Changes Abound
Nova and Twilight Sparkle were walking along together side by side on one of their dates when they spotted Rarity and Pinkie Pie watching the skies. “Hi girls, what are you looking at?” Twilight asked.
“What’s so fascinating?” Nova parroted. He and Twilight looked to the skies to see Rainbow Dash flying around performing aerial acrobatics.
“Rainbow Dash!” Pinkie Pie chirped as her eyes stayed glued to the multicolored pegasus. “Isn’t she the most daring devil? I mean, the most devilish darer? I mean…”
“She’s dazzling.” Rarity cut Pinkie off.
“Oh yeah, that’s a good word. She’s dazzling.” Pinkie parroted.
“Wow, she is good.” Nova said.
They stood there watching Rainbow perform trick after trick. Pinkie kept her eyes and her head turned and twisted as if her head were Rainbow Dash. Eventually, her neck got so twisted up, she had to stop and let her body twirl around so she wouldn’t be so twisted.
Soon, it started to look like Rainbow was having trouble as her moves seemed to become frantic as she struggled to correct herself.
Twilight seemed to panic. “Oh no, oh no, oh no.”
Pinkie gave her own worried cry. “Ay-yi-yi-yi-yi!”
“Oh quasars!” Nova exclaimed.
Rainbow crashed into the ground hard. “Oooh.” The four spectaters said together.
Pinkie felt the need to throw in another comment. “So much for dazzling.”
They rushed over to her with Nova reaching her first. “Rainbow Dash, are you all right?”
Rainbow grunted in response. “Ugh, my wing…it hurts.”
“Just hang on, I’ll get you to the hospital.” Nova gently lifted Rainbow off the ground and onto his back before galloping off with the other behind. Along the way through town, Applejack and Fluttershy were in town and saw Rainbow looking hurt. They started galloping with the group and Twilight told them what happened.
They soon reached the hospital, got her checked in, and were now gathered around her as she lay in a bed with her right wing bandaged up. “Ya think she’s gonna be okay?” Applejack asked. Rainbow’s eyes started to flutter open.
Fluttershy followed up. “Oh, I’m so worried.”
“Is her face gonna stay that way?” Pinkie asked.
Rainbow Dash did have a goofy look on her face as she soon came too. She rubbed her head with a hoof, then touched her bandaged wing looking worried. Upon realizing her condition, she let out a groan. “Ooooooh.”
The doctor was in the room as well looking over Dash’s X-rays. Twilight looked back to the doctor. “How is she doctor?”
The unicorn Medic kept his eyes on the X-rays as he answered. “She’s going to be fine.” He turned and gave a smile. “Luckily, she has friends like you that got her here quickly.”
“How long do I have to lie here? I’ve got things I need to do.” Rainbow said. The way she said it made it clear she didn’t want to stay in the hospital for very long.
“Well that all depends on your recover, but I’d say a few days minimum.” Answered the doctor.
“You guys have got to get me out of here, I’m going to climb the walls!” Dash said desperately.
Pinkie rushed up to Dash. “Ooh, just like a spider.” She then went over to the doctor. “Did the crash somehow give her super-duper spider powers?”
“I highly doubt that.” Nova answered.
“No, neither did it give her amazing healing powers.” The doctor answered. “She needs to stay in bed for a few days.” He started making his way to the door.
Rainbow Dash didn’t like the answer to this. “A few days? It might as well be a few months, or a few years.”
“Rainbow, don’t exaggerate. I’m sure those few days will pass by rather quickly.” Nova said.
“I highly doubt that.” Rainbow remarked.
“Don’t worry Rainbow Dash.” Fluttershy comforted.
“I’m sure the chow here is hoof lickin good.” Applejack added.
Rarity then tried to add something as she levitated a hospital gown up. “And the hospital gown, they match the curtains.”
Pinkie popped in again. “And look, you have a roommate.” She pulled the curtain on the side back to reveal a pony in a near full body cast with a worried look on his face.
