Even In Other Worlds

by Rytex

Queen, King, and Angel

More music. you know the drill.

“No fucking way.”

“Please mind your language when we stand before the queen,” the elder changeling admonished dispassionately.

“It was over a thousand years ago!”

“So it was,” concurred the elder, nodding sagely.  “Changelings can live abnormally long lives if they are properly able to ration their love energies.  We can stockpile a near-infinite amount, and I have been able to keep myself alive by strictly rationing the amount I take when it gets too low.”

“But… but…” Nova sputtered.  It was impossible!  There were precious few beings who could live for that long!  Only changeling royalty had the longevity to, as evidenced with little Princess Chrysalis now being the Queen a millennium and a quarter later.

“No buts, Sir Nova Shine,” Scheherazade chided him, smiling.  “It does not become the Savior of the Princess.”

Nova just stared stupidly at Scheherazade, who stared back, before shaking his head.

“Dear oh dear, and here I thought you would always have some kind of a witty quip whenever I said something, but the well seems to have run dry.”

“Wh--” Nova swallowed nervously.  “Why am I being dragged before the Queen again?” he asked.

“It’s simple,” Scheherazade said.  “She wants to see if you’re the same one as the one in the past.”

Nova couldn’t stop staring at Scheherazade, who only shook his head.

“I cannot say why,” he added, “but I hope beyond hope that it leads to her doing the right thing.”

“She attempted to invade my nation,” Nova said, sounding somewhat bemused.  “I’d say she’s gone more than a little off the wrong end here.”

“Rulers only do what is best for their nation, Nova Shine,” Scheherazade said, staring at him meaningfully.  “My Queen believed this to be the best option to feed her starving children.  I advocated against this invasion, but alas, the loud voice of the young cried out to her, and she gave them what they desired.  They had tasted the love of your land, and they demanded that we attempt to take it.”

“And when she attempted to take all the magic from my fiancée?” Nova asked, arching an eyebrow.

“I do not know,” Scheherazade admitted.  “She didn’t return home after the invasion, instead choosing to build her new empire there.  We who did not go to war with her waited at our home, in our hive.  Only later did we learn that our Queen had attempted revenge against your dearly beloved, and that she had been trapped in a room, kept inside with an unanswerable riddle.”

Scheherazade let out a quiet scoff.

“You don’t happen to know a word that rhymes with ‘orange,’ do you?” he asked.

Nova snickered, but did answer.  “Borage, actually,” he said.  “You spend enough time around Discord, you learn all sorts of strange things.”

“Borage?  Really?”

“Yeah.  It’s small leaves used for spices and such, or young leaves eaten in salads and the like.  You’d think the queen of a nation that spends its time pretending to be members of a herbivorous species would know that.”

They drove past the large, rectangular City Hall, a very austere-looking building compared to the surrounding architecture of the city.  Nova couldn’t help but feel that the building had a foreboding nature about it.  Which he supposed was fitting, if Sombra spent his time there.

“What do you want me to say to her?” Nova asked, seeing the police department grow ever closer, as it was only three blocks from City Hall.

“I do not know, Nova Shine,” Scheherazade shrugged.  “I only wish that you say what she needs to hear, whatever it may be.  What that is, I couldn’t tell you, nor do I think you know, but I hope regardless.”

Brutus pulled the car into the police lot, where at once a group of changelings met them.  Nova was hoisted out of the car and almost literally dragged to an interrogation room close to the deep interior of the building.

It was a simple room, with metal walls and a table and two chairs, but surprisingly, it lacked the one-way window.  The Queen must not have wanted her children in on this.

Scheherazade made sure Nova was as comfortable as he was going to be, before walking on out, but not before he instructed, “Be honest.  Changelings can detect lies.  Be completely open with Her Majesty, and you never know.  Some good might come of the situation.”

And then the door shut behind him.

Now, all Nova could do was twiddle his thumbs and wait for the Queen to come in.  It was worse than it had been when he had been waiting for Professor Hoofman, nearly a year before.

No, scratch that.  That occasion had been far worse.

Nova sighed and leaned back in his chair, casting his eyes up to the ceiling, where nothing but a single, typical white light shone, casting everything around them into shadow…

Shadow…

Nova’s hands shone blue and a bubble of blue energy blasted out of him, dispelling all of the shadows in the room instantly.  If Envy had been intending to hide in her shadow form before, it wasn’t going to happen now.

But only then did Nova remember that Envy had placed herself under the curse.  Still, it made him feel a lot better about the security of the room.

“Hm, you’re left alone for only a few moments, and already you’re casting magic.”

Nova directed his gaze toward the door, where a tall, slender woman stood.  She was pale, with shining green eyes, dark, forest-ish green hair, and a certain aura of energy emanating off of her that he had felt twice before.  However, like the changelings in the bar, she was giving off a faint energy that told Nova this wasn’t her native form.

“Do you not know how to properly greet a foreign dignitary?” she asked, arching an eyebrow.

“Enlighten me,” Nova responded, before adding with some irony, “your highness.”

She quietly hissed, catching his sarcasm, but she let it stand.

“You stand, until she is seated.”

“Oh, of course,” Nova replied, rolling his eyes.  “You’re just like Rarity, you know that?  Do I really have to observe all these niceties when you’re interrogating me?”

