Even In Other Worlds

by Rytex

Swords and Clubs

Music, new tab. You know the drill.

“...and he’ll need his medicine twice a day.  I’d suggest wrapping it up in a slice of cheese, since sometimes doggies don’t want to eat the pills,” Felicity Sanders explained in her trademark soft voice to Ashleigh , who was dutifully writing everything down.  They were back on the farm, and Nathan was hauling his share of the buckets he hadn’t gotten before he’d had to speed off.

“Ah see.  Thank yeh kahndly, Felicity,” Ashleigh said, giving the girl a quick thank-you hug.  “Ah think Ah need a long sit-down ta think about who else Ah misjudged.  First Rachel, now you…”

“Oh, it’s fine,” Felicity said, hiding her face slightly behind her curtain of pink hair.  “I know I’m not someone you’d spend all of your time with.  I’d just work at my animal shelter anyway.”

“What the hell are you sayin’, Fel?” Rachel asked, sounding thoroughly bemused.  “You think we don’t wanna spend time with you ‘cause you’re working at that animal shelter?”

“Well… maybe…”

“To hell with that,” Rachel said.  “I’m crashing your shift at the animal shelter sometime next week.”

“You’re… what?”

Rachel almost facepalmed, but she reminded herself, this was Felicity.  If anything could be remotely taken as an insult, either to her or from her, she’d take it that way.  Rachel had never met a less assertive person in her life.

“I’m showing up unannounced in the middle of your shift to help out,” she deadpanned.

“Oh, well, I can do it on my own just fine…  Besides, Mr. Sire usually comes in and helps, too.”

“Mr. Sire?  He’s a friend of mine,” Rachel proudly proclaimed to Felicity.  “I’ve been hanging around him and Nathan over the last few weeks.  Whaddya say?  Think I can join in?”

“Umm… sure, I guess…” said Felicity, shrugging.

“Wonderful!” Nathan exclaimed.  “Isn’t that nice?  Everyone seems to be getting along all of a sudden.”

This might be over faster than I expected.

Which, of course, meant that it wouldn’t be.  Nova knew that, this being Envy and all, there was likely a lot more to this than what appeared at first glance.

“Well,” he said, noticing that everyone seemed to be getting along quite well, “I think I’m going to head on home.  I’m looking forward to catching up on my sleep.”

“Yeah, think I’m gonna head in, too.  Need to get in some shots for coach,” Rachel said.  Nova secretly thought this was her way of excusing herself for a walk with him.

“Well thank ya kahndly fer the help, Nathan,” said Ashleigh, smiling and waving at them.  “An’ you too, Rachel.  Ah’ll be glad ta have you back fer some more help, if yer willin’.  An’ Nathan, when we gonna sit down an’ talk about mine an’ Rachel’s little prize?”

“Later,” Nova said, yawning and starting to walk out..  “When we have more time, we’ll all sit down and figure it out.  But for now, I’m tired.”

“Good-bye, Nathan!  Bye Rachel!” Ashleigh called as the two of them walked off.  Felicity seemed content to give a shy little wave as she continued to look after Winona.

“So?” Nathan elbowed Rachel as soon as they were back within city limits, “What did I tell you?”

Rachel just grunted.

“You don’t seem pretty pleased to have realized you had more in common with her than you think.”

“Fine, you were right,” admitted Rachel, rolling her eyes.

“You’re goddamn right,” said Nova, feeling the Breaking Bad quip was too good to pass up.  And receiving a punch to the shoulder for his trouble.

“So, about that date you owe me…” Rachel trailed off quite significantly, before looking up at him expectantly.  Nova didn’t really know whether she wanted him to ask her, or say he already had ideas.

“What about it?” he decided to ask.

“When do you think we can go?  Where do you think we can go?”

“Very eager to go on this date, aren’t you, Dash?” he observed.

“Well… yeah…” she sheepishly trailed off, scratching at the back of her head.  “It’s just…”

“Just… what?” asked Nova, as they passed a couple of cars parked near a clothes shop.

“Just… I don’t know.”  She groaned.  “Look, I know I’m fast.  You know I’m fast.  I, well, like doing things fast.  Like today, for example.  Working on that farm, getting it done in record time, absolutely perfect for me.”

“You know, Dash,” Nova smirked, “some guys prefer taking it slow.  Gives them time to savor it.”

“I… oh for goodness sake,” she facepalmed, “walked right into that one, didn’t I?”

“Why yes, yes you did,” answered Nova.  Discord was right.  Netflix was amazing.  They needed something like it in Equestria.  He would certainly love continuing to watch Phineas and Ferb.

“But anyway, I just, you know, want to go on a date as soon as I can.”

“I can’t help but get the feeling it’s not so much you want to go on the date quickly,” said Nova, somewhat conspiratorially, “as it is you want to snatch me up before someone else does.”

It was Rachel’s lack of a denial that surprised Nova the most.  He hadn’t expected her to be this up front about it.  No, he had expected her to sputter, to say that was impossible.

“You must be joking,” he groaned.  “Are you really that shallow?”

“No!” answered Rachel indignantly.  “I just… I’ve already told you, I really like you.  I know it sounds bad,” Oh, how right you are Rainbow, “but I just… it seems like you’re really taken with Tracy.  I don’t really have any sort of bad blood with her, but I will do my best to get you.”

“I am not a prize to ‘get,’ Rachel,” Nova snapped, snarling at her.  “If I’m very taken with Tracy, then you have no right to try to pluck me away.  I promised you a date, two if you count today’s tie, and I will honor my word.  But I didn’t promise we would be an item, Dash.  If it becomes more, so be it.  If not, I expect you to respect my decision.”