“Ooh, poor pony. Wonder what happened to him.” Nova commented.
Rainbow Dash simply turned over and pulled her cover more over her. Applejack shrugged and looked to the others. They looked to each other as well, unsure what to do or say.
Fluttershy, Rarity, Pinkie, and Nova looked to Twilight who rubbed a hoof on her chin in thought. She looked out the door of the room just in time to see a nurse pushing a cart full of books by. She rushed out with her horn glowing after the cart and came back a moment later floating a book to Rainbow Dash. She used it to tap her shoulder and set it on the bed next to her.
Rainbow looked over her shoulder and sat up. “What’s…this?” She picked the book up and read the title out loud. “Daring Do and the quest for the sapphire stone.”
Twilight tapped the top of the book with a hoof. “This is the first story in the series. I own all of them.” She grinned with a squee.
Nova couldn’t help but smile. “Geeze Twilight, do you have to look so cute doing that?”
Twilight blushed in response to Nova’s compliment.
Rainbow promptly tossed the book aside. “No thanks. I sooooo don’t read. Reading is for eggheads like you Twilight and Nova. I’m a world class athlete.” She rested her front hooves behind her head. “No offense, but I am not reading. It’s undeniably, unquestionably, uncool.”
Every pony in the room laughed in response. “Is she serious? Who doesn’t like to read a bang up tail from time to time?” Applejack asked.
“Why am I not surprised?” Nova said with an eye roll.
“Why a good book is just as good as silk pajamas on a Sunday morning.” Rarity said with a smile.
Twilight then came in. “Reading is for every pony Rainbow Dash.” She floated the book back onto her bed.
Pinkie chimed in next. “Yeah, I love reading. And my head doesn’t even come close to the shape of an egg.” She hopped as she spoke. “More the shape of an apple, or maybe an orange. But a big orange. Or more like a grapefruit really.”
“We get it Pinkie.” Nova cut her off.
The light pink earth pony nurse that was pushing the book cart came in. “All right my little ponies, Rainbow Dash needs her rest. You can all come back tomorrow.”
Most of the girls left, but Nova and Twilight lingered. “I think you’ll like Daring Do. She’s a lot like you. Adventurous, fierce, and undeniably, unquestionably, unstoppable.”
“Sure sounds like you.” Nova added as he and Twilight left. “See you later Dash, take care.”
Once out of the hospital, Nova and Twilight continued with their date. “So Twilight, do you really think what you said back there will get Dash to read that book?”
“I hope so, it will at least give her something to do.” Twilight said.
“So is this Daring Do series really all that good?”
Twilight turned her head to face Nova. “Oh that’s right, you haven’t read it either have you?”
“No, can’t say I’ve had the pleasure. Wouldn’t mind giving it a try sometime.”
Twilight smiled. “You won’t be disappointed.” The two continued their walk through town in silence till they came to the park where Twilight broke the silence. “So Nova…since….we’re engaged. I don’t suppose you’d consider…moving in with me?” She blushed with a smile at the question.
Nova looked to Twilight with a bit of a surprised look. “Move in with you? I…um…” Nova blushed. “Well…okay, sure. I mean, we are going to be getting married sometime. My little brother can always live with our mom and dad. I’ll still need to go to my ship though to take care of my job. And I guess I could bring in a few of my tools with me.”
Twilight smiled more and nuzzled Nova’s neck, resting the top of her head under his chin. “Thank you, I would really like it if we could start living together.”
Nova smiled sweetly in return. “I’d love it too. Guess once our date is done, we should go find my family and tell them so they can start making preperations for Starburst to live with them.”
Twilight removed herself from under Nova’s head. “How do you think he’ll take the news?”
Nova thought a moment before answering. “Well, we have been together for years, never being apart. But ever since we came here, being apart hasn’t really been an issue.” He gave a chuckle as he thought of his next reason. “Especially since he joined that little club the Cutie Mark Crusaders.”