“I assume you were told of the reason for your visit?” she asked, still standing by the door.

“Yep, and I think it’s a completely ridiculous notion,” Nova said, waving a hand in the air, as if to brush the matter away.  “You think I’m this ancient, historical pony that saved your bug flank and prevented a war between the ponies and Sombra.  Really, how… ludicrous.”

Her eyes narrowed, but Nova felt it was time to stop antagonizing her.  So, reluctantly, he stood up and gestured toward the seat.

“Have a seat, your highness.”

The Queen stared at him, searching, Nova was sure, for a sign of weakness or violent hostility, but he showed nothing, choosing instead to meet her gaze with a blank stare.

After a moment spent staring, she finally strode forward, closing the door behind her, and took a seat at the table, before leaning forward and clasping her hands together.

“You think the notion ridiculous?” she asked, her voice becoming much less harsh than it had been.  “I recognize you, pony.  Perhaps you may not be the one who rescued me, though you do share his name and appearance, but I do remember you from the wedding.  Yes, I quite clearly remember you.”

Nova remembered too.  He had been subdued by several changelings and had been dragged before her, only to be told that he was to be stuck and guarded in one of the side rooms.  Quite the contrast from all of the ponies who were trapped in cocoons or imprisoned in the caverns beneath Canterlot for that brief time.

“Yes, you’re the pony who gave me so much trouble at the wedding of Shining Armor,” she continued, gazing into his eyes.  “So much trouble that my guards had to drag you before me personally.”

“And instead of treating me like the rest of my kind,” Nova interrupted, “you had me thrown into a random room off to the side.”

“...Yes.”

“Why?” Nova asked, leaning back.

“Because…” she paused, “I remembered… him.  You looked too much like him for me to be completely guilt-free if I were to trap you in a cocoon or imprison you in the caves.”

“How sweet,” remarked Nova.  “Why’d you attack my fiancée, then?”

She paused, and her stare became quite intrigued.  “Your fiancée?  Is there something I should know about between you and Princess Cadance?”

Nova laughed.  A genuine, amused laugh.  He had to admit, he had not seen this response coming.  But then again, he had forgotten the Queen wouldn’t have known.

“No, your highness, not Princess Cadance,” he said, shaking his head.  “I mean Twilight Sparkle.”

Her eyes widened, ever so slightly.

“You’re engaged to Twilight Sparkle?” she asked, arching an eyebrow  “Yes, I should have realized.  Your aura stinks of her.  Her... and another.”

Her intrigued look turned confused for a moment.

“A familiar aura… one I haven’t felt since…”

She trailed off, eyes narrowing as she stared into Nova’s unflinching gaze.  Would she figure it out?  Would she recognize Clover’s aura?

“Explain yourself,” she demanded.  “I can’t identify that aura, and yet I remember the aura of every pony I’ve transformed into.  It’s the only explanation for why this one seems so familiar to me.  Explain!”

She snarled, and Nova noticed her canines were pointed, just like her self on Equus was.  And for the briefest of moments, the pale exterior flickered, revealing a pitch-black complexion underneath.  Nova’s interest grew, but he didn’t pursue it.  Instead, he continued staring at the Queen right in the eyes and giving no indication that she had threatened him in the slightest.

“You’re not my queen, your highness,” Nova stated flatly.  “I don’t have to explain.  Perhaps it may have something to do with me being descended from a pony from that time?  I’m actually named after Nova Shine I, so you know.”

Her glare faltered as a flash of disappointment flickered across her face, but only for a moment.  She was snarling even more now.

“But that still doesn’t explain how you have the aura of Clover the Clever intertwined with your own!”

Nova rolled his eyes.

“Queen Chrysalis,” he began, in a faux-long-suffering sigh, “Clover the Clever was the mother of Nova Shine I.  This may have something to do with the fact that she’s my ancestor.”

“No, that cannot be true,” Chrysalis replied, averting her gaze to stare at the table intently.  “Auras don’t intertwine simply by birth… could they?”

Nova let out a derisive bark of laughter.

“You’re the queen of your species,” he chortled, “and you don’t even fully understand your own species’ magic, inside and out?  Seems like a massive oversight in your tutoring.”

“Be silent!” she snapped at him, adding a slight growl to emphasize her point.  “You have no idea what I’ve been through.  I was kidnapped by members of your kind and was forced to serve as a slave in those very mines I imprisoned Twilight Sparkle in!  I watched as Celestia herself slew my father in battle while he was trying to defend my own brethren!”  She stood up.  “I have had to watch my children starve, until we had no choice but to invade your land!  I DID NOT HAVE THE TIME TO LEARN ALL ABOUT MY SPECIES’ CULTURE WHEN I WAS TOO BUSY KEEPING THEM ALIVE!”

Perhaps what seemed to be the most infuriating part to the Queen was how, through her tirade, Nova kept a completely blank face, staring at her as she grew angrier and angrier, before finally raising a hand to strike him.

Nova didn’t even move until she swung it across.  But before it hit his cheek, the merest flick of his fingers allowed his magic to shield him.

And Nova knew the Queen would recognize his magic.  No two individuals throughout all of history had the same exact aura of magic.  Even Clover and Twilight had their differences, though they were very minor.

Queen Chrysalis’ eyes widened as her hand was caught in his shield, and she stared, completely shocked at Nova, who only gave her a disappointed look.

