//------------------------------// // The Storm // Story: Even In Other Worlds // by Rytex //------------------------------// Even In Other Worlds Chapter 06 - The Storm Nova sighed, feeling utterly relaxed as Alex rubbed out the many kinks in his back.  It had been a week since he had freed Princess Luna.  A week full of Tracy fussing over his recovery, of Natalie fussing over the fact that this was the second time he had engaged the Hellsings (apparently not knowing that he had done it for Tracy), of Discord teaching him how to fight with a sword, and of visits to Princess Luna’s new cottage in the outskirts of the city.  After such a long and exhausting week, including school work to maintain the appearance of still being under the curse, Alex had noticed his sudden work ethic and had offered to give him a massage. Upon asking, Nova’s only reaction was an arched eyebrow. Alex immediately went red upon realizing what Nova had been implying. “Damn you, Nathan, I meant just as a friendly, help-you-relax thing,” he protested defensively. “Trisha’s been making me give her massages, so I’ve gotten rather good at them and figured you could use one.” Nova just shrugged and agreed.  And fifteen minutes later,  Alex was proving his proficiency as a non-professional masseuse while Natalie jabbered on and on about anything in particular.  It almost reminded Nova of Pinkie Pie “And speaking of muscle mass,” she continued, segueing from something about the school’s hoofball team, “you, sir,” she poked him in the shoulder, “have been working out.” “Yep,” he said, then let out a groan of satisfaction as Alex managed to rub out a particularly painful kink in his back. “How so?  You don’t run, or anything.” “Mr. Sire,” he said, raising his head to rest his chin on his crossed arms in front of his head.  “Teaching me fencing.” “Fencing?” Alex asked curiously.  “Never took you for a fencer, Nathan.” “You’d be surprised,” Nova replied. “And why Mr. Sire, may I ask?” Alex continued.  “He seems to have taken quite the interest in you, ever since that day you got sick.” “He helped get me home,” Nova replied.  “I dunno.  I think he likes me, or something.” “May God have mercy on our souls,” Alex snarkily muttered in earshot of all of them. “Why fencing, though?” Natalie asked.  “Why not martial arts, or something?  Does he even know fencing?” “Well, apparently,” Nova answered.  “As for martial arts, I dunno.  I don’t even know who would teach me.  Or what they would teach me.” With that, all was silent, save for the occasional groan from Nova as Alex caught a particularly sensitive kink. “Today’s Friday,” Alex finally said. “Way to go, Alex!  You’ve learned your days of the week!” Nova responded sarcastically. “I mean,” Alex said, digging his fingers into Nova’s sensitive spinal area as retaliation, “isn’t tonight Council of Gentlemen night?” “Oh, really?” Nova asked, this time sincerely.  He had quite forgotten about his weekly night of drinking with friends over the last few weeks.  “Huh.  Thanks, Alex.  I’d forgotten.” Alex grunted. “Why do you ask, out of curiosity?” Nova added.  “Looking to join us?” “Yep,” Alex affirmed.  “Where’s the bar?” “Pub, more like,” Nova responded.  “It’s the Londoner, in Uptown.” “Oh, that’s where you run off to every Friday,” Alex said.  “And here I thought it was some shady place down in Downtown.  Figures, considering none of those guys would enjoy booze nearly as much as ale or British brew.” “Seven o’clock sharp,” Nova said.  “And make sure you’re prepared to talk about Trisha.” {E} {I} {O} {W} Nova hurried along the sidewalk of Uptown, toward the warm, cheery light spilling from the insides of a proper British pub.  It was ten minutes till seven, and it was group tradition that the first to arrive would the the one to not buy the round.  Of course, he had neglected to inform Alex of this because of initiation.  He was going to have to buy a round anyway. He approached the moderately-sized rectangular building and pushed open the wooden swinging door to reveal the pub’s interior.  Wooden floors, tall and short wooden tables alike populated with pubgoers, a few billiards tables in a side section, along with comfy pleather chairs, and so forth. “Hey, Stephen!” he called to where a portly man with black hair was polishing a bar mug near a beer draft.  The man nodded without looking up, then gestured with the mug toward their round table in the back corner of the seated section of the bar.  To Nova’s delight, the round table was completely devoid of people.  “No sign of the others?” he asked.  Stephen shook his head. Nova pumped his fist.  No round-buying for him! It was strange, really.  He had memories of the times he had actually been there, drinking with the Council, doing things these humans did.  And yet, he hadn’t been present there as Nova, only as Nathan.  It was really strange having two personas living in his mind. And that’s not even counting the emotive and logical halves of my brain, he thought. The door to the tavern opened, and in came the usual group of the Council of Gentlestallions.  Or rather, their human selves.  A muscular, ginger-haired man with a red tank-top and brown work pants was leading the group.  