Nova continued walking, despite knowing that Rachel had stopped at those words.  Once he had made it a few paces, he sighed softly.

I should never have promised her a date, he thought dejectedly.  It will only lead to heartbreak in the end.

“I’m sorry.”

Nova turned and gave her a stern look, but he didn’t stop walking.  Rachel had caught up to him and was determinedly looking him straight in the eye.  Nova did notice a slight dejection in her eyes, as if she already knew what his tirade meant.  But while she might assume she knew, there was no way she really knew about everything between him and Twilight.

“It’s alright, Dash,” he said.  He meant it, but he cringed at his own voice sounding like he didn’t.

“No, really, I mean it.  I am sorry, Nathan.”

Rachel sped up until she was next to him.  Once she caught up, she just took to staring at the ground as they walked.

“Look, if you like Tracy, why didn’t you tell me already?” she asked, and Nova definitely heard the dejection in her voice.  “If you plan on taking me on a date, but you already like someone, your heart’s not gonna be in it, right?  What would the point of the date be?”

“You don’t understand yet, but you will later,” responded Nathan.  “Cryptic, I know, but you have no idea how important it was that you and Ashleigh repair the relationship between you.I was willing to promise you a date to make it happen.  That’s not to say I won’t put my heart into it, though,” he added hastily.

“It’s fine, Nathan,” Rachel sighed.  “Listen, today was fun.  It really was.  I’m still willing to go on that date, even if things don’t end up working well.”

“I’ll be looking forward to it,” Nathan promised.

“I’ll head on home from here.  Bye, Nathan.”

And with that, Rachel took off, jogging back toward the university.  Nova leaned against the wall of a shop behind him, watching her go.  The situation had suddenly gotten a lot more complicated than he had intended it to.

What if this carried over?  If Rainbow Dash harbored feelings for Nova even after they returned to Equestria?  Even though Dash was undeniably loyal, she had a very mean competitive streak, and though he wished this weren’t the case, he and Twilight still weren’t married yet.  Who knows?  She might use that as justification for trying to win him over before their second attempt at tying the knot.

What if this lead to a rift between Rainbow and Twilight?  What if that meant the Spirits of Harmony wouldn’t work?  What if that meant that their little Rainbow Castle thingy (Note to self, Nova, find a better name) was brought to a screeching halt just because he--

Damn it, Twilight, Nova thought, shaking his head, but he couldn’t stop grinning.  You’ve got me already starting to think of apocalyptic scenarios for even the smallest of mistakes.  What have you done to me?

Nova sat atop one of the buildings on the way to the University that he would run over.  It was the Tuesday after, class for the day was over (for him, anyway), and now he was simply sitting outside and enjoying the cool day.  Winter was in full swing, with a forecast of heavy snowfall slated for the evening, which meant that Nova felt pleasantly cool as he sat on the edge of a building’s roof, feet dangling over the sidewalk below.

He yawned; it had been a particularly early morning, thanks to his new assignment from Discord:  he now had to visit the gym and work out.  The first day yesterday had been nothing short of hell.  The second day, today, had been about as bad.

They said they needed him working out because his magic would build on his strength, meaning that he could basically lift things far larger than usual.  This being said, they were making him work out so that, in the event that he did end up moving something far larger than him, it was less likely to arouse suspicion.

The cold air was perfect for him.  His muscles were so sore they almost hurt.  And yet, he still felt very satisfied with how he had started off.  He didn’t know exactly what the human average was, or anything, but he felt a 100lb. max bench press was a reasonably good starting point.  Triple digits when he hadn’t lifted in his life before.

If he had been impressed by his benching, his leg press had certainly stunned him.  Clocking in at a 580 lb. max, Nova would be on Cloud 9 for the rest of the day.

But still, if maxing day, which was by far supposed to be the easiest day, hurt this much, Nova was in for a long life of sore muscles.  Maybe he could turn himself into Bulk Biceps (whoever he was in this world) if he worked long enough.

Yeah, fat chance of that happening, he thought.

“Nathan?”

Nova smiled to himself.  How nice, he thought.  She’s coming to visit more often, now.

“Over here, Tracy!” he called, waving towards the roof of his apartment.  Tracy had obviously seen him from down on the sidewalk below and had come up for a visit.  Considering she was probably coming to visit anyway, Nova guessed it really didn’t matter what venue was used.

He yawned slightly as he heard the crunching of the rooftop gravel growing closer.  A few moments later, and the sweater-vested form of Tracy Strong slipped into his peripheral vision as she sat down next to him on the roof edge.

“So, what brings you to my humble abode?” asked Nova, smiling at her.

“No reason,” answered Tracy, brushing her bangs out of her eyes.  “I just felt like coming to visit.  I mean, it’s been a bit more than a week since… you know.”

“Yeah,” Nathan said, snarling at the thought.

“I was just coming to see how you were doing,” she finished.  “Are you doing alright?”

“Me?  Oh, I’m doing fine,” he said, smiling again.  “Repaired Rachel’s friendship with Ashleigh Appleby, made sure my old teacher is taken care of out in a cottage by the farm, and it seems that me breaking up with Natalie is reaping only benefits.  I’m on Cloud fucking Nine.”

He noticed Tracy wince almost imperceptibly at his profanity and resolved to not do it again.  When around her, at least.

“Your old teacher?”