Twilight giggled with him. “Heh heh, yeah, he’s really energetic about it.”
“And let’s not forget that little budding relationship he has with Rarity’s sister Sweetie Belle. They make such a cute couple.”
“I think so too.”
The rest of their time was spent in relative silence. Just being with each other was enough. “I wish there was something more I could do for Twilight. Something special to show how much I care, or show her something amazing.” Nova began to think until an idea came to him. “I know, I could….no…that wouldn’t work. Unless….maybe dad could help. Yeah, he could. Then I could do that.” Nova smiled at his idea.
Twilight looked to Nova noticing his smile. “What are you smiling about?”
“Oh, nothing really. Just thinking about us.” Nova answered casually.
Twilight smiled in return and kissed Nova on the cheek.
Later in the day, the couple found Starburst with his three friends trying to sell home made cookies that looked a bit burnt. They had a stand set up and everything. “Hey there Twilight, Nova, wanna buy some cookies?” Scootaloo asked happily.
“We’re trying to get our cutie marks in cookie baking.” Sweetie Belle informed.
“They may look a little burnt, but I’m sure they’re good.” Starburst said. “Try some.”
Twilight and Nova looked at each other nervously before turning back to the fillies and colt. “Uh, heh heh, uh no thanks, that’s okay.” Twilight said.
“I’m sure they’re tasty and all but…we came to talk to Starburst. Would it be all right if we had a word with him alone?” Nova asked.
“I guess so.” Apple Bloom said.
Starburst shrank. “Am I in trouble?”
Nova chuckled as he and Twilight led Starburst away. “No little brother, there’s just something we need to tell you. First, we need you to come with us to see mom and dad. This is something mom and dad need to hear as well. It won’t take long, promise.”
Starburst’s attitude lifted back up hearing this. “Oh, well…okay.”
With Starburst in tow, Twilight and Nova headed for his parent’s house.
They arrived within minutes and entered the domicile. “Hey mom, hi dad.” Nova greeted.
Cosmos was sitting at the computer of their ship looking over current star maps when he heard his son’s voice. He looked back over his shoulder. “Nova my boy, what a surprise.”
Starla came in from their kitchen. “Hello boys, and hello to you Twilight Sparkle. What brings you all by?”
Starburst ran up to Starla and hugged her with a smile. “Hi mom.” She happily hugged back and nuzzled him. They were currently out of their pony disguises to show their true Equinian forms.
“Hello Starla, Cosmos.” Twilight greeted. “We came by because we have something to tell you.”
Cosmos came up next to his wife. “Oh, and what would that be?”
Nova explained. “Well, since we’re going to be getting married at some point. Twilight decided it would be a good idea for me to go ahead and move in with her. Which means Starburst would have to start living with you two. Would that be all right?”
“What? I…won’t be living with my big brother any more?” Starburst asked sounding disappointed.
“Well Twilight doesn’t exactly have a spare room for you. Besides, don’t you think you’ll like living with mom and dad? And it won’t be like I’m going anywhere. We’ll still see each other every day.” Nova explained.
Starburst slowly smiled. “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”
“Well, that would be a delight. I think it would be great to have our little youngling living with us.” Starla said with a smile as she hugged Starburst again.
Starburst giggled in response.
“Great, I can help move his things over here if you’d like.” Twilight offered.
Starla stopped hugging and looked to Twilight with a kind smile. “That’s nice of you to offer dear, but you don’t need to. He doesn’t have that much stuff anyway.”
Starburst chimed in. “Yeah, just a few souviners and a couple toys. Like that kite Pinkie gave us a while back when that dragon was sleeping in that cave on the mountain. And the costume Sweetie Belle made me for the talent competition a while back along with the award we won. And there’s that headband I got from the buffalo back in Appleloosa. Speaking of, big brother, do you think sometime we could go visit them again? I kind of miss Little Strong Heart.”