“Really, Chryssie, I thought your father taught you not to strike your friends.”

Nova’s magic faded, and so shocked was she that she fell right into her chair, still gaping at him.

“I… but… how...”

Nova sighed.

“It’s quite easy,” he said.  “Time travel has its uses.  Such as allowing me to go back to see exactly who my enemy would be over a thousand years later.”

“Your… enemy?” she asked, her voice suddenly soft and weak.  She was still staring dumbstruck at Nova, who shrugged and kicked back in his chair.

“Yep.  Enemy.  I’m sure you remember Lord Silverblood?” he asked, casting her a glance.

Her mouth twitched for a moment, but otherwise her expression didn’t change.

“Yeah, see, he’s kinda responsible for this, as his daughter Shimmer Silvermane got one of my friends kicked out of Canterlot and stuck in Everfree.”

“Your enemy is Shimmer?” Chrysalis asked, still quite breathless.

“No,” Nova said, shaking his head.  “Her name is Summer Blossom.  Or, it was.  I hear she just goes by Envy now.  She got pretty riled up when I called her Summer once.  But anyway, as you noticed, my aura and Clover’s are intertwined.  That may have something to do with the fact that we were in love back in those times.”

Nova felt again a familiar ache in his gut at the mention of Clover’s name, but he ignored it.

“Well, turned out Summer liked me too.  When she found out about me and Clover…” he shut his eyes his voice turned slightly morose, “she didn’t take it so well.”

“But you and Miss Clover weren’t close in those caves,” the Queen said, and Nova almost heard the voice of the young princess behind the strange, dual-voice thing she had going.  “She was shocked that you wanted me to turn into her.”

“That’s because, as I’m sure you must be aware,” Nova said, “or perhaps you’re only just figuring it out now, but Twilight Sparkle and Clover the Clever bore the same appearance in all but cutie mark.  I and Twilight Sparkle had already fallen in love in the present day, only confessing to each other two days before I went back in time.”

Nova smiled fondly, remembering the mare from the past.

“Clover was taken with me, as I’m sure you remember, seeing as how she gave me a good farewell kiss on my way out of Unicornia Palace.  When I returned from our little venture, I woke up to find that she had been tending to me for the entire time I had been unconscious.”

“What… what happened?” the Queen asked.

“An encounter with a sandstorm and King Sombra, that’s what,” answered Nova.  “Knocked me out for a week.  I wake up, and she seemed quite embarrassed to even be in the same room as me.”

He chuckled to himself, remembering the incident with a nostalgic sigh.

“I miss those times,” he admitted.  “Steelshod and I would squabble over her, and I would always win.  She would flirt with me, as would Summer Blossom, but I made no move on either of them.  I guess if I had been up front with both of them, none of this would have happened.”

“Discounting, of course--” Nova’s head snapped sideways to face the door, “--the fact that if you had altered history, you wouldn’t have gone back in time, creating a paradox that could destroy everything.”

“You,” Nova growled, as a muscular man stepped into the room.  He was tall, with shaggy black hair, a very sharp black suit and tie, and sideburns that came close to the corners of his mouth.  And his red eyes fixed Nova with a confident, almost smug gaze.

“Good day, your highness,” Sombra said, giving a polite bow to the Queen, who only glared at him.

“This is my building, Sombra,” she hissed.  “Yours is down the street.”

“Technically, as the mayor, this is my building too.  Since Moony’s not around anymore, courtesy of our mutual friend here,” he gestured at Nova, “and since our benefactor remains hidden, that power defaults to me.”

“I must have missed the part where I added you on Facebook,” snarked Nova.

“Well, as they say,” Sombra shrugged, “the enemy of my enemy is my friend.”

“Attributed to a Saddle Arabian sheikh, who was beheaded by his own subjects,” Nova retorted.

“Still, a fitting quote to describe our current, ah, situation,” Sombra continued,  He waved his hand, black smoke-like tendrils emanating from it, and another chair appeared.

Or, to be more accurate, a black, ornate throne adorned with rubies appeared, on which Sombra sprawled.

“Since we’re all… for want of a better term, allies at this moment,” he said, but Nova interrupted him.

“What makes you think I would ever deign to ally myself with you?”

“Why, it’s quite simple,” Sombra said, leaning forward and staring at Nova with unmistakable smugness this time.  “You are trying to return everypony to Equestria, your homeland.  You do it both because you want to and because the Princesses wish it of you.  You,” he turned to face the Queen, “have never truly wanted this victory.  You have always preferred Equestria.  And I,” he leaned back, “will not rule this realm as a puppet, but Equestria as a king.”

“I would die before that happened,” Nova snarled.

“Be careful how you phrase that, Nova, as it can easily be arranged,” Sombra waved him off.  “But the point is, all three of us are interested in a common goal.  Despite the fact that after this is all said and done we go our separate ways, right now we’re joined at the hip.”

“That usually implies that you have something I need,” Nova pointed out.  “And in case you haven’t noticed, I happen to be doing just fine.

“Oh, but that’s just it, Nova Shine,” Sombra said, his smug stare getting even more pronounced.  “You’re doing brilliantly when it comes to your plan, but do you really think Envy will have made it that easy for you?”

Nova opened his mouth to object, but then he stopped.  Knowing Envy, would it be this easy?  Would it be as simple as it so seemed?  Just reawaken the Bearers of Harmony and return to Equestria?