“Yeah.  Ms. Selene,” he added, seeing the blank look on her face.  “Taught me… well, quite a bit of what I know.  Doc Hoffman taught me the rest.”

She just stared at him.  Nova couldn’t help but shake the feeling that she didn’t believe him, but it didn’t really matter.  After all, it was true.  Maybe not for Nathan Samuel, but definitely for Nova Shine.

“You don’t believe me, do you.”  He smirked.  “Figures.  No one believes me when I tell them I’m engaged, too.”

Tracy just blinked.  She didn’t seem to have any response to that one.  Nova just chuckled and went back to staring at the town from his perch.

“Are you… are you serious?” she asked.

“About what?  Ms. Selene and Doc Hoffman?  Totally.  About being engaged?”  Nova smiled one of the most tantalizingly evil smiles he could.  “Maaaayyyybe.”

Tracy, again, just stared at him.  Though this time, Nova could see something in her eyes.  Was that… disappointment?  Upon actually turning to face her, it was unmistakable.  Tracy was definitely disappointed.  Well, understatement actually.  She almost looked as if this was the biggest let-down of her life.

“You believe me?” he asked, startled.

“I… guess,” Tracy admitted, turning away and staring at a random bug as it skittered across the concrete surface.  “I just… I get the feeling you’re not lying to me.”

“It’s complicated,” explained Nova, “really difficult to explain, and even if I did, I doubt you’d believe half of it.  This being said…”

Pressing his luck, he reached over and placed his hand on her’s.  At once, her head snapped up, staring at him with a slightly wary expression, but this time Nova didn’t miss the blush that coated her cheeks.

“You should know that it shouldn’t interfere with anything that could happen between you and me,” he finished.

He felt her hand twitch ever so slightly under his, a slight clench of the thigh-high concrete barrier, but she let the contact stand.

“So, what did you promise them?” she asked, after a long moment of silence.

“Hm?”

“Ashleigh and Rachel,” clarified Tracy.  “They couldn’t stand to be in the same room with each other without arguing about something.  What did you promise them, if they got along?”

Nova laughed.  He tossed his head back and he laughed openly and in such a way that even sensitive Fluttershy would have known that this was genuine amusement, and not the variety that came at one other’s expense.

“Sharp as a tack, aren’t you Tracy?”

She just stared at him seriously, until Nova’s mirth sort of fell away.  He just nodded.

“Yeah, did promise them something.  Well, two things actually.  Promised Rachel a date if she’d come with me to work on the farm, and since Ashleigh and Rachel both tied in a little contest of theirs, they agreed to take me on a double-date, as it were.”

And yet again, she just stared at him.

“‘Course, they did kinda rope me into that one, but still…”

And still, she just stared at him.  Nova was wondering if he had just overloaded her mind in some way.  There had been that time when he had dropped the news that he had been back from his little trip to the past seven months before he was actually back in Ponyville.

But then another thought occurred to Nova.  A thought so out of place, he never would have thought of Twilight feeling this way.  Rarity and Rainbow Dash, maybe, but Twilight?

“Are you… jealous?” he asked, bemused.

“So what if I am?”

Nova was taken aback by this response.  Twilight Sparkle would usually stammer and blush and explain why she was not jealous.  Perhaps the fake memories she was given were messing with her head?

“I’m flattered, Tracy,” Nova said after a moment.

“But…?” Tracy sighed.  It seems she knew that generally people who used that term had a stipulation.

“Mm, no buts,” he shook his head.  “I’m just flattered.”

He leaned his head back and took a deep breath, enjoying the crisp air as it stung his sinuses.

“I mean,” he added, shaking his head vigorously, “not even a couple of months ago, I thought you hated my guts.”

“I didn’t hate you,” she protested, waving her hands back and forth.  “I just… really didn’t like you very much.”

“You hated me, Tracy,” Nova assured her.  “Or at least, you hated me when I was like Natalie.  Either way, I’m not offended.  Not anymore, at least.”

He removed his hand from over hers and took another great whiff of the cool air.  He had never before appreciated just how good it felt, knowing he had worked hard to do something, and now was enjoying the fruits of his labor.  Of course, he had only worked one day, and he had only lifted barely anything, but he still felt quite satisfied.

“Well,” he said, swinging his legs back onto the rooftop, “while I don’t exactly have stuff to do today, I do need me a shower.”

Tracy wrinkled her nose as a great surge of his sweaty smell radiated straight into her nostrils.

“Yes, yes you do,” she concurred, fanning the air in front of her nose to clear the air.  She coughed too, but Nova couldn’t help but think that was just for show.  “Go on,” she said, shooing him towards his own apartment, “I’ll wait.”

Nova smiled, but complied, whipping off his shirt and tossing it back at her as he jogged back.  It was time for some teasing payback!

Sure enough, Tracy blushed at the sight of a shirtless Nova.  Granted, Nova wasn’t exactly the most built guy, but he wasn’t completely out of shape.  Nova halted, then turned back and winked at her, causing her red face to go almost purple.

“Like what you see?” he smirked back at her.  “I can always flex too, you know.”

He did.  Again, not the most built guy on the planet, but that seemed enough for Tracy.  She just blinked stupidly at the sight of him pretending to be a manly man.

“Well, got to go,” he said, before stretching.  “Showers to take, pretty girls to tease, you know the drill.”

And like that, Tracy was jolted out of her reverie.  “Umm, sure.”

“Won’t take long,” he assured her, before jogging into his apartment and turning on the warm water.