“I guess so, but it might be a while before we can go visit her and her tribe.” Nova said.
Starburst jumped up for joy. “Yay!”
“All right then, since you don’t have all that much, might as well get started.” Cosmos said. Me and Nova can take care of this.”
“Okay then. Starburst, you can go back to your friends now.” Twilight said.
“Okay, by guys.” Starburst took off like a shot out of the house.
Nova turned his head to Twilight. “Twilight, why don’t you stay here with mom while me and dad do this?”
“Good idea, I can make us some fuban tea.” Starla said.
“What kind of tea is that?” Twilight asked.
“It’s an equinian tea. It’s very good. You might like it.” Cosmos said. He went to grab his holo emitter and put on his pony disguise. “All right, let’s go.”
“Right.” Nova began following his dad as Starla went to the kitchen.
Once out of the house and on the way to Nova’s, Nova, spoke up. “Hey dad, I had this idea to do something special for Twilight Sparkle, but I need your help.”
“Sure, what’s up son.”
“Do you think you could help me fix my ship’s engines? The energy converter is shot so the engines can’t run.”
Cosmos gave a curious look. “Sure, I could help you fix it up in no time. But why?”
Nova whispered what he had planned in his father’s ear.
Cosmos smiled and chuckled in response. “Heh heh, by the stars that is a good idea. Knowing her, she’s going to love it. We can get started once we get your little brother’s stuff over to my place.”
“Great, thanks dad.” Nova smiled brightly.
After moving Starburst’s stuff over and telling Twilight he had some things to take care of, she headed home while Nova and Cosmos started gathering the tools for the small job ahead. It took a couple hours but the engine to Nova’s ship was soon repaired.
Cosmos wiped a bit of sweat off his brow with a foreleg. “And there we go, done.”
“All right, this is perfect. I can’t thank you enough dad.” Nova said.
“Don’t worry about it, I’m just glad I could help my boy.”
Nova took his dad in a hug. “Really dad, thank you. I’m sure Twilight will like this. But I’m also glad I could work on something with you.”
Cosmos gave a small smile as he hugged back. “Me too son. Me and your mother are just so happy to have you boys back in our lives.” He pulled back from the hug. “So, when do you plan on springing your little present on your wife to be?”
“Tomorrow night. But first, we’ll be visiting Dash tomorrow. She got into a bit of an accident and hurt her wing so she’s in the hospital for a while.”
Cosmos winced upon hearing this. “Ooh, hope she gets better soon.”
“It’s just for a couple days, she’ll be flying again in no time.” Nova stated confidently. “But now that this is done, I think I want to make one more adjustment to my ship.”
Cosmos gave a curious smile. “Oh, and what sort of adjustment?”
“A viewing window of course. With a bit of magic and technical know how, I can have one set up in a jiffy as well.”
“All right then, I need to get home and go back to work. The probe we sent up to send information on the stars won’t monitor itself.” Cosmos gave a wave as he trotted off.
Nova watched as his father left and went back inside to make the addition he mentioned.
The next day, Nova met up with Twilight and Fluttershy just outside the hospital. “Good day Twilight Sparkle, Fluttershy.”
Twilight had a board game floating next to her in her magic. “Hello Nova.”
Fluttershy greeted with her usual sweet smile. “Good day Nova.”
“So, let’s see how Dash is doing today shall we?” Nova said with a smile.
Twilight nodded. “Of course, I even brought a board game along for us to play. She must be really board on her own.”
The trio trotted in to the hospital and made their way to Dash’s room. Twilight knocked first and slowly pushed the door open. “Hi Rainbow Dash.” The three of them greeted in unison. Rainbow was sitting up on her bed leaning against the pillow with what looked to Nova like a strained smile.
“Uh, hey…guys.” Rainbow greeted in return.
Fluttershy chirped. “We thought we’d come and cheer you up.”