Nova couldn’t help but muse to himself that everyone looked like their pony selves, and they had similar names. Big Mac was Mike Appleby, Lucky was simply Luke, Caramel was simply Carey Carmichael, Pierce was, oddly enough, Pierce, Thunderlane was Theo, with no last name Nova had ever managed to get out of him, and finally/most amusingly, Time Turner was Timothy “Tim” Turner. Really, Envy, it’s like you weren’t trying to hide them at all, Nova thought. “Damn it,” Nova heard Turner say.  “The one day I wait for you guys, and I have to spend my hard-earned money to buy a round.” “Umad, bro?” Nova asked, flashing a teasing grin.  One of the things he would miss about this world is easily the internet.  Even when he had regained his memory, there was something about that place, for want of a better term, that just made it too much fun to be legal. “No, I’m more like very irritated,” Turner answered.  “The money’s important!  I’m taking Deborah out on a date next week!” “Well, let’s count the number of times you haven’t bought rounds,” Mike said.  “Let’s see, there’s the last five times, you paid on the one just before that little run, then there’s the three before that one--” “Okay, okay, fine, I get the point,” Turner said, rolling his eyes.  “It’s not my fault I have something to dedicate my money to each week.” “Remind me,” Nova interjected as everyone slid into their round table, Aegis on the end since he’d have to be the first one up to order, “what exactly are you putting your money towards?” “A ring,” drawled Mike.  “What else?” “What Mike said,” concurred Pierce.  “If he isn’t putting his money toward a ring for his girlfriend, he’s doing a poor job managing his money--” “I’ll have you know that I’m actually working on saving up to purchase a decent house in the city,” Turner interrupted irritably.  “‘Snot my fault that house out by the Appleby farm is terrible.  Only managed to get an apartment in town a few weeks ago, so now I’m making payments on that and getting enough to buy a house.” “But you’re still getting an engagement ring, aren’t you,” Mike said, giving Turner a challenging gaze.  “If you’re not, then I think you need to explain exactly why I saw you exiting the jewelry shop in the mall today.” Turner went very pale. “H-how’d you know I was there!?” he demanded of Mike. “Answer the question,” Mike said in a low voice, which somehow carried a lot more weight than Turner’s shout. “Well yeah, I was searching for engagement rings,” Turner said, and Nova grinned to himself when he felt no telltale flare of energy that indicated him lying.  “I mean, I’ve been dating her for almost a year now; isn’t it about damn time?” “Well, congratulations,” said Alex, clapping him on the shoulder, “but why the secrecy about it?” “I dunno,” Turner said, shrugging.  “This is a council of bachelors, after all.  Didn’t know if you guys would kick me out, or something.” Nova could only smile, knowing it wouldn’t happen.  After his engagement to Twilight, the Council had explained it didn’t matter if they were all bachelors or not, only that they were the town stallions all getting together. “So is this all you do?” Alex asked.  “Go drinking and talking about your love lives?” “Pretty much, yeah,” Nova answered.  “Speaking of, you still need to buy us the first round for the night.” Alex groaned good-naturedly, but took everyone’s drink orders.  When they were all said and done, he proceeded up to the counter and ordered, before coming back to the seat. “Well,” Mike said, “now that that’s out of the way, we move on to a more pressing issue, one I think we discussed not that long ago.”  He turned his gaze toward Nova.  “Nathan here took on the Hellsings a couple of weeks ago to save Miss Rachel Dillon, and as I understand it, he repeated the feat for Miss Tracy Strong.” The group collectively applauded him, and Turner and Carey both clapped him on the shoulders.  Nova only smiled bashfully. “Come on, guys,” he said  modestly, “‘snot like you wouldn’t have done the same thing.” “Leapt in?  Maybe,” responded Theo, “but you beat them.  All of them!  And you did it twice!” “Element of surprise goes a long way in a fight,” Nova replied, shrugging.  “I almost literally jumped them.  Like, right on top of them.” The group collectively winced. “As I understand it, they went underground,” Theo said.  “No one’s seen them, no one’s heard anything about them for the last couple-a weeks.  What happened?  Did the cops get ‘em?” “Unlikely,” Turner said.  “Their leader’s a slippery one.  He probably wormed his way out of trouble from the police again.” Nova couldn’t tell them that Princess Luna had taken them all to the small cottage in the outskirts, close to the farm.  It had only been a week and she had already successfully freed Frigoris from the mental prison Nightmare Moon had crafted, but the others were still trapped. “True knight, this one,” Pierce said, clasping his hands under his chin and fake-nuzzling Nova.  “Leaping into danger, saving beautiful women from thugs, and risking his life to protect any helpless citizen,” Why must everyone insist on calling me a knight?  I have no shining armor, blade, or shield.  I’m just an ordinary pony who wants an ordinary life.  He internally snorted.  If I was going to get a normal life, I suppose I wouldn’t have gotten myself engaged to a Princess, he thought. “So what’s Natalie thought of this?” Mike wondered.  “Knowin’ her previous track record regarding you helpin’ other girls, she probably refused to talk t’you fer the first three days.” “It’s weird,” Alex said, “but it kinda seems like she’s getting more bearable lately.  I would know, considering I hang around both of them, and if anything, she was quite pleased he had beaten them.  Maybe there’s hope for us not hating-- sorry, strong word, strongly disliking-- her after all.” “Hey, lay off Nathan’s choice in girlfriends,” Turner protested indignantly.  “I’m sure he sees something in her that makes it worth his while.” “You make it sound like I’m dating her for personal gain,” Nova remarked.  “Any ma-- girl I choose to date I do because I legitimately like them.  Maybe even love, down the line.” Unbidden, a memory of when he first agreed to date Twilight popped into his head.  He did like her back then, and now he knew it.  Such a shame that back then, he didn’t buck up and admit he had fallen head over hooves for her earlier.  It would have prevented unnecessary heartache. Alex suddenly snickered.  “Were you about to say ‘man’ there?” he asked, as everyone at the table chuckled at Nova’s expense. Nova shook his head, smiling despite the knock on him.  “Nah, you really wouldn’t believe me if I told you.” “Fair enough,” Alex said, shrugging. Discussion on all of their love lives resumed.  Alex, being the new guy, had the most to answer for, but the general question was how he could willingly date a narcissist such as Trisha.  Nova had been wondering the same thing about that in Equestria.  Just how had Aegis and Trixie become a thing? Aegis’ first night came and went without incident, except for Mike being harried by the group for not making good on a promise to ask that elementary school teacher he had a thing for.  But after a long night spent with good company, everyone took their leave.  Nova got up and swung his cloak around himself, but just as he was about to pass outside, a muscled arm blocked him from leaving. “Yes, Mike?” Nova asked, turning to see Mike Appleby looking down at him with an unreadable expression.  Nova had never really appreciated just how tall and muscular Mike was. “Walk with me,” he said simply, before throwing open the door and proceeding out. “Uh, sure,” Nova said, following suit. The night was crisp, calm, and cloudy.  Nova enjoyed colder weather, so the night was perfect for him.  It seemed Mike thought the night was perfect too, because he didn’t speak up until they were a good block away from the pub. “So Nathan,” he drawled, “jist how many gals d’you plan on keepin’ on the side?” Nova blinked. “I beg your pardon?” “Don’t play dumb with me,” Mike said in a dangerous voice, turning and giving him an equally-dangerous look.  “Yer datin’ Miss Verano, and whahle Ah may not lahke it, Ah’ve nothin’ to say ‘bout it.  Yet the word is you’ve been spendin’ more tahme with Miss Strong, and that’s not even countin’ the rumors ‘bout you and Miss Dillon.” Nova raised a hand with a pointed finger, trying to interject, but Mike was having none of it. “An’ then a couple’a days ago, he continued, now backing Nova into the wall of a random store, “Ah see you movin’ all sneaky-like out by the Appleby farm with some lady in a blue dress.  Lahke the two o’ya didn’t want nobody seein’ you.” Mike was glaring into Nova’s eyes a mere two inches away. “Start talkin’,” he commanded. “Yes sir,” Nova said.  “Still dating Natalie, becoming closer friends with Tracy, saved Rachel Dillon from the Hellsings, and the lady in blue ended up on the wrong side of them as well, so I chose to help hide her somewhere out in the open where people like you who are up early enough and late enough would see them coming.” Mike’s eyes narrowed. “You were hahdin’ her?” he asked skeptically. “Yeah,” Nova said, nodding.  “Just go check that old cottage on the road to Charrington.  It’s her and a few friends of mine.” “Friends-a yers?” Mike asked, raising an eyebrow. “Yeah,” Nova nodded.  “They were forced into helping the Hellsings,” he explained.  “Now they’re hiding out with her until it’s safe to come back to the city.” Mike scrutinized Nova, looking for any evidence he was lying.  Nova knew he would be damn good at it, since he lived with his Element-of-Honesty sister. “Fahne,” he said, backing up and letting Nova off the wall.  “Yeh owe me a Saturday of farm work.” “What for?” Nova protested. “Payment,” Mike said.  “If they’re hahdin’ out there, they’ll need food, and they’d lahkely.steal it from our farm.  Not that we’d mahnd, given their situation, but it’d be better for us ta feed them willin’ly.” It was true, they did need food, and Nova couldn’t just go out there all the time.  The last thing he needed was to attract the attention of the changelings or Sombra for visiting Princess Luna every few days. “Thanks, Mike,” he said gratefully. “You’ll be workin’ with mah sister, since Ah usually take Saturdays off.  She’ll git ya good and tahred by the end o’the day.” An opportunity to work with Applejack?  This fit quite nicely with his plans to find a way to reawaken everypony. “Can I bring a friend?” Nova asked. “What?” Mike asked, giving him a curious look. “Can I bring a friend along?” he asked again. “Long as yer there workin’, Ah don’t see whah not,” Mike answered, turning and continuing down the street.  “But one last thing, Nathan,” he added.  “If Ah go t’that cottage, and there’s nobody there, or Ah fahnd out that yeh lahed to me, Ah’ll go straight to Natalie and tell her everythin’ Ah jist interrogated you about.” “Feel free,” he said. Mike gave him a blank look at that. “Yer actin lahke yeh don’t want ta be datin’ her no more, yeh know that?” he asked.  “Did yeh jist ask me ta tell her ‘bout the other three gals?” “Wha-- nononono!” Nova hastily replied, realizing what he had said.  If Envy was who he thought she was, this could be a trigger to undo the curse.  And he couldn’t do that just yet.  The status quo had to remain in place as long as he could keep it there. Mike just snorted and kept walking, heading for what was presumably his truck.  Nova kept pace with him, waiting for him to say something else, but it seemed the interrogation was over. A deep rumbling sounded.  Both of them looked up instinctively. “Storm’s comin’,” Mike observed.  “This’ll be good for the crops.” “Are you being metaphysical on me, or just observing the weather patterns?” Nova asked. Mike chuckled. “Whah?  Yeh think somethin’ big’s about ta happen?” “You could say that,” Nova answered evasively. Mike chuckled again and shook his head. “But it does feel lahke somethin’’s about ta happen here,” he continued.  “The cops’re gettin’ inta more scuffles with the townsfolk, the Hellsings’ve been more active, even seems lahke you’ve changed quite a bit over the last few weeks.  Ah can only wonder where we’re headed.” Nova said nothing.  He had felt for a while that ever since Twilight became a princess, events had proceeded to quickly get less and less controllable.  If the business with the Everfree Forest hadn’t been enough, Tirek’s attack really messed with him. Due to a little bit of diplomacy the Princesses needed him to do in Eurpone, he had been absent for it, and he came home to find that Twilight had a sparkly new treehouse-castle and that his favorite library had been incinerated. He had been most displeased by the castle, though.  Just when he had finished his hoof-built (read, no magic involved) new home on the road to Neighton and everything, Twilight got herself an even bigger, grander house to live in. And she lived in it, too.  Princess Celestia had told her that, at least for a while, it would do her good to live in her castle in an act that would help to instill in the citizens that she was now truly a princess over them, and that after it had become ingrained, she could move in with Nova.  Of course, Nova could move in with her at any time, and it would definitely have happened after the wedding at the latest. It had not been fun being around Twilight during that time.  She’d had to replace all of her books.  ALL of them.  Including her Star Swirl writings.  While Nova knew she wasn’t so petty as to prize her books more than her own life, he knew she wasn’t taking the loss of some of her most treasured possessions well. So caught up was he in his trip down memory lane that he almost fell over when Mike suddenly caught him by the upper chest, stopping him from accidentally running into his very old pick-up truck. “Ya look purdy thoughtful there, Nathan,” Mike said after Nova had stabilized himself from nearly toppling backwards.  “Penny fer yer thoughts?” Nova just shook his head.  “It’s complicated, and it revolves around memories that kinda hurt right now.” Mike just nodded.  With that, he opened his pickup door and started to climb in, but he paused for a moment. “Yeh got an umbrella?” he asked Nova, who shook his head again.  Upon doing so, Mike tossed him a collapsed black umbrella, before climbing in and shutting the door.  The truck started with a sputter, and with a near-roar, Mike was off, driving down the road that led out of town. Nova watched him go for a while, but after feeling a wet plip! on his head, he opened the umbrella, leaned the metal support against his shoulder, and started walking off as the rain began to fall. The apartment was several blocks away, and he had no transportation.  But still, it was a nice night, and he wasn’t getting rained on.  Mike had lent him a pretty large umbrella, perhaps enough to fit him, Ashleigh, whoever Bloom was, and whoever Granny Smith was all under it.  He wasn’t complaining, though.  The magic woven into his cloak kept him warm, and his umbrella kept him dry. He yawned slightly, feeling pleasantly inebriated from the round of drinking, but thanks to some clever spellcasting, he had prevented his decision-making and general judgement from being affected by the alcohol.  So he was able to enjoy the pleasant buzz in his head without suffering from any of the negative side effects, except maybe the hangover.  Still hadn’t figured out an effective ward against those, yet. Nova stopped dead in his tracks, alarm flooding through his entire being.  Tracy Strong was running pell-mell through the rain.  In no particular order, some things Nova noticed were that she had no umbrella, she had no coat, she was wearing a thin, white oxford shirt, and she was drenched, which only meant her shirt was effectively see-through. Thank goodness she remembered to put on that human bra thing.  