Showers are often the place where the most metaphysical, philosophical thoughts happen.  One moment, you could be staring at the nozzles, and the second moment, you’re pondering the ultimate meaning of life, the universe, and everything, and why exactly it was 42.  Nova Shine, in one of his few cases of being a normal pony, was doing something along those lines…

So if she’s swooning at the mere sight of me shirtless, he thought, she must have some sort of feelings for me.  Is Twilight Sparkle breaking out?  Or is it just me managing to win Tracy over?

Either way, it pleased him to know he was winning over at least half of Twilight Sparkle.

“Are you ready, Nathan?” asked Discord.

They were standing in the middle of a drawn circle on the ground of his manor’s little gym, ready for another session of learning to fight with blades.  Discord was wearing a strange work outfit, namely a grey T-shirt and athletic shorts, but even though he appeared a weathered, older gentleman, he was quite the fighter.

Nathan, in contrast, was only wearing athletic shorts as well.  Normally, this wouldn’t have been a fact to mention.

If it weren’t for the fact that today, Discord had let Rachel and Tracy in to watch.  Somehow, some way, they’d known “Mr. Sire” had been training him, and so they’d both shown up at his front door.  Considering they weren’t exactly friends yet, and their mutual attraction to him might not do any favors, Nova was hoping that Discord would turn them down.

He didn’t.

Nova took a deep breath, before shifting into his fighting stance.  Hilt of the blade by his pelvis, blade pointed vertically forty-five degrees, and most importantly, sword kept between him and his opponent.

“Begin,” Discord said, before darting forward and stabbing at Nova’s heart.

Nova twisted his own blade and deflected the stabbin blow away just in time, though it wouldn’t have really done anything.  They’d infused their swords with magical warding in case they inadvertently made a critical strike.  This would stop them in their tracks, preventing anything worse than broken bones.  Bruises, scratches, and other minor injuries, however, were still fair game.

As Discord found to his chagrin when Nova immediately followed up his deflection with a quick roundhouse kick with his right foot.  He wasn’t athletic enough to get it to head level, but he did plant it quite satisfyingly into Discord’s side.

With an “oof!” Discord stumbled sideways, leaving him completely open.for Nova to dart in and put a couple more strikes.

Discord, however, was a fantastic fighter.  He used the momentum of the kick to somersault on the ground, before springing back up and battering Nova’s blade away and following up with an attempt at cleaving him in two.

Nova dove away from that blow.  He wouldn’t have been able to get his blade back up in time, so he settled for avoiding the attack.  No sooner than he had righted himself than Discord came again.  Nova, this time, managed to parry the blow away before countering with his own swipe at Discord.

The duel continued in this vein for a few minutes, with Nova and Discord trading attacks and defenses, but neither of them really getting anywhere near victory.  Nova wasn’t trying his hardest-- he needed energy for the next three or four fights Discord would insist on-- but he was certainly giving it a hell of a shot.

Finally, after Discord managed to twist himself into a particularly contorted position to deflect one of Nova’s attacks, after Nova had managed to catch him out of form, Nova managed to trip him up and then jab the blade at his throat.  As intended, and as had happened several times before, the blade stopped just shy of Discord’s flesh.

“Nicely done, Nathan,” Discord said approvingly, as Nova helped him up.  “You played that one a lot like a tennis match, where your whole objective is placement.  And,” he leaned into Nova’s ear, “it really reminds me of your magical duelling style, trying to force your opponent into one of your traps.”

“Yeah, I guess the habit carried over,” agreed Nova.  “What did you think, ladies?”  He turned to Rachel and Tracy, who both looked fairly pleased that he won.

“Nice, Nathan,” Rachel said, walking over and examining Nova’s sword.  “When I heard he was teaching you fencing, I thought it was, like, the sport.  Didn’t know he was just teaching you how to fight with swords.”

“A little more than that,” Nova admitted, “but those are just between me and him.”

Rachel giggled.  Nova could only realize the implications of private lessons between a young handsome man and an elder man and roll his eyes at her display of immaturity.

Tracy looked no less impressed as well.

“Were you always trying to catch him out of position?  Or did that idea just occur to you at the end?” she asked curiously.

“It’s how I do things,” Nova said, moving his arms in a slight wind-mill exercise to loosen them up.  “I like to play a bit of chess with my opponents, no matter which little game it may be.”

“Not always the most practical thing to do,” said Tracy.

“Oh, lighten up egghead,” Rachel groaned.  “Let him savor the victory.”

“I am not an egghead!” Tracy huffed, stamping her foot in a manner that Nova couldn’t help but find cute.

“Yes, you are,” Nova sighed.  “Just lighten up and admit it.  Some of us guys like egghead girls.”

Tracy went pink and looked downward so that her bangs hid most of her face, and a look of irritation passed across Rachel’s face for a brief moment before she hid it.

“Five minutes, Nathan,” Discord said, walking over and taking a sip of water from a bottle he had left over on one of the benches, next to a pile of damp towels..

“Hey, toss me one of those towels,” he called over to the elderly man, who obliged, tossing Nova a white towel from a pile, who caught it and wiped his face and hair with it, trying to soak up the sweat.

And then he tossed it at Tracy, who wasn’t ready for it and took it straight to the face.  Rachel snickered, and Nova heard a touch of cruelty in the laugh that only made him frown.  Rachel, it seemed, was taking it quite personally that he liked Tracy, despite him saving her and her own admission that she liked him.

“You alright, Nathan?” she asked.

“Oh,” Nova said, shaking his head.  “Yeah, I’m fine.  Just lost in thought, is all.”

“Dangerous pastime,” snarked Rachel, inclining her head toward Tracy, who rolled just her eyes.