Nova’s mouth slowly closed as he considered it.  No, obviously it wouldn’t be that simple.  This was Envy they were talking about.  The same Envy who had tenaciously continued to come after Night Apprentices and Faithful Students for over a thousand years, the same Envy who had played Nova and Twilight masterfully on their own first date.

The same Envy who had forced Nova into a situation to where he had nearly been forced to blast either Twilight or Trixie in the Everfree Vaults with his Magi-gun.

“No,” he admitted.  “It can’t be this easy.”

“Because it isn’t,” Sombra continued.  “She has set up failsafes in case you were to make too much progress.  Some not even Nightmare Moon knew about.  But unfortunately, as I was created to help cast this curse, I cannot tell.  So, I believe I’ll let the queen do it for me.”

“What do you--” the queen started, before being cut off.

“Don’t play dumb with me, your highness,” said Sombra, a note of cool irritation in his voice.  “You’ve had those few changelings who are truly loyal to you to the bitter end go around and try to figure out potential ways to weaken the curse’s framework.  So go on, Chrysalis.  What did you find?”

Nova turned to look from the king to the queen.

“Envy is under the curse as well,” the Queen said, “and while I would assume you know that much already, there’s more to it than that.  Far more.”

“You see, Nova, Envy placed herself under a timed portion of the curse,” Sombra explained.  “She would wait for a specific amount of time to see if it stuck, and if it was still intact, she would break out.  But there was just one problem:  she hasn’t broken out yet, and it’s been nearly six months.”

Nova had already known that Envy was under the curse, courtesy of his intrusion into Nightmare Moon’s mind, and he had known that she was only doing it for so long.  But it had been six months.  Why wasn’t Envy out yet?

“You do realize what this means, don’t you?” Sombra asked.  “I understand you’ve been working to reawaken the Bearers of Harmony, but you must know that, unless you don’t want your shadowy former-friend running around, it would be best to continue to do this without trying to break the curse.  Not yet, at least.”

Nova groaned.  Breaking the curse had been a sure-fire way to reawaken the Spirits of Harmony inside the Bearers, and it was a backup plan in case his current primary one failed.  And it was now a bad idea to go through with as well.  Not just because of Envy being under the curse until it was broken, but also because the sustainer of said curse knew all about it and would be expecting an attack.

A thought came to Nova as he pondered this, and out of sheer curiosity, he voiced it.

“Aren’t you an Echo?” he asked the would-be King, who arched an eyebrow.

“I beg your pardon?” he asked.

“Sombra is dead,” Nova said.  “Twilight Sparkle and Spike are responsible for that, back when the Crystal Empire came out of its own curse.  How come you’re acting in the interest of a dead king, even when you’ve been puppeted to do one specific task?”

The Queen appeared surprised to hear this.

“I was never informed of Sombra’s demise.  But then again,” she added, “if it was right as the Crystal Empire returned from its banishing, my spies wouldn’t have known.”

“To answer your question, Nova,” Sombra said, stroking his sideburns with his thumb and index fingers, “I won’t be telling.  You think the real Sombra forever dead?  Did you not forget, Nova?  I told you in the desert.”

“Told me what?”

“‘The World of No Memory, the Neverending Fantasy…”

“...all of it leading to my eventual return,’” Nova finished.

“Yes.  And Nova, as you may or may not be aware, we are currently in that first part of my own little prediction.  Nopony remembers who they are.  We are in the World of No Memory.”

Nova went cold as Sombra hit him with that last statement.  How had he not made that connection before?

Sombra merely nodded at the expression of cold shock that had appeared on Nova’s face.  The Queen seemed affected as well, noticeably uncomfortable and sidling away from Nova ever so slightly.

“Regardless of your feelings on the matter,” he continued, “it falls on you to act.  As far as I’m aware, you are doing quite well, having defeated Nightmare Moon and working to restore the Elements.  But unfortunately for you,” he added, leaning forward, “you lack a certain component in your magical education that you’re going to need.  A certain component that I can teach you, and possibly even Discord, master of Chaos that he is.”

He turned to the Queen.

“I believe you have what you brought him here for.  Allow me custody of him for the remainder of the evening, your highness.”

The Queen gave one last look at Nova, and in it Nova saw slight apprehension and fear of what was to come, before she nodded, and waved them both away.

Before Nova could even protest, Sombra snapped his fingers.  Jagged, black sparks of energy flew from his fingers and bound themselves around Nova’s wrists.

“Follow,” Sombra commanded, standing up and banishing his throne away.  Nova felt his body move of its own accord, standing up and taking steps he didn’t want it to take to stay behind Sombra as the would-be King led him out of the Police Department, into a rather expensive-looking black Rolls-Royce, and off to Sombra’s rather lavish manor.

Discord’s was more affluent, but that may have had something to do with his ability to reform reality on a whim, but Sombra’s chateau-like manor was no slouch in the luxury department.  Though Sombra’s residence was more like his parents’ than anything.  Fountains, gardens, marble and stone architecture, and a two-wing structure with a center main section.

“What the hell is this spell?” Nova asked, only able to look around using his neck and eyes, but without being in any control of the lower areas of his body.