Nova still hadn’t figured out what was so appealing about human teats, but apparently his body, mainly his manhood, seemed to enjoy it immensely.  The last thing he needed was to look like a total pervert in front of Twilight’s human self. “Tracy!” he called.  She slowed to look in his direction.  While he doubted she could recognize him with it being so dark out, she had to know his voice, and so she bolted in his direction. Nova held the umbrella up above him as she got closer, which allowed her to duck under it. “Th-thanks,” she said, shivering from the cold. “Not at all,” he said.  “Let’s get you out of the storm.  My apartment’s not far.  Or should we head to your place?  Where’s it at?” “A-a-c-c-cross t-t-town,” she answered, her teeth chattering against each other.  She noticed Nova trying not to stare at her black bra and hastily covered herself up as best she could.  “I-it’ll have t-to b-b-be y-y-yours.” “Here, hold this,” Nova said, handing her the umbrella, before unfastening his cloak’s brooch from around his neck, taking it off, and putting it on Tracy.  She handed him back the umbrella, before pulling it tight around herself and, either for extra warmth or for some other reason, huddling against him. Nova was lost for words, but he couldn’t deny he was quite enjoying himself.  But with a slight nudge, he pushed Tracy off of him so he could move. “Will Spike be okay?” he asked, before mentally kicking himself for forgetting that his name wasn’t Spike in this world. “Who?” she asked. “Your… ah…” he trailed off. “Oh, y-you mean Sam, and he’s my l-little adopted brother,” she said.  “I-I’m sure he’ll be fine.  He’s managed without m-me before.” “Little adopted brother?” Nova asked, quite intrigued. “Y-yeah,” she answered as they walked.  “H-he’s been living with me as long as I can remember.” “Oh,” he answered.  “Didn’t know.  Honest mistake.” “I-it’s fine,” she answered.  “H-how far away is your apartment, by the way?  I h-haven’t been there for a while,” she asked, as they passed by a familiar setting Nova was sure Tracy ought to have recognized. “Well, there’s the alley where I managed to beat the Hellsings,” he said, pointing it out.  “Man, the pub’s closer to my apartment than I thought.” She let out a soft “hmm,” but said nothing else.  They walked in silence the rest of the way.  Once they were there, Nova hurriedly opened up the door and they both quickly got inside. “I’m going to go start a fire,” he said, heading on over to his fireplace, where a gas emitter was already in place.  With a few knobs twisted and a match lit, he soon had a quiet fire heating up the living room of the apartment. “Th-thanks,” she said, still huddling under his cloak.  He walked on over, unfastened the brooch, and swung it off, making sure to avert his eyes from the wet button-up shirt she had on as he did so. “You’re probably going to want to leave those by the fire to dry,” he said. “Th-that just an excuse to get me to strip down f-for you?” she asked, giving him a look that, were it not for the twinkling mirth in her eyes, would have made him feel quite bad about himself. “Not at all, but since you don’t seem opposed to the idea,” he said, deciding to go along with it anyway.  But to his simultaneous horror and perverse delight, she actually pulled the shirt right off and laid it flat on the ground to dry off in the heat of the fire. Nova almost had a nosebleed right then and there. Tracy just winked flirtatiously at him as he couldn’t stop staring at the bare skin of her back, before making his night even better/worse and turning around. Nova’s blue eyes met her rather playful purple ones, before trailing down her before he could stop himself.  Thank goodness the bra was modest, covering nearly all of her rather average endowment,  Was it average?  Hers seemed to be smaller than most everyone else’s, but he tossed that information aside as his eyes trailed down to her navel, then beyond to her black dressy pants, which looked pretty drenched too, but not nearly as much.  Thank Celestia they were far less revealing. “Like what you see?” she asked, giving him an even more playful grin.  Nova just blinked several times, before finally managing to realize he was still in control, and turning around as fast as he could. Tracy giggled behind him. “Oh Nathan, you’re too much fun to tease,” she said.  “Maybe if you let me tease you some more, I might remove my pants for you to get a good look, too.” Nova almost fainted.  This was, without a doubt, the most embarrassing thing to have happened to him inside his apartment, and this was including the pole-dancing Granny Smith Discord had summoned.  The last thing he needed now was for the draconequus himself to show up… BAM BAM BAM! Oh, no way… Nova thought.  It just can’t be… But it wasn’t Discord.  No, instead it was the one person Nova was hoping wouldn’t catch him in this situation. “Nathan?” Natalie’s voice sounded from the other side of the door.  “Nathan, are you inside?” Oooooooooohhhhhhh shit… Logic and Emotion decided to say at exactly the same moment.  Nova had to agree with them. Thankfully, Tracy was off the mark instantly.  