.  Imagine trying to control that, when you can’t even control your own imagination.”

The gravity of what exactly he was getting himself into started to sink in.  This wasn’t going to be easy.

“But fear not, Nova,” said Discord.  “Chaos magic seems like a daunting prospect, but trust me, the pros very much outweigh the cons.  Now, let’s dive right in.”

He snapped his fingers for what seemed like the millionth time that afternoon alone, and an easel with a blank white canvas appeared.  Again, he snapped his fingers, and a bright white light flashed around Nova’s head.

“What did you do?” Nova asked.

“I’ve cast a simple little spell on you that should begin to take effect shortly,” Discord explained.  “In a moment, the spell will start working, and it will paint exactly what you’re picturing on that canvas.  Every little detail.”

“Every little detail?” Nova asked, suddenly going very cold.  What would happen if I randomly thought about Twi in compromising situations?

No sooner had he thought those words than the canvas turned black and they appeared in white at their center.  Then the canvas mortified Nova by painting exactly what he had imagined following that little thought passing through his head.

Discord stared at the canvas, with an unreadable expression.

“Well,” he said after a moment, “I suppose you are a stallion, after all.  Now look here, Nova.  This is how we will train your mind to focus on one specific thing at a time.  Your focus, as I understand it, has improved greatly since Princess Luna took you as her Night Apprentice.  Your focus will be invaluable here.”

“How will this help my training?” Nova asked.  “You’ll just ask me to focus on something random as long as I can?”

“As a matter of fact,” Discord said, smiling at him, “that’s exactly it.  I will be telling you to form specific shapes, paintings, et cetera on this canvas.  You will think about it and focus on it.  We will do it for longer and longer periods of time until I think you’re able to control your thoughts enough to do chaos magic.”

“What, you’re not going to ask me to think about something for an entire hour?” Nova jokingly asked.

“What do I look like, a robot factory?” Discord asked.  “Now, that’s enough banter.  Let’s get started.  Paint me a picture of…”

“...so overall, not bad.  For day one,” Discord said, adjusting a multi-colored scarf that had appeared around his neck as he made his way to Nova’s door.  “That should be all for today.  Practice forming a shape and holding it for five seconds, focusing on the detail.  Every little detail has to be right, or else something will inevitably go wrong.”

“Well,” said Nova, very red-faced after one of the earlier moments in the last couple of hours where Discord had decided to deliberately troll him, “forgive me, but you don’t seem to do a whole lot of focusing on details whenever you mess with things.”

Discord responded by pointing his cane at the canvas, which instantly painted itself as the Pony Lisa.  And the more amazing thing about it, nothing was blurred, like Nova’s had been.  Every detail was crisp and clear.

“Just because I can do this on the fly doesn’t mean I don’t focus on details,” Discord said.  “In the meantime, good day, Nova Shine.  I will see you again in two days.”

And with that, he walked out the door into the slight snow that had developed that afternoon, and shut the door behind him.  Nova watched him as he walked on down the stairs, and then off toward whatever place he called home on this other rock.

As soon as he was gone, Nova let out a great sigh and fell onto his couch.  The day had been exhausting, physically and mentally.  The last thing he wanted to do was something productive.  Maybe he could just go to the bars and take the night to drink.

He bolted up again.  It was Friday afternoon.  The Council of Gentlemen was meeting tonight!

He hurried off to his room, grabbed some new clothes, and threw on his cloak.  He was not going to miss this meeting, not when he had a reason to get himself drunk with nothing to worry about the next day!

“Funny little guy, isn’t he?” Discord asked, watching Nova through a window from an adjacent rooftop.

“You wouldn’t know funny if it sliced open your neck,” Queen Chrysalis said, also watching Nova as he ran around his room.

“Come now, Chryssie, we’ve known each other for how long now?” Discord asked.

“Don’t call me Chryssie!” she snapped at him, eyes glowing slightly and her teeth abnormally sharp for a human form.

“Whyever not?”

Chrysalis’ anger faltered slightly, and she returned to watching Nova.  Discord stared at her for a moment, remembering what Princess Celestia had told him about Nova’s trip to the past.  As he returned his gaze to Nova, he couldn’t help but wonder what she thought.  Was he was just a reincarnation?  Apparently Twilight and one of the pegasi Royal Guards looked exactly the same as the two ponies in the past Nova called friends.