Twilight floated the game up for Dash to see. “We brought your favorite board game.”
“We know how much you like to win.” Fluttershy added.
“So how are you holding up Rainbow?” Nova asked as Twilight set up the game.
“Uh, fine, thanks.” Dash said cautiously. She had a hoof behind her back as she sat up.
Twilight pointed a hoof at Dash. “You go first Rainbow Dash.”
Rainbow shook her head. “No no, you first.”
Nova cocked a brow at this curiously. Fluttershy and Twilight stood at the foot of the bed while Nova watched them play the game. He had never played this board game before so he didn’t know how it worked. “Going to have to ask Twilight about that one, and a few others, so we’ll have more stuff to do. Why didn’t I ask about them sooner?” Nova thought to himself.
“All right.” Twilight placed a hoof to her chin a moment before calling out an item and number. “Uh, cloud three.”
“Aw shucks you…rained on my cumulus.” Rainbow leaned back with her left foreleg over her eyes dramatically. She then leaned back with a smile. “Go again.”
Fluttershy went next. “Um…Sky Five?”
“Whoa, you found my seagull.” Rainbow declared as she held up a small plastic red seagull and tossed it aside.
Twilight looked closely at her side of the board. “Cloud two?”
“You zapped my weather pony!” Rainbow declared.
Nova cocked a brow at this. “What in the galaxies? This doesn’t seem like Rainbow Dash. Why isn’t she even making a move?”
The girls took turns calling out moves and Dash just kept saying what they hit. “You stung my bumble bee.” Another move. “Aw, my thunderbolt. And that’s my last cloud. Too bad, you guys win I lose.” She gave a very sad pout with her lip jutting out and her left hoof resting on the side of her face.
“Uh, Rainbow, you didn’t even get a turn.” Nova pointed out.
Rainbow Dash grabbed the game up and frantically tried to pack it up. She looked back with another obviously strained smile. “You win some you lose some.”
“But you don’t lose some.” Twilight pointed out. “I don’t think you’ve ever lost a game.”
Rainbow suddenly yawned and stretched her forelegs, cutting Twilight off. “Thanks for coming.”
“But yesterday you were desperate for things to do.” Twilight pointed out as Dash practically shoved the game at her.
“Do? Who said anything about Daring Do? I told you I’m not interested in reading.” She turned the lights off.
“Dash, no pony said anything about Daring Do.” Nova pointed out.
She gave an exaggerated yawn with another stretch of her hooves. “Nap time for me.” She laid down with the covers over her lower half and started snoring in a painfully obvious fake manner.
“Glad we could…cheer you up?” Fluttershy said in a curious way as she left. Twilight and Nova just stared at Rainbow a moment.
Dash opened one eye while trying to keep up the act and gave another even more exaggerated yawn.
“All right then.” Twilight said as she began walking out.
“Well, it was nice seeing you again Dash. Hope you get better soon.” Nova said before following Twilight out of the room. Once out of the hospital, Nova pointed out his observation. “Is it just me or did Dash seem to be acting a bit odd?”
“She did seem to be acting weird.” Twilight said in agreement with a thoughtful look.
“She never even made one move during our game.” Fluttershy pointed out.
Nova continued. “She did seem rather adamant about getting us out of her room. I wonder why.”
Twilight shook her head slowly. “I don’t think we’ll be able to figure this out today. Maybe we can ask her the next time we see her.”
“That sounds like a good idea.” Nova said.
“Well, I’ll just be going then, I’ll see you two later.” Fluttershy hovered up off the ground, waved, and flew off towards her home.
Nova waved at Fluttershy with Twilight as she left. Once gone, Nova turned to Twilight with a smile. “So Twilight, I have a little something I’d like to show you.”
Twilight smile as her curiosity shone through. “Really, what is it?”
“Ah ah ah, not now. It will have to wait until night fall when every pony is asleep.”