“Yeah, can’t deny that,” Nova admitted.  “After all, thinking gave birth to the Twilight Saga.  Or was it the lack of thought?  Either way, they all suck.”

For the first time, Nova had gotten them both to laugh at the same time.  And both were pure, genuine, amused laughs.  Sounds Nova had to admit he could get used to hearing.  Especially when compared to the alternative of them continuing to compete for him when the winner had been decided long before the contest even started.

The three of them talked for those five minutes, idly chatting about the goings on.  Every time Rachel tried to bring up her doings on the school’s football team, Tracy would try to drag it back to how classes were going, and the tug of war would continue until Nova asked something.

Inwardly, Nova groaned.  He always hated love triangles in literature, and now he was part of one.  Well, part of half of one.  No matter Rachel’s feelings toward him, or Rainbow Dash’s by proxy, he was engaged to Twilight Sparkle, and given his past experience with other girls (namely Clover), he wasn’t going to give himself any leeway, lest he do something that could come back to bite him.

“Take a couple more minutes, and get ready to go again,” Discord said, taking a quick swig of water.

They duelled a good nine times.  Nova won six of them, much to his delight, but Discord only remarked that he had been going easy on Nova, so then came the tenth duel, where Discord absolutely demolished him.  Rachel and Tracy, for whatever reason, both found the last duel very funny.

As soon as they were done, Nova immediately dashed over to the nearest sink, where he splashed water onto his face to remove any sweat from it and his hair.  Tracy excused herself not long after, leaving Rachel and Nova alone with Discord, who was closing up his gym.

“Go on, you two,” he shooed them out, “I’ve had enough of my visitors.  Same time next week, Nathan?”

“Yeah,” Nova nodded.  “See you then.”

“Practice your forms.  I expect them to be second-nature come this time next week.”

“Yes sir,” Nova promised, before strapping his scabbard to his back, which was nothing more than one of his Source extensions, modified to carry his Source extension sword.

“What’s that on your back?” Rachel asked, poking him between his shoulder blades right under his neck.  “Did you get a tattoo?”

“A tattoo?” Nova repeated, bewildered.  He jogged over to a mirror and turned around to see what Rachel was talking about, then twisted himself as best he could.

There, sitting right where she had poked him, was a navy-blue moon, surrounded by four stars.  His cutie mark had somehow branded itself onto his skin.

“Well,” he muttered to himself, “that’s not supposed to be there.”

“I think it’s pretty awesome.”

“Do you?” Nova smirked.  Of course she would.  “Hey Rachel, this is gonna sound awkward, but do you mind if I take a peek at that spot on your back?”

“Uhh, why?” she asked hesitantly.

“Call it morbid curiosity,” Nova remarked.  Rachel just shrugged and shed her shirt, revealing her toned midriff and her somewhat flat chest, restrained entirely by a black athletic bra that covered almost everything but her shoulders on her upper body.  She turned around, moved her ponytail around to her front, undid the restraints, and pulled it open just enough.

Nothing but smooth, blank skin.  Except...

There was something there.  It was small, to be sure, but right in the same spot, there was a faint red lightning bolt.  Faint, but unmistakably there.

“You’ve got one too,” said Nova, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

“I do?” Rachel asked, turning around to take a peek and momentarily forgetting she was holding up an athletic bra.

“R-RACHEL!” stammered Nova as she let it drop in her haste to see what was on her back.  He had quickly averted his gaze when he saw what was happening, but still.

“Hold on, hold on,” Rachel groaned.  “I can’t-- whoa.”

“Can you please just put your bra back on?” he asked.

“Oh hush,” she admonished.  “We both know you’d like what you’d see if you’d been perverted enough to look.”

“I’m not really sure whether to feel complimented by that,” Nova observed.

“But anyway, when did I get a tiny lightning bolt on my back?” she asked.

“Dunno.  Same time I got that moon and stars on mine, maybe?” he wondered.  “Wouldn’t worry about it too much, though.”

“Why not?”

“Doesn’t seem to be doing anything different, so guess it’s not too much to worry about,” Nova cheerfully proclaimed, grabbing his white shirt from its resting place on one of teh benches and slipping it on.

“That… is one of the dumbest outlooks on a possible health concern I’ve ever heard, and this is coming from someone who mocks eggheads like Tracy,” deadpanned Rachel.

“Eh, I’m still alive, aren’t I?”

“True,” conceded Rachel.  “Well, let’s make like a stoner and blow this joint.”

Nova didn’t need telling twice.  Within minutes, they were out and walking away from Discord’s rather expensive-looking mansion and towards the campus.

Winter was once again making its presence known.  The wind howled through the streets, bringing with it its biting cold.  To Nova, however, having finished with his athletic workout, it felt like heaven.  Cooling him off after an afternoon sweating in Discord’s gym…

“Enjoying yourself?” snickered Rachel as Nova let out a pleasant sigh.

“You’ve no idea,” he breathed.  “Love winter.”

“Wish I could say the same.  More of a summer fan.  So much more to do.”

“I suppose,” Nova dipped his head.  “More games to play, more sports in season, grass ain’t dead…”

They passed the gates of Discord’s manor, with pegasi statues stuck on top of each brick pillar.  Nova couldn’t help but notice one of the statues looked remarkably like Fluttershy.  He had seen it before, of course, but the resemblance was always striking.  Nice to know he cared about her that much.

“Do you think Ashleigh has a mark like that, too?”

“Huh?” Nova returned his attention to Rachel, who was fiddling with her neck.