“Does he remind you of your savior?” he asked gently, choosing not to antagonize her for once.

“How do you know--” she asked, surprised, but Discord cut her off.

“Just because I was imprisoned in stone at the time doesn’t mean I couldn’t see or hear what was happening,” he said.  “My statue may have been in Everfree at the time, but I heard every word Celestia, Clover, Steelshod, and the first Nova ever said on the incident, since they chose to have a little picnic in front of me once.”

“Even Celestia?” asked Chrysalis, looking at him skeptically and raising an eyebrow.  “I know she wasn’t as reserved back then, but enough to go out on a picnic when there was work to be done?”

“Well, not the picnic, no, but she did often talk about it with them,” Discord admitted.

“I remember Clover,” Chrysalis said.  “She was the one he wanted me to turn into.”

Discord snorted.

“So he had only known her… what, an hour or so?  And he was already asking you to turn into her for some depraved fantasy?” Discord said, unable to stop himself from mocking this.  Old habits die hard after all.

“Shut up!” she snapped.  “He did it to give me love energy!  I would have died without it!”

“He saved your life, eh?” Discord asked, raising an eyebrow.  “He did more than that.  He saved your life, returned you to your home, and prevented a war that would have destroyed your people.  I swear, history does not remember him as well as it should.  Then there’s the first Nightmare Night and his involvement…”

“What are you saying?” she asked.

“I’m saying that, for someone who owes their life to an Equestrian citizen, you sure went out of your way to dishonor your memory of him,” Discord said harshly.  “Invading the very country that saved you?  Attacking one of the beings who was responsible for the war being averted?  You even imprisoned Twilight Sparkle, a mare who looks astonishingly like Clover did, in the caves you were once a slave in.  Bravo, Chryssie.  Bravo.”

He started clapping slowly, mockingly.  All through his tirade, her head had sunk lower and lower.  She knew he was right.

“Why do you care?” she growled, staring at the snow-covered stone barrier atop the deserted building.  “Why do you care so much about what I’ve done to Equestria?  You’re supposed to be on our side!”

“I happen to know, Chryssie,” Discord responded, “that you prefer Equus to this place.  Don’t even bother denying it.  I have my ways of knowing.”

Chrysalis said nothing.  She continued to stare at the edge guard.

“I think you also know,” Discord said, continuing, “that the Elements of Harmony are the way to return everypony to Equus.  I tested you earlier, when I had you send some of your children to delay Rainbow Dash, which you did almost immediately.”

He leaned down right next to her ear.

“If I didn’t know better,” he whispered, “I’d think you wanted them to reawaken so we could return to Equus.”

She continued to stare, content to remain silent.  Discord smiled, then stood back up and adjusted his hat, coat, and scarf.

“I’m not telling Moony, or anything,” he said.  “But I do hope that in the future, you’ll consider where your loyalties should lie.”

He turned and started to walk away, the faint sounds of snow crunching under his foot sounding louder than they normally would have, in the otherwise-silent night.  Chrysalis again said and did nothing.  She just continued staring at the edge guard, occasionally her gaze flicking up to the person in the apartment across the street.

Why does he have to look so much like him? she thought to herself.  Why does he have to haunt me like this?

After several minutes, sitting out in the cold, she finally drew herself upright and marched off toward her humble house not far away.  Despite all appearances to the contrary, she was sad all of a sudden.  Was he a reminder of the one she had failed?  Or was he just there because fate had a cruel sense of humor?

There was no way he could be the real one; Nova Shine had died over a millennium ago.  Which meant he had to be the reincarnated version.  The next in this never-ending cycle of Night Apprentices, Faithful Students, Night Masters, and Prime Magi plaguing Equestria.

She continued walking back to her home-- no house.  Home was where the heart lay.  And the heart lay in Equus, in the cities of the Changelings.

What I wouldn’t give for you to come back, Mister Nova, she thought sadly.  Here I am, a slave again, to the ones who would trap us in this nightmare of a world.

As she opened the door to her one-story home, a single tear fell from the Queen’s eyes, shining like a liquid diamond in the darkened skies as it froze and fell to the snow.

Please save me again, Mister Nova.