Twilight cocked her head to the side in confusion. “Why? Can’t you show me during the day?”
Nova kept his smile. “Trust me, it will be all the better at night.”
“If you say so.” Twilight’s face fell slightly in dissapointement. However, the prospect of something from Nova kept her attitude up. Whatever it was, she knew it had to be something great.
“Come to my ship tonight after the sun sets.” Nova instructed. “You’ll get it then.”
“All right, I’ll see you later tonight then.” With that, they parted ways.
Once night fell and the sun set, Twilight made her way to Nova’s home and knocked on the door. “Nova, I’m here!” She called.
The door swung open to reveal Nova standing there out of his pony guise with his fins in plain view. “Great, come on in.” Nova stepped aside to let Twilight in. His buggy eyes watching her movement.
The lavender unicorn trotted in with a smile. “So what’s this surprise of yours?”
“Just a sec.” Nova moved to the center of the living room. “Computer, revert to ship mode.” There was a beeping before all the furniture, sink, the cabinets, the fridge, everything that made it look like a home dematerialized and was replaced with the metallic hull of the inside of an alien craft. The ships main controls were back at the front of the ship and Nova moved to them.
Twilight watched in a bit of awe as the home changed to an alien space craft. “Wow, that was amazing.”
Nova gave a smirk. “You haven’t seen anything yet.” He took a seat at a chair in front of the controls. “Come here and have a seat next to me.”
“Wait, are…are you going to…fly it?” Twilight asked in surprise.
“Well how else am I going to show you my surprise?” Nova asked with his smile.
Twilight’s eyes widened and sparkled with joy. She squeed in delight. “Eeeeh!” She galloped up and took the other seat available next to Nova. She looked over the control panel that held many readings, buttons, switches, and levers. “Wow, look at all this. This is the first time I’ve seen this.”
“Just wait. This is the reason why we had to wait till nightfall. Didn’t want any pony seeing the ship take off.”
Twilight turned her head to Nova with an inquisitive look. “Hold on, I thought your ship couldn’t fly anymore.”
“My dad helped me fix it so it could.” Nova started pressing a few buttons and placed his hoof on a slider. The engines hummed to life and the ship began to slowly rise up off the ground. “We’re going into outer space for a closer look at the stars.”
“Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh! This is so exciting!” Twilight squeeled. A pair of straps suddenly appeared over Twilight’s head and came down to her chest where they met another pair of straps. They secured Twilight in the seat comfortably. Nova had the same.
“And here we go.” Nova took hold of a steering wheel and the ship moved forward, then angled up. The ship rose higher and higher into the sky. Twilight keeping her eyes forward as they flew up. In a matter of seconds, they passed by the clouds, then rose more and more. Slowly, the ground behind and the town of Ponyville began to shrink in size until it couldn’t be seen anymore.
The ship soon came to a stop and turned around. “There it is Twilight, your home planet.” Nova said with a smile.
Twilight gasped and looked on in awe. “Wow, I can see everything from here.” The planet of Equis lay before her. The green lands and the blue oceans were plain to see. “This is so beautiful.”
“You haven’t seen anything yet my love.” Nova said. “The universe is full of wonder and majesty to see. During mine and Starburst’s long isolation traveling through space, we’ve seen some incredible things. I wanted to share a few of those with you. According to my dad’s star charts and calculations, there’s a small comet set to pass by the system.” He turned the ship around and took off.
“Really? And we get to see it up close?” Twilight asked.
“Sure do.” Nova responded. He directed the ship forward and made to head away from the planet.
Twilight’s eyes stayed focused to what was in front of her as she looked out the window of the front of the ship, her eyes wide in wonder. Hundreds upon hundreds of white dots painted the blackness before them. Off to the side, the moon hovered over the planet. While Twilight was distracted with the view, he pushed a few buttons and the engines roared more. The ship sped up and Twilight was nearly flung back into her seat by the force. Streaks of lights zoomed past. “What’s going on?!”