“A spell taught to me by my former Master, which allows me to command anyone whom I have managed to bind with it,” Sombra replied as he drove the car to a garage around the back of the house.  “Such as my subjects in the Crystal Empire, who wouldn’t build me my kingdom if I hadn’t commanded them to with this.  Be very grateful, Nova Shine.  This spell only works once per victim per caster, and I chose to use it on you for such a lowly purpose as to make you follow me to my home.  Were I to remove the spell and cast it on you again, it would have no effect.  But then, of course, the question comes into play:  am I the real Sombra? or am I just an Echo, as you said?”

Nova remained silent from then on, even when he was forced to follow Sombra into his house, through several rooms and into a sort of sparring room.

“Stand in the center,” he commanded, and Nova’s body complied, striding forward and standing in the exact center of a drawn circle in the floor, almost twenty yards in diameter.  Nova had read up on enchanting circles, and this appeared to be no such magical conduit, since for one, they were small, and for two, they typically used magic powder to direct magic.  Indeed, the powder on the ground did not seem to give off even the slightest of arcane energies, which meant that it couldn’t be magic powder.

If anything, it was just chalk.

As soon as Nova stood in the center, Sombra stepped into the circle as well.  He snapped his fingers again, and a wall of red energy sprung up to the ceiling of the room from the powder on the ground.  Were it not for the occasional spark of black lightning along the magical wall, Nova would have assumed it was normal magic.

“I, Sombra, release the unicorn Nova Shine from his servitude,” Sombra announced, hand brimming with more of the black lightning.  At once, the black lightning surrounding Nova’s wrists dispelled, and Nova once more had control of his body.

Which he demonstrated by immediately falling over, being unprepared for it.

“Your mastery of your own body is astounding, Nova Shine,” observed Sombra dryly.

“Shut up,” Nova growled as he got to his feet.  “Why the hell am I in this circle, and how the hell can that chalk channel magic?”

Sombra chortled.

“Oh, Nova Shine, tell me you’ve seen magic powder before.  I always thought it was the princesses’ tradition to christen their new Night Masters and Prime Magi with the stuff.”

“That can’t be magic powder,” Nova protested.  “Magic powder gives off faint arcane readings.  This didn’t.”

“True enough,” Sombra said, inclining his head.  “To answer your question, it is magic powder, though a more thoroughly-processed form.  Useful for maintaining traps, which wouldn’t give off the slightest of arcane readings.  As for why you’re in the circle, well…”

A black fire appeared on the collar of the suit at his neck and swept downward.  Where it burned, the suit vanished.  Sombra was left standing bare-chested in a pair of flexible athletic pants.

The king’s body was heavily scarred, likely from the use of his magic, it was very toned, and it also had a very shaggy carpet of hair across it as well.

“Does my physique interest you?” Sombra asked, one of his thick eyebrows rising above the other.

“Err… no,” Nova said, shaking his head when he realized he had been staring.

“Hmm… I did not know you went both directions, Night Master,” Sombra continued, the faintest of smirks tugging at the corners of his mouth.

“N-no, I--” Nova stammered, before groaning.  “How the hell did you get all those scars?”

“All of these?” Sombra asked, turning to display his back, which looked even worse, with what looked like a grid of white lines on it.  “Remnants from battle and from my exile from the Crystal Empire.”

“Exile?” Nova asked, surprised.  “I didn’t know you were exiled from the Empire.”

“There’s a lot about me you do not know, Nova Shine,” Sombra responded.  “But out of curiosity, what did you think?”

“I just thought you inherited the position from your father and then enslaved everypony to build your empire.”

“Well, you’re not wrong,” Sombra said.  “I did inherit the position from my father, and then enslaved everypony to build my empire, that much is true.”

“Let me guess, you killed your father,” Nova said.

“Also true, but there is far more to it than that.  Perhaps one day, you might hear it.  But right now, we have more important things to do.”

Without warning, Sombra raised his hands and pointed his fingers at Nova.  Before Nova could react, jagged lightning shot out of Sombra’s fingers and struck Nova in the chest.

Nova yelled and collapsed, writhing in pain, but as soon as it had come, it was gone.  He remained on the ground, twitching and taking quick shallow breaths as he tried to recover from the blast.

“Black Magic is not painless, Nova Shine,” Sombra explained as he knelt down and offered a hand.  Nova just spit at him and batted it away.  Sombra’s lip curled, but he retreated.

“Wh-what the hell was that for?” Nova asked, his voice wheezing because of how quickly he was trying to breathe.

“Incentive,” Sombra replied simply.  “You’re going to learn how to block Black Magic or you’re going to keep getting shocked with my favorite spell in my repertoire.  Now stand up.”

Nova’s entire body shook as he tried to get to his feet, only for his legs to give out.  Sombra let out a tired sigh that betrayed some irritation as Nova tried again.

“You never seemed to take a spell of Black Magic well.  First that time in the desert, where it took the merest charm to set you into an enchanted sleep, and now barely a second of lightning.  So much for Her Majesty’s Night Master.”

When Nova had finally stabilized himself, Sombra held out his hands again.  Nova instinctively conjured a bright blue magical shield, but the black lightning just shot right through it.  Once again, Nova was reduced to little more than a pathetic pile of convulsions, twitching, and pained yelling.

“You can try to use your Light Magic, Nova Shine, but against Black Magic it will not work.”