“A mark like this,” she clarified.  “Do you think Ashleigh has one too?”

“What makes you say that?”

“I dunno,” she shrugged.  “I just… well, we do hang out more, and the three of us did work on the farm that one day.  Maybe it spreads.”

“So, that being said, Felicity might have one too?”  Nova couldn’t help but feel like this was exactly the sign he was looking for.

“I guess.  Come on, we’ll get to the campus faster this way,” she said, turning into an alleyway.  Nova followed suit, ducking in behind her.  He was going to take this path anyway.  Not because it was faster, no.

Something was wrong.  Something felt off about the area.

There were several pricks of energy on different sides of him.  All of them were distant, but they all had the same strange feeling, as though they were different from inherent pony magic.

“Dash, turn left here,” he said, his voice lowering to nearly a whisper.  They had come to a four-way intersection between buildings.

“What?” she asked, turning and giving him a strange look.

“Something’s wrong.  Let’s get out of the alley as fast as we can.”

“Are you feeling alright, Nathan?”

“Just get going.  I don’t know what it…”

He trailed off as a policeman walked by the entrance to the alleyway.  It wasn’t just any policeman, either.  These weren’t the generic Changeling drones.  These were the warriors.  They got the SWAT gear.  And now Nova could sense several of them in the immediate vicinity.

“Fuck,” Rachel cursed.  “It’s the cops.”

Nova felt a prick of energy behind him and turned back.  One of the SWAT-garbed policemen was now blocking the alley entrance they had used.  A couple of pricks later, he turned and saw that each entrance had one cop, blocking their way out.  And they were moving in.

Nova had the distinct impression he knew who they were after.

“Dash, get out of here,” he growled.  “Parkour up to the roof of the buildings and get out of here as fast as you can.”

“What about you?” she asked.

“Don’t worry about me.  I’ll get this sorted out.  Now go!”

She didn’t need telling twice.  Quick as her ponysona, she leapt onto a trashcan and jumped from wall to wall, ascending the building as fast as she could.  And sure enough, the policemen didn’t seem to care in the slightest.  Nova watched her go and felt her energy fade away as she ran.  When she was out of range, he took a deep breath and cracked his neck.

When they were five feet away, they stopped and pointed their weapons at him.

“We need you to come with us,” one of them growled.

“Do you, now?” he asked, surreptitiously flexing his fingers and already beginning to channel the magic.  “On whose authority?  Your commissioner’s?”

“Don’t play dumb with us, pony,” the same changeling growled.  “We know you’ve broken out of the curse.  Her Highness wants us to bring you to her alive.”

“What does the Queen want with me?” he asked.

“Wouldn’t you like to know,” the same changeling said, already moving forward.

A shockwave of blue magic exploded out of Nova, blasting all four of the changelings backwards.  At once, Nova sprinted, leapt over the fallen commander, and dashed out of the alley.

“After him!” shouted the commander, and suddenly, Nova felt a great deal of pinpricks of energy around him as several changelings in SWAT gear appeared from buildings and alleys.

“Shit,” Nova cursed.

He grabbed his sword and his sheath, which quickly transformed into a weightless shield in a flash of light, and ran as fast as he could away from the group of changelings.  Unfortunately, he was near downtown.  The Police Department wasn’t far away.  If at any time they needed reinforcements, they were a short couple of blocks.

There were a couple of pops behind him, and Nova winced as something punched him in the back, sending him sprawling forward onto the concrete, scratching him up.

“Damn,” he said, looking over to where a fallen rubber round was still smoking from the shot.  “They’re really going all-out to bring me in, aren’t they.”

He got back to his feet and took off again, slightly slower due to his banged-up skin.  He needed to get out of the open.  With the streets cleared of people, there weren’t too many places that he could hide, which left buildings.

Problem was, he needed a place where he could blend in.  A place where he could hide among other people.

And he knew just the place:  Veronica Salazar’s dance club.

With that thought in mind, Nova altered his course, dashing with purpose further into downtown as opposed to just running around hoping to slip away.  The club was on the other end of the district, but if he could just make use of a few shortcuts and alleys…

Nova and Veronica were on good terms, having carried over from their pony selves.  He and Vinyl Scratch had been introduced at Twilight’s private party after her coronation, where Pinkie had been kind enough to get the famous DJ P0N-3, of whom Nova was quite a fan, to, well, deejay.  Nova and Vinyl started off quite well, and twice, Nova had run into her on Council of Gentlestallions night, enjoying her few nights off from the various clubs around Equestria.

As such, here on this human world, he and Veronica were still on good terms.  Nathan Samuel was a frequent attendee of Penelope Poppentop’s parties, where Veronica was almost always the entertainment.  Here, on this human world, she owned the club in question, for some unknown reason.  And now Nova was going to make use of that.

He felt more pricks of energy around him.  The changelings were starting to surround him.  He needed to keep moving to prevent them from doing so.

“Almost… there…” he grunted as he slowed to a jog a couple of blocks later.  He was glad he had been a freerunner.  He doubted he would have made it this far without stopping if he hadn’t been.

He saw a police car up ahead and ducked around the block corner, revealing a building almost literally covered in neon lighting.

“This is it,” he said, sprinting forward and ducking inside, sword and blade disappearing before he did so, and supporting himself on his knees as exhaustion started to overtake him.  It had been sunset outside, but inside, it was almost pitch black.  Loud music was already assaulting his ears, and strobe lights were flashing in the main room.  The bouncer, a burly man with a mohawk, gave Nova a look, then waved him in.