“Warp speed!” Nova answered back. It lasted a few minutes before coming to a stop.
“Nova, wh…what just happened?” Twilight asked.
“I put the ship in warp drive.” Nova answered.
“Warp drive, what is that?”
“The ship has a warp drive engine that allows it to travel faster than the speed of light.” Nova answered casually.
Twilight’s jaw hung open at this for a while. She soon shook her head and came back to her sense. “Faster than light? That’s amazing.”
“Look ahead of us.” Nova pointed a hoof at the window.
Twilight turned her head and looked where Nova was pointing. “What is this?” There was a large red cloud with a few blurry light spots scattered about it.
“It’s a nebula.” Nova answered again with a smile. “Isn’t it pretty?”
“Nova, it…it looks incredible. I’ve never seen anything like this. It’s so beautiful. What is a nebula?”
“It’s an interstellar cloud of dust, hydrogen, helium and other ionized gases.”
“This is so fascinating.”
“There’s more to see that I want to show you. You’d be surprised how many wonders there are in this part of the galaxy so close to your world.”
“What about the comet you mentioned?” Twilight asked.
“We’ll go see it next.” Nova directed the ship in a different direction and took off. Twilight’s eyes continuously scanned the stars before her in wonder. Almost an hour of travel and they soon spotted the comet Nova mentioned. It was a sight to behold. A white comet with a long tail and particles of ice trailed behind it.
Once again, Twilight stared in wonder as she admired the beauty. Nova pulled the ship to follow next to it where they could have a good view of it. “It’s so beautiful. I can’t believe I’m seeing a comet up close like this.”
“So I take it you’re enjoying yourself so far?” Nova asked.
Twilight looked back to Nova with a sweet smile. “I am, I’ve never seen such amazing sights up close. Thank you for this.” She brought him in for a loving hug.
Nova happily hugged back. “Think of this as your own personal observatory. Now that my ship can fly, I can take you up like this every night whenever you want.”
Twilight pulled back from the hug. “But wait, how do you find your way back to Equis?”
“Don’t worry, I worked on that too. There’s a homing signal coming from my mother and father’s ship I can lock on to and find. We can travel around for hours in space looking at everything without having to worry about getting lost.”
Twilight’s smile returned. “Thank you.” Shortly after she said this, a red light on Nova’s control panel started flashing and a beeping started up. “Nova, what is that?”
Nova smiled wider. “Something even more incredible. This is our lucky night indeed.” Nova took the controls and steered the ship away from the comet and off in a different direction. They continued flying for a few more minutes before nearing something else.
Twilight gasped and seemed like she would faint at what she saw. “Nova….”
Nova chuckled. “I never thought I’d see one of those again.” They were looking at a large creature floating through space with ridges extending outward from a round long body. The top half smooth while the bottom had ridges. There were three long tentacles trailing behind it. There was no sign of eyes or a mouth. “That is a space whale.” Nova informed.
Twilight turned to face Nova. “You’ve seen these before?”
“They were a common sight in the solar system my planet was in. They soar through space unhindered and free to roam as they please from one solar system to the next.”
Twilight’s eyes turned back to the space whale. “It’s amazing. How does it survive in space like that?”
“Not sure. Equinians have tried studying them but couldn’t really make much progress. Don’t ask me why. They’re still a mystery to us.”
Twilight fell silent, content with simply watching the creature as it swam through the open vastness of space. “It’s so…peaceful.” She finally said.
“Come on, we’d better head back home now.” Nova said.
“Right, okay.” Twilight responded, keeping her eyes glued to the creature. “Will we be able to see it again?”
“Possibly. If there’s one living around here, there’s bound to be more. I think it’s safe to say we’ll be seeing more of them when we do this again.” Nova began steering the ship and turned it away. Nova activated his ships warp drive and sped off back to Equis.