Again and again, Nova was subjected to Sombra’s spells, and again and again, Nova attempted to stop it the only way he knew how.  But Light Magic didn’t seem to work even slightly at stopping Sombra’s lightning.

“I keep telling you, Nova Shine,” Sombra said, and again, there was a note of irritation in his voice, “Light Magic will not work.  Think!  Use that brain, and that ingenuity that has saved you more times than anypony could care to count!”

“I-I c-c-can’t,” Nova said, attempting to speak, even through the convulsions he was still suffering.

“You can,” Sombra corrected him.  “You have the tools to do it, but you’re ignoring one entire set of them!  Light Magic isn’t the only magic you can cast!  For Equestria’s sake, boy, think!”

He raised his hands once again and the lightning lanced forth.  Out of sheer instinct, Nova held up a hand and snapped his fingers on the other.

A bright white light appeared in Nova’s outstretched hand, and almost magnetically, the lightning seemed drawn to it.  And yet it did absolutely nothing to Nova’s hand.  The white light was simply absorbing the Black Magic as it came.

A few seconds after Nova managed to conjure the light, Sombra ceased in the spellwork.

“Finally, he uses his brain.”

Nova managed to get to his feet, though his legs still shook beneath him.  But he felt… strangely accomplished.

“What… what did I do?” he asked weakly.

“Chaos, Nova,” Sombra said.  “Chaos Magic doesn’t follow the rules when it comes to Light and Black Magicks.  While Black Magic can essentially completely negate Light Magic’s rules, Chaos Magic doesn’t follow either of them, and so for ponies such as yourself who are too afraid to take that step into ultimate power, it is the only way to defend against it.”

He gestured at the wall.

“Now, do us both a favor, and cut us out of this enclosure.  Despite being on the same side, however temporarily, I can only stand your presence for so long.”  Nova rolled his eyes.  “That, and there is work to be done before any of us can make any attempt at breaking the Curse.”

“Isn’t the Curse your curse, though?” Nova asked.

“It is,” Sombra said.  “I cannot break it myself, but due to a loophole in the reason I was created as an Echo, it doesn’t prevent me from… shall we say, implying the ways to break it, but you already know the most direct way of doing it, so I am not needed in that regard.”

Another, more disturbing thought occurred to Nova.  The would-be King had once stated that he was invested in Nova’s future.  By teaching Nova to defend against Black Magic with Chaos, Sombra had just potentially handed him a way to defend against his preferred magical style.

“Why did you teach me this?” he asked.

Sombra arched an eyebrow.

“Why does it matter to you?  Are you not pleased that you can defend against Envy, now?”

“You told me once that you’re invested in my future,” Nova stated.  “Why, then, would you help me?  Why would you give me a way to defend against your true self, should he ever come back?”

Sombra rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

“Astute observation.  Have you ever read the Thirty-Six Stratagems?”

Nova had heard the name before, but other than that, he knew nothing, so he shook his head.

“They were a Neighponese essay, written years before even I came to power.  I studied it during my exile, along with Sun Tsu’s Art of War.  One of the stratagems states ‘Sacrifice the plum tree to preserve the peach tree.’ In this case, don’t be afraid to sacrifice short-term objectives to preserve my long-term goal.  It does not please me that I must teach you this method, but it is necessary, and I hardly unable to work around it.  Do you understand?”

“I guess,” Nova said.  “Be flexible enough to alter your plans to keep the long-term goal alive?”

“Exactly,” Sombra said.  “When I make my plans, I like to set everything up to where, no matter the outcome, I am benefitted.  For instance, you look at the situation between the Unicorn Kingdom and the Changelings.  The moment Chrysalis was captured by Silverblood, no matter the outcome, something would have happened that would benefit me.  Either Chrysalis was rescued, but tensions between the Unicorns and the Changelings would have drastically increased, or the two sides would go to war, dragging your principality and the Pegasi and Earth Ponies into the conflict as well.  Your intervention was unforeseen, but not unplanned for, as you did rescue her and tensions did escalate.  All-out war between the two sides followed, a couple of centuries later, but by then, Luna and Celestia had already dealt with me.  If they hadn’t, I would have swept in and taken Equestria as soon as both sides ended the fighting.”

“So that outcome didn’t benefit you, then,” Nova said.

“Not entirely as I would have liked, but I simply allowed it to happen, so as to set up my future plans.”

“Which won’t be happening, courtesy of Twilight Sparkle.”

Almost as soon as Nova said it, Sombra only smiled at him.  And Nova was sure he didn’t like the look of it.

“Won’t they, Nova Shine?”

Nova decided not to give Sombra the satisfaction of answering that one, so he instead turned to the crackling wall of Black Magic, currently trapping them both in.

“So, how exactly do I bust us out?” he asked.

“Really, it’s like you didn’t just get electrically tortured until you learned,” Sombra snarked behind him.

“Okay, okay,” Nova said, rolling his eyes.  “I didn’t know if there was some trick to the Chaos or not.  Well, here goes.”

His hand shone with blank white light, and he reached out a hand to touch the wall.  To Nova’s surprise, the wall felt flat, despite the crackling energy.  Against his better judgement, but to test his theory, he reached out his other hand toward the wall tentatively.

Almost at once, he felt the dark energy lance up his arm and he yelped and reflexively clapped his Chaos-riddled hand to his shoulder.  Almost at once, the flow of Black Magic ceased in his arm.