She had snatched up her wet shirt and had bolted into one of Nova’s empty rooms as quietly as she could, which would easily not be heard with the din outside.  As soon as she was out of sight, Nova walked over to the door and opened it up. Natalie stood there, closing up her umbrella and shaking what little water was in her hair out of it. “Thanks,” she said breathlessly as she walked inside, not even waiting for him to allow her.  “Some storm, huh?” “Yeah,” Nova said, rolling his eyes and following her back inside.  “Just showed up out of nowhere and invaded without anyone’s consent,” he added. “Oh hush,” she said, giving him an irritated look.  “I was just coming to make sure you got home safely.  I know how late you guys stay out at the Council of Dudes or whatever, and I didn’t know if…” She trailed off.  To Nova’s horror, she had noticed a wet water trail on the ground.  She looked back up. “How late were you out?” she asked, furrowing her brow.  “Did you get caught in it when it first struck?” “Yeah,” Nova said, hoping beyond hope she didn’t investigate beyond that.  “Mike brought me home when he saw me out in the rain.” Nova noticed her eyes flick ever so briefly toward the hearth, where the puddle of leftover water from a removed shirt lay in front of the fire. “Did that coat get soaked?” she asked. “That what?” “Your coat,” she repeated.  “That new coat you’ve started wearing.” “Oh, yeah,” he replied.  “Needed to dry it off, and I figured it’d be nice for a good heating, so I turned on the fire.” She yawned slightly, before walking over to his couch and falling on it and rubbing her eyes tiredly. “It’s been a long day,” she groaned.  “Please don’t make it any worse.  Just tell whoever’s hiding in your other room to come on out.” “I-- what?” “Oh Nathan, don’t play dumb,” she snapped irritably.  “Seriously, why do you even bother?  It’s not like I’m going to be angry for you having friends over, especially out in a storm like this.” “Well, given how you normally are around other girls...” Nathan trailed off as the door opened up and Tracy started to come out.  He was immensely relieved to see she had buttoned her shirt back up as well.  That would at least take most of the heat off. Natalie continued rubbing her eyes.  “I’m working on it,” she replied sourly.  “But I swear I’m not going to speak to you for a week if it’s--” Her hand came down right at that moment, and in that dramatic, predestined moment, she and Tracy locked eyes.  Tracy’s were full of apprehension, and Natalie’s were at first full of surprise, but then they narrowed dangerously. “What.  The hell.  Is SHE doing here?” Natalie asked softly, glaring with unabashed hatred at Tracy, who only glanced at him helplessly. “Something about having people over during a storm?” Nova retorted, already less than happy with her for her response to Tracy’s entrance. “I said friends,” snapped Natalie.  If looks could kill, everyone in the general cone behind Tracy would have been incinerated by the ferocity of Natalie’s gaze. Nathan took that opportunity to step right in between the two of them. “Tracy,” he said calmly, “go and wait in my bedroom.  There are earplugs in the nightstand, and you might want to put them on; I think there’s going to be a lot of yelling.” “But--” she tried to protest, but Nova gave her a look.  She fell silent, and stared between him and Natalie for a moment, but then complied. As soon as the door had shut, Nova rounded on Natalie. “You know, Alex taught me some valuable words of wisdom,” he said, struggling mightily to keep his voice calm.  “‘Don’t insult someone in their own house.  They’re the ones who know where the meat knives are.’” “What does that have to do with anything?” she asked, arching an eyebrow at him, a snarl working its way onto her face. “What does it have to do with anything?” Nova repeated, putting an incredulous edge into his voice.  “What doesn’t it have to do with this!?  You come into my house and immediately imply that I should throw her out to the street!? Do you have ANY idea how insulted I feel by that!?” “Who’s to say I was implying anything?” Natalie asked, eyes narrowing. “Oh, I don’t know,” Nova responded scathingly, “how about the part where you questioned why she was here?  You couldn’t possibly have missed the completely drenched shirt of hers, or the fact that it’s storming outside.  Why the hell do you THINK she’s here?” Nova hadn’t noticed his voice getting steadily louder and louder, but Natalie had, and she had risen to her feet and was advancing on him.  Nova simply drew himself to his fullest height, which was about a head taller than Natalie.  Maybe if he tried to intimidate her off of this subject…? “Make her leave,” Natalie commanded softly, glaring at Nova, challenging him not to do it. “No,” Nova said firmly.  “She is a friend, and she was out in the rain.  I wouldn’t make her leave even if I hated her guts.  I’m not like that, Nat.” “Make.  Her.  Leave,” Natalie repeated, eyes narrowing. “What is your problem with me helping other girls!?” Nova demanded, drawing himself even a bit higher, a full head taller than her.  “First Deborah, now Tracy!?” “I just don’t understand why you spend so much time focusing on other girls!” Natalie responded, shaking with suppressed rage. “Natalie,” Nova said, sighing and shaking his head in disappointment, “you should know by now that I always try to help people.. It’s just what I do.” “Then stop doing it,” she retorted.  “I don’t want you helping out people I don’t like.” That did it. “Get out,” Nova said through clenched teeth. Natalie looked dumbstruck, and for the briefest of moments, a flicker of fear crossed her face.  Nova’s eyes had again briefly flickered red. “Wha--” she started to say, but Nova cut her off. “GET OUT!” he roared, finding it in himself to draw himself up even taller than he already was. She just stared at him, completely shocked.  What the hell had happened to Nova to put him like this?  He never yelled at her; mostly, he just sort of tried to play mediator whenever she got really angry at Alex for some reason, so why now? Her eyes fell on the door Tracy was hiding behind.  Of course, she thought. “I’m sorry,” she said softly, for once, actually sounding apologetic about it. “No you’re not,” Nova said scathingly.  “You’re only sorry I’m kicking you out.” She let out a growl of anger. “Fine!  Be that way!  I wouldn’t want to date someone who lowers their standards like that, anyway,” she added as she stalked towards the door, threw it open, stormed off, and then slammed it shut. It honestly took serious effort from Nova not to go after her and slap her for that remark. He simply stared after her, his fist clenching so hard, his nails dug into his palm.  He was shaking with anger; how dare she say that about Tracy!? “Nathan?” came her voice from behind him.  “Are you alright?” “F-fine,” he growled, feeling blood run down his fingers and onto the floor, still watching the door.  “Just peachy.” “You’re bleeding,” she observed.  “I’ll go--” “No,” Nova said, turning to stop her from fussing over him.  “Don’t worry about it.  I’ll clean it up myself.” Nova walked over to the kitchen half of the front room, tore off a paper towel, and stuck it in his hand to soak up the blood.  And speaking of soaking, Tracy’s shirt was still sopping.  To make matters worse, it was transparent in how wet it was. “Go put your shirt by the fire,” he said dispassionately.  “Natalie’s gone now; you won’t have to worry.” “A-are you sure?” she asked, sounding somewhat apprehensive. “If you’re alright with it, and since you saw to tease me earlier,” he added, with a small smile. Tracy just stared at him for a bit of time, without moving.  Nova even saw her slightly squint a couple of times. “What, something on my face?” he asked. “N-no, it’s just… your eyes,” she answered, still scrutinizing him. “What about them?” Nova asked, turning to look into a reflective surface. “They were, well, red for a bit.” Red eyes? Nova thought.  Magical residue?  Or something else? The matter troubled him, but he reasoned he could just go and see Princess Luna or Discord about it later.  At any rate, his eyes were their usual shade of blue when he glanced in a small mirror, so it must not have been an immediate cause for concern. “Sorry about this,” he said in a soft voice as he turned on the tap to run cold water over his hand.  “I’m sorry you had to witness that.” “No, Nathan,” she said, walking over and giving him a look he had seen many times from a different form of the girl involved.  “I’m sorry.  I’m sorry this happened because of me.  If I’d known this would happen because I was here, I would have just gone ahead and walked all the way home.” “You’re sorry what happened?” Nova asked her, shaking his head.  “Sorry that I apparently broke up with a girl I, quite frankly, don’t even know why I was dating her in the first place?” Tracy said nothing for a moment, choosing only to watch Nova as he washed the blood from his palm, before unfolding a napkin from a drawer and binding the wound with it. “Can I say something honest but… harsh?” she asked , sounding slightly nervous about it. Nova grunted.  “Go ahead,” he said in a flat voice, staring at the fire while he idly rubbed his opposite thumb over the makeshift bandage, which was already soaking through. “Well, okay then,” she said slowly.  Nova thought she must have been watching to see how he reacted.  “I think just about everyone who knows you was wondering why you were dating her, too.” “I didn’t take you for the gossipping type, Twilight,” he said. “What do you mean, ‘Twilight?’” she asked, confused. “Sorry,” Nova said, mentally slapping himself.  “Just something that sprung to mind, like how I called your brother Spike on accident.  Guess my night of drinking’s getting to me.” “You’ve been drinking?” She sounded surprised.  Didn’t she-- well, of course that would be one of the memories Envy would have suppressed.  Drinking Nights were the nights she typically had the girls over. “Yeah,” he said, heading over to the couch to sit by the fire.  “Weekly thing with some friends.” “You don’t sound drunk,” she said, following him over.  She leaned close to his mouth and sniffed.  “Your breath doesn’t smell of alcohol either.” “Lucky me,” Nova said, leaning back against the couch.  “Tracy, so sorry to put a damper on our conversation, but I’m tired and I want to get some sleep.” “Oh, umm, okay,” she said.  “Where are the blankets at?  And do you have a spare pillow?” “What for?” Nova asked, feeling slightly bemused. “So I can sleep on the couch,” Tracy replied, sounding as though it were the most obvious thing in the world. “Nonononono,” Nova said, shaking his head.  “You’re sleeping in my bed.  I refuse to make a guest sleep on my couch.” “I couldn’t,” she said, holding up her hands defensively.  “I don’t want to impose--” “You’re not imposing,” Nova interrupted her, grabbing her by the wrists and looking her in the eyes.  Had he been more perceptive, he would have noticed that her pulse quickened ever so slightly, that her pupils dilated a fraction, and that the faintest of blushes tinged her cheeks.  “I’m taking the couch, and you’re taking the bed.  Not up for discussion.” “We could… you know…” and then she trailed off, mumbling something that made Nova think of Fluttershy off the top of his head. “We could… what?” he asked, cocking his head in confusion... “Share… it…” she almost whispered, going quite red.  Nova just stared at her, blinking stupidly, without any real response to it. Then he laughed.  He laughed long and hard  The situation was just so familiar, almost like it had been that night in Trottingham,  and he wanted to cave so much.  But he couldn’t.  Not yet, at least.  They had literally just barely started to get to know each other. “What!?” demanded Tracy, looking slightly offended, but Nova just shook his head. “Sorry, Tracy,” he said, still chuckling slightly, “but I can’t.  Not that you’re ugly, or anything-- you’re pretty cute, actually-- but I’m too honorable for getting into a bed with a girl I’ve only really known or a month, even if it’s completely platonic.” Now for TWO months on the other hoof… he thought, only adding to his amusement. Tracy just stared at him, eyes narrowed.  Nova half-thought she might hit him.  Twilight would have.  It was funny, she first started with swatting him with her tail-- Scratch that, she just whapped him with her shirt as she turned around. Nova could only chuckle again as Tracy walked off back to Nova’s room, nose slightly in the air.  Up until now, Nova hadn’t noticed that her shirt was again unbuttoned, except that she was keeping it drawn close.  When she whirled around, with dexterity Nova knew befit Twilight’s magical ability, she had wormed herself loose and swung it up to whip him in the face gently. Nova knew it was intentional, because he definitely saw Tracy’s light smile as she walked back to his room. “Hey, toss your shirt out and I’ll leave it by the fire,” he called after her.  After a moment, an arm appeared out of his door and flung the wet oxford at him.  He caught it, chuckled yet again, and walked on over to lay it by the fire. The storm was still going strong outside.  He felt a slight pang of worry about Natalie being caught out in it, but his earlier anger was enough to make sure he wasn’t going to worry too much.  Hopefully she got splashed by a semi driving through a really deep, muddy puddle. He smoothed out the oxford carefully, the same way he had done to many of his shirts in this world on rainy days, if his fake memories were anything to go by, then toned down the fire from a blaze to a peaceful crackle, the better to help him sleep. He sat on the couch for a while, thinking about the night’s proceedings and how they were going to affect how his plan played out.  Would this breakup help to trigger the curse falling apart?  Hopefully not.  But what if it did?  Would it accelerate his plans, or set them back? He sat there for a few minutes, eventually coming to the conclusion that this called for a chat with Luna and Discord, before he fell sideways onto-- His couch.  With no pillows or blankets.  And it suddenly hit him that he didn’t have any pyjamas either. He got up, walked over to the room Tracy had hidden in (a rather roomy closet), and grabbed himself a small pillow and a blanket, but realized there were no pyjamas in this little storage closet; they were all in his room. He dropped the blankets and pillows off on his cough before heading back to his room, and knocking on the closed door. “Tracy?  Mind if I grab something real fast?” he asked. There was no response.  Trying to emulate Fluttershy as best he could, he quietly opened the door and tiptoed inside.  Tracy was sprawled on the bed, under no covers and out like a light. And she was only wearing her bra and panties.  Her pants and socks, true to Twilight Sparkle form, were laid flat to dry on the hard floor. Nova hastily glanced away, hoping to find his pyjamas and get out.  But Nova being a normal stallion/man, couldn’t avert his gaze that easily. I’m starting to sound like that stupid vampony… he thought.  Watching her while she sleeps. Snorting quietly, he walked over to his bed and drew the covers up over her sleeping form.  She gave a gentle coo and curled herself up, before rolling over and facing him, still asleep. Satisfied with this corny romantic scene that he had just played out, Nova walked over to a drawer, pulled out a random pair of pyjama top and bottoms, and then tiptoed toward the door.  As he was about to exit, he turned and gaze one last look at the sleeping Tracy. She had a faint smile on her face, which was only magnified on the tender smile that etched itself onto Nova’s. “Sweet dreams, Twilight Sparkle,” he whispered, shutting the door quietly.  “Even if you may not remember, I still love you.”