“Enjoy the club,” he grunted.

“Thanks,” huffed Nova, already moving inside to surround himself with the guests.

Unfortunately, there weren’t very many.  A few people at the bar, a couple of dancers, and Veronica up at the turntables, rocking out and wearing her trademark white headphones and purple shades.

Damn, Nova thought.  So much for hiding out with a bunch of people.

Nova just shrugged.  His best bet was probably the dance floor.  What few people were there would be moving around.  With that thought in mind, he moved over and joined in, keeping an eye on the door.

But there was something strange going on…  It was a Saturday night.  In a city as big as this, the club would normally be overflowing with people.  Perhaps it was a side-effect of the cops on the streets?

A couple of the bar patrons gave Nova a brief glance, but went back to their drinks.  Nova ignored them, keeping his attention focused on the doors.  But he would need to do his part to avoid attracting attention.  He straightened up and started swaying tamely to the beat.  No all-out dancing or grinding.  Just pure and simple moving to the beat,

Nova felt the pricks of energy again.  The changelings must have been surrounding the building.  But why weren’t they moving in?

The energy pricked again, but these felt a lot closer--

Nova couldn’t react with surprise, lest he alert the changelings dancing around him.  It was a trap.  They had counted on him attempting to hide in this club.  How much did the changelings know?

A quick glance over at the bar, and though they tried to hide it, Nova noticed that they had been glancing his way, too.

The only one who didn’t seem to be emanating a prick of energy was Veronica.  She seemed normal, dancing away at her turntables, oblivious to everything that was about to happen.

Nova took a deep breath, feeling an excited smile work its way onto his face.  Why not have some fun while beating these changelings’ asses?

“Before we get started,” he announced loudly, putting a bit of magic into his voice to augment it over the loud dubstep, “does anyone want to leave?”

No one moved.  The dancers stopped, scattered around him, and the people at the bar all stood up.

“Veronica!” Nova shouted, adding some more magic to project the Royal Canterlot Voice.

She turned the music down hastily and whipped her headphones off.

“Yeah, what Nathan?  Can’t you see I’m busy?” she asked, fixing him with an agitated glare. "I've got five more sets to do tonight!"

“I’m thinking ‘This Will Be the Day,’” he answered flatly.  “And I’d suggest sitting in your back room for a bit.  Things are about to get ugly here.”

Veronica glanced up.  Nova saw the red irises move slightly behind the purple shades glowing in the black lights, before looking back down.

“Gotcha.”

Nova watched, and apparently so did the changelings, as Veronica fiddled with her table for a bit, before sauntering off back to her break room.  The room was silent for a moment as the track loaded.

“No use hiding any longer, fellas.  I know what you are,” Nova announced.  At once, the room was illuminated with green fire, as the changelings transformed into their police selves.  Pistols were whipped out, and all were leveled at Nova.

“Surrender yourself, pony.”

They see you as small and helpless.  They see you as just a child.

“Love this song,” Nova remarked, listening to the electric guitar’s riffs, already channelling magic to his hands.

Surprise when they find out that a warrior will soon run wild!

Nova struck.  A blast of blue energy exploded out of him, blowing back the closest changelings and startling the others.

Nova ran forward, leaping over a fallen body and charging the nearest changeling, who was slowed by his initial attack.  Nova grabbed him by his vest and flung him towards one of the other changelings, who was only just now starting to get his pistol levelled at Nova again.

Nova grinned.  Discord had explained that his magic would soon start making him a hell of a lot stronger, and boy, he was not kidding.

Nova vanished in a flash of blue light, appeared behind another changeling close to the bar, and kicked him right in the small of his back, sending the unfortunate sod flying through two others.

They were still using rubber rounds, as Nova could see when he created a magic shield and blocked several rounds from the group of policemen closest to the door.  With the merest flick of his hand, said shield flew towards the changelings, bowling them all over, before Nova’s magic snatched up their guns and crushed them.

“Now now, boys, it’s impolite to shoot people,” he said, turning around and firing beams of energy at the other few policemen around the room, which neutralized their weapons in various ways.  “If you want to beat me, you’ll have to do it with your hands.”

One changeling rushed him instantly, but Nova just planted his feet, punched as hard as he could, and even threw his shoulder behind it.  Said changeling was thrown all the way across the dance floor.  Nova winced slightly, as he had hit the badge by accident.  Still, it was better than a carapace.

Things were going swimmingly.  Nova hadn’t ever felt this strong physically.  He’d had a similar moment of zen upon realizing how much progress he’d made with magic when working with Clover and Steelshod once, which had predictably been followed by Nova proceeding to duel both of them at once and soundly best them within a few seconds.

Which made it even more surprising that Steelshod could hold his own against Nova on his final night in the past.  He really had gone all-out to try to beat him for Clover…

Nova shook himself out of his brief memory in time to duck under a punch from one of the changelings, following up by jumping away from the changeling’s subsequent kick.

“Come on, now,” he taunted, “I’m not even using magic to beat you assholes.  Any chance you guy scan stop sucking?”

A couple of the changelings hissed angrily, and one of them even reacted.  He charged Nova, and threw a fist right at Nova’s cheek, but at the last moment, Nova ducked and threw his shoulder forward, catching the changeling right in the gut and upending him over Nova’s back.  A satisfying thud followed as the changeling collided quite painfully with the floor.

The remaining changelings, some battered and bruised from his beatdown, had grouped right on the dance floor.  A poor spot, considering the flashing squares on the floor illuminated their position, one that Nova could take advantage of.