“Smooth,” Sombra observed.

“I never took you for the sarcastic type,” Nova commented.

“As I said before, there are a lot of things about me that you do not know.”

“Fair enough,” Nova reasoned, before a sudden, idiotic idea occurred to him.  And yet, knowing Chaos magic, it just might work.

Backing away from the wall ever so slightly, he knelt down and touched the very bottom of the wall with the index finger of his Chaos hand, and started to trace upwards.  To his surprise and satisfaction, a thin white line trailed behind.  Nova arced the finger high over his head on the wall, before bringing it back down on his other side.  When he finally removed his finger, having completed the semi-circular pattern, he stepped back to admire his handiwork.  the white line remained.

With a smirk, Nova strode forward and simply blew on the section inside of the line, and instantly, that section fell backward, leaving a large hole in the wall.

“Bravo, Nova Shine,” Sombra said, clapping appreciatively.  “It seems you have been learning from Discord after all.  No doubt cutting the hole in the wall would have been something he’d do.”

Nova smiled as the wall vanished, leaving the white magic powder sitting on the ground one more.

Suddenly, a crackling sound issued from Nova’s shoulder, and a sudden spike of pain erupted.  Nova screamed.  The pain was even worse than it had been when Sombra had been shocking him.

“No!” he heard as he clutched at his shoulder.  “It is not time yet!”

He felt Sombra grab the wrist of the arm clamped over his shoulder and wrench it away.  But before Nova could pull free and cover it again, he felt Sombra’s fingers press against his heart and, miraculously, the pain seemed to stop.

Nova looked down, and to his mingled surprise and horror, Sombra appeared to be extracting black essences from him, collecting the energy in his hand.

A wave of nausea rolled over Nova.  He retched, vomiting on the floor beside him, before the ground rushed up to meet him, and all became darkness.

Sombra stared down at the unconscious form of Nova Shine, feeling more concerned and surprised than he had ever felt about the boy before.  That had not gone according to plan at all.  He had learned what he needed to learn, but why had the dark energy chosen that moment to strike?  His wall was not designed to be malignant.

Perhaps… he thought, hearkening back to the spell the fool unicorn had cast on the then-Night apprentice.  ...an unexpected side effect?

It would require more observation.  He hadn’t exhibited even the slightest inclination towards corruption, save for the red eyes, so why now?

With a wave of his hand, Sombra cleaned the magic powder and the vomit as he pondered how best to go about watching.

It seems the best course would be to let Discord and the Princess watch him, he thought, but knowing them, they might find some way to upend everything that I have worked so hard for.

Still, this could not be done now.  Now, all Sombra could do was let the boy sleep, and at least find rest within his dreams.

He was warm.  And for some reason, he felt weightless, too.

The weightlessness was a familiar feeling, as more than once he and Twilight had gone for a flight in her dreams, but this felt more real than that.

Was he dreaming?

Nova opened his eyes.  Everything was white around him.  And he felt like he was floating in water, apart from the fact that he was warm and dry.

What was this place?

He swung himself forward, as if sitting up, only to flail about when he realized there was no floor beneath him.

Yeah, he thought.  Definitely dreaming.

He looked down at his hands-- wait a minute.  He had hooves again.

He looked over his body and realized, to a mixture of astonishment and pleasure, that he was his pony self once again.

Almost as if to add to his happiness, his favorite navy-blue cloak appeared around his shoulders and fastened itself with the brooch of the Night Master.

“Wonder why that happened,” he said aloud.

“Well, if you’re going to meet a pretty lady, you need to be dressed for the occasion.”

That voice…

Nova turned around, still floating in the air.

Twilight Sparkle was standing before him, a pony too.  But there was something off about her.  Nova couldn’t quite put his finger on it, though.  Everything seemed there, at least.  The eyes were the same, her horn was the same, it was the same old unicorn that he had…

Twilight wasn’t a unicorn anymore.  Which could only mean...

“No way.”

Nova felt himself drop to the ground, and he just fell flat on his face, still in disbelief.

“Well, if you really are dreaming, then shouldn’t it come as no surprise to you?” the pony asked, offering a hoof to help him up.

“I told Luna to make sure I never dreamt of you!” Nova said as she pulled him to his hooves.  “It’s too painful to even think of you when I’m awake!”

“Then what makes you so sure that this is only a dream?” Clover asked, cocking her head.  “For all you know, I just got bored in the afterlife and decided to pay you a visit when I got the opportunity.”

Nova could only stare at her.  For some reason, despite the surrealism, and the fact that every bit of this encounter defied all logic, everything seemed perfectly normal.  As if this was a normal occurrence.  Nova wasn’t panicking or just plain losing it.

“You’re still wondering if I’m real, aren’t you,” Clover asked, still smiling at him.

“You died, though,” Nova protested.  “I’ve been to your grave!  Your’s and Steel’s!  How can you be standing here, looking so young, so beautiful, so...”

“That’s the beautiful thing about eternity, Nova,” she said, glancing at the whiteness beneath her hooves.  “It’s eternity.  And he and I have been waiting for you to join us for centuries.”

“Don’t tell me you’re going to drag me off to the afterlife,” Nova said, ears splaying back (a feeling he was pleased to feel again).  “I don’t think I’m ready to die.”

“Oh, don’t worry, Nova,” Clover said, laughing.  “You’re not dead.  You are asleep, though.  A blissful, dreamless sleep that allowed me just the right window to pay you a visit.  And for the first time in years, we can talk like we used to.”

“So,” Nova swallowed, “you are real, then?”

“As real as you are,” she answered, taking a few steps forward, to put them both only a few inches away.  “Go on, then.”

Nova needed no other words from her.  He reached out a tentative hoof to Clover’s cheek, and to his astonishment, his hoof touched her.

Immediately, her own hoof came up, and pressed his into her cheek, which she nuzzled into happily.

“I have waited over a thousand years for this,” she breathed.

At that, Nova let his inhibition go.  He pulled Clover’s face right to his and he kissed her, as he had not done since the best and worst night in his life.

After several blissful, unending moments, Nova and Clover separated.  Almost immediately, she nuzzled into his neck, and Nova hugged her tightly, tears spilling out of the corners of his eyes.

They almost stood in direct contrast to each other.  Clover was peacefully nuzzling into him, without even a little bit of fear, but Nova was unashamedly crying, and holding her so tightly, as if he was afraid she would just vanish.

As with the kiss, they remained in their embrace for several long moments before Nova finally relaxed, and they both sort of fell onto the ground, Nova’s legs wrapped around her.

“My, someone’s eager,” Clover observed.

“This, coming from the mare who wanted me to give her a whole night and spent a year and a half attempting to woo me against my will?” Nova retorted.

“Still as snarky as ever,” she answered.  “I see a couple of years have done nothing to tame the tongue of Nova Shine.”

“Well, you’ve been watching me, haven’t you?” Nova asked, bemused.  “Of course a couple of years have done nothing.”

“Well, we haven’t been watching you,” Clover replied.  “We can’t, really.  We can sense things about ponies we are or were close to, but we can’t watch your every move.”

“Oh, good, I feel loads better,” Nova said.

“You received my final letter?” she asked, cocking an eyebrow.

“Of course,” Nova smiled fondly at the memory of discovering the final words Clover had written him in his own code.  “Which reminds me.  You haven’t asked about my earring yet.”

“No, that I haven’t,” she said, glancing at the small glowing magenta stone, still fastened to his ear even in this dream state.  “I assume this means you and Twilight Sparkle are engaged?”

“Princess Twilight Sparkle, now,” Nova corrected her.  “I proposed not too long after she ascended, and naturally, considering that I’m a very sexy stallion--” Clover flicked his muzzle with her ear, “--she accepted on the spot.”

Clover hummed peacefully as Nova fell silent.  They were content to lie there, simply enjoying each other’s company.  It felt as though no more words needed to be spoken.

But like any good moment with Nova Shine, it was ruined somehow.

“So, you wait more than a thousand years to meet me, and all we do is kiss, hug, and cuddle?”

Clover let out a patient sigh, but she did flick Nova’s muzzle with her ear again.

“Well, you do have a point,” she admitted.  “You’ll be waking up in only a few hours.  Not exactly the biggest window of time for us to catch up.”

Instantly, the white dreamscape around them changed.  No longer were they just floating around.  They were now standing in the Great Hall of the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters, exactly as it had been the night Nova had left, minus the crowd.

A golden and silver throne were placed up at the high table, there was a great clearing in the middle of the floor, the tables had food left over on them, and the starry sky could be seen outside the windows.

“A dance?” Nova asked, feeling suddenly quite warm around the ears.

“Yes, Nova.  A dance,” Clover affirmed, standing and turning around to face him.  Nova was drawn up to his hooves, and the same spell she had used to long ago pulled his sternum towards her, holding them close.

“Do you remember how it goes?” she asked, and to Nova’s surprise, he could hear the same strains played by the orchestra that night as he and Clover had danced.

As soon as the music had gotten into its full swing, she took the lead.  She led him as they waltzed slowly across the ballroom floor.  All the while, Nova just let her lead while he basked in just her presence.

And as they moved, Nova once again felt the tears start to fall.  She was here, with him!  Clover the Clever!

“Please,” he croaked, his voice suddenly weak, “tell me I’ll remember this when I wake up.”

He heard her hum quietly again, but otherwise, she offered no response, content to continue her slow dance with him.

“Not entirely,” she finally said, which caused Nova’s heart to sink.  “You’ll only remember it like a half-forgotten dream.  But Nova Shine, I want you to promise me one thing,” she added, letting the spell binding her to him wear off so she could look him in the eyes.

“Anything,” he said immediately, and completely sincerely.

“Promise me, Nova Shine, you will never forget that I am always with you.”

“I promise,” he said, bending down to kiss her.  When he pulled back, he felt uncertainty wash over him.  “But how?  How are you always with me?  Can I ever talk to you like this again?”

“We will meet again, Nova.  Perhaps like this, but if not, we will reunite for eternity someday.  But despite this, always remember, I am with you, right here.”

She reached forward and placed her hoof right over his heart.  Nova felt a strange warmth well up inside him at her touch, and he recast the spell that bound them together.

“Well, we only have a few more hours till I wake up,” he said, feeling her nuzzle into his neck.  “Let’s dance the night away, shall we?”

“I think that is a wonderful idea,” she agreed softly.

And they began to dance once again, and they didn’t stop, all through the night.