A quick spark from his finger, and suddenly, all the squares underneath started glowing a bright blue color, illuminating the entire crowd of them.

“So tell me fellas,” he said, his hand brimming with blue fiery magic as he casually strode toward them, “what does her Highness want with little ol’ me?”

The group of changelings just hissed and spat at him, but suddenly, those whose eyes weren’t covered by masks’ eyes widened, and instantly, they all shuffled into a line.

Nova blinked, not really sure how to take this development.  But when he felt another prick of changeling energy behind him, he whirled around, hands brimming with his fiery blue magic.

A large changeling stood before him, looking down at him with distaste.  His gear was little more than a combat bandolier strapped over a tight-fitting black muscle shirt and combat pants and boots.

To Nova, he looked quite distinct from the other changelings, especially considering most drones were identical in appearance.  Behind him, Nova could see an elderly changeling watching the scene as well.

“I believe I can answer that question for you, pony,” the large changeling said, in a very calm, deep voice, far different from the usual hissing and chittering that was typical of changeling kind.

The elderly changeling behind him met Nova’s gaze, then flicked his hand over toward the DJ booth, where the music and flashing lights vanished, to be replaced by normal loghts illuminating the club.

“The hell is this?” Nova asked, noticing how the changelings were helping up their fallen comrades and ushering them out of the bar.

“Call it a test,” the elderly changeling said, shrugging.  “Not too harsh, now, Brutus.”

“By your command, Advisor,” the large changeling, apparently Brutus, affirmed.

“Brutus, eh?” Nova asked.  “Heard of you.  The Champion of the Changelings, took down an entire platoon of the Royal Guard during the wedding--”

“It was only a simple squadron,” Brutus cut him off.  “Seems rumors in Equestria have a tendency to get blown out of proportion.  And that feat earned me the title Champion.”

He eyed Nova’s magic.

“Put that away.  I don’t plan on fighting you with you shooting fire at me.  I was hoping for the two of us to brawl like drones, or how you say, like stallions.”

The fact that Brutus hadn’t shown any outright animosity towards him was intriguing enough.  So much so that Nova felt compelled to go ahead and duel the changeling.  He had, after all, held his own against other beings just as strong (namely, the Shadowbolts).

“So, why are you here, advisor?” Nova asked, directing his question toward the elderly changeling who stood by the door.

“I’m here to make sure none of the drones under the command of my queen do anything out of hoof to you, Nova Shine,” the elder answered.

Nova’s hand brimmed with magic at the mention of his name, but the changeling held up a hand.

“Now now, let’s not go jumping to conclusions, Nova Shine.  We do not mean to put you back under.”

“Are you on my side?” Nova asked, not bothering to lower the magic.

“No,” the changeling answered, “but neither are we against you.  We simply obey Her Majesty.  Let her make that decision, which side she’s on.  Now, if you intend to battle Brutus, I would suggest you hurry up.  You have a meeting with Her Highness.”

“Well considering that your welcoming party wasn’t exactly the most hospitable,” Nova said, twisting around and pulling up the back of his shirt to show off the bruise from the rubber round he had taken to the back, “what if I don’t intend to honor Queen Bug’s wishes?”

Brutus growled a bit, but the elder just chuckled.

“Oh Brutus, don’t take offense,” he said, wagging his finger at the muscular drone.  “He doesn’t really see the Queen that way.  I can tell by his aura.  In any case, Nova Shine, do you intend to duel him or not?”

Nova stared at the large changeling for a moment, but then shook his head.

“No, I’m sorry.  I’m tired from my duels with Discord today.”

Brutus nodded, and the elder moved for the door.

“You duel Discord?” Brutus asked.

“Blades,” Nova said, briefly summoning his sword before vanishing it again.  “Figure I can learn to be a master of Spellblade.”

“A noble branch of both magic and swordplay,” Brutus remarked, before motioning for Nova to follow.  “I do apologize.  For the sake of appearances, we will need to ‘arrest’ you.”

“No, no, I understand,” Nova said, turning around and letting himself be cuffed.  “You’re certainly one of the few changelings I’ve had a cordial relationship, not to mention I can tell when somepony is lying and that includes changelings, so I know it’s just for appearances.”

Brutus led Nova out of the club and toward a parked police vehicle, where the elder was sitting in the backseat.  Nova allowed himself to be pushed in and buckled up, where at once the elder uncuffed him.

“So why exactly does she want to see me, now?” Nova asked, wringing his hands to get the blood flowing.

“Because, Nova Shine,” the elder answered, “she wants to know if you’re him.”

“Who?” Nova asked, confused.

“The same Nova Shine as the one from our history,” answered the elder.  “The Nova Shine who rescued her from one of Sombra’s lackeys and returned her to her home.  She believes you and he might be the same pony.”

Nova laughed.

“But that’s impossible,” he said.  “That was over a thousand years ago.”

“Oh yes,” the elder concurred.  “And so would we believe, if it weren’t for the fact that you and I have met before, Nova Shine.  I would recognize your aura anywhere.”

“Say what, now?” Nova asked as the car started to move.

“We’ve met, you and I,” the elder repeated, smiling at him.  “Back then, I was nothing more than a simple drone, and you were nothing more than the Night Apprentice.  Nova Shine, it is an honor to meet you again.”

An instance of recognition flooded through Nova and he gaped at the elder changeling, who merely smiled.

“I am Her Majesty Queen Chrysalis’ oldest and most trusted advisor, and the changeling whom you met over one thousand years ago in the desert.  My name is Scheherazade.”