They arrived within minutes and Nova started bringing his ship in. Instead of setting it down in it’s original position, he set it down next to Twilight’s home. Once it settled, the harnesses released. “I’ll come up with an excuse how my house got next to yours later.” Nova said. “Though…I guess it’s really more my old house, now that I’ll be living with you.” He smiled.
Twilight smiled in return. “How about you make your ship look like something else.” Twilight suggested.
Nova thought about it a moment and smiled as he came up with something. “Perfect, I know just the thing.” He focused his magic on the controls of the ship and began manipulating them. “There we go.” He started leading Twilight out of his ship and turned to look at the results. Now, instead of a large spaceship sitting next to Twilight’s tree house was a metal shed with a single door near the far right side. It sat on the left side of the tree house.
“Well, I guess that will do.” Twilight said. “Come on Nova, let’s go inside and get some sleep.”
“Right behind you.” Nova responded.
Before he took a step though, Twilight suddenly shoved her lips to his for a loving passionate kiss. Twilight held it for nearly a minute before breaking it and trotted in. She lingered at the door waiting for Nova whom she had left a bit stunned at the sudden kiss.
Nova smiled and followed Twilight in and up to her bedroom for a good night’s rest.
The next morning, Nova awoke in Twilight’s bed…or rather his bed as well now, to a beautiful sight to him. Twilight Sparkle was still resting with a smile on her face as her head rested on his neck. He smiled in return and gently stroked at Twilight’s mane. Upon his touch, Twilight’s eyes slowly opened and met his. “Good morning.” Nova greeted.
“Good morning, did you sleep well?” Twilight asked.
“Very, but I forgot to ask, how does spike feel about me living here? I wouldn’t want this to be awkward or anything.”
Twilight sat up a bit more still smiling. “Don’t worry, I asked him how he would feel about you living here before I asked you. He said he was fine with it.”
Speaking of Spike, a snore from his basket interrupted their conversation. He was still snoozing away after the sun had come up.
Twilight giggled at her assistant. “Come on, let’s get breakfast going, that will wake him up.” Twilight said.
“How about you let me take care of breakfast. There’s a little recipe I want to try for Spike I think he might like.” Nova climbed out of bed.
Twilight cocked a brow. “Oh? What kind of recipe?”
“Gemstone pancakes.”
“Mmm, sounds good.” Twilight giggled. “I think he’ll love it.” She got out of bed next and headed for her bathroom.
Nova went to the kitchen to begin making breakfast. A few minutes later, the smell did rouse Spike from his sleep as his nose sniffed the air. “Mmm…something smells good.” He climbed out of bed with a yawn and made his way to the kitchten to find Twilight sitting at the table reading the newspaper and Nova at the stove cooking. “Nova? Twilight, why is…..” He paused in his sentence as he remembered something. “Oh right, you wanted him to start living with us.”
“Did you forget already Spike?” Twilight said with a giggle.
“Morning Spike, hope you don’t mind I decided to make breakfast this morning.” Nova asked as he looked over his shoulder to the little drake.
Spike smiled as he took a seat next to Twilight at the table. “Not at all, I appreciate it. Welcome to our home by the way.”
Nova gave a small chuckle. “Thanks, anyway, I’m making your pancakes special.”
Spike perked up at this and stood up in his seat. “Really? How so?”
Nova levitated a plate of three pancakes already prepared with butter and syrup on them and a glass of orange juice. He floated the stack to Spike and set it in front of him with a fork and knife. In the pancakes was a few gems evenly spaced in a circle near the edge of them with one big one at the center. Spike’s eyes widened and his mouth began to drool. “Oooh, those look…so good.”
“Eat up.” Nova encouraged.
Spike grabbed his knife and fork and hungrily dug in. You’d think he was starved with how he went after them.
As Nova came to the table with two more plates of regular pancakes for himself and Twilight, both were watching Spike with raised brows. It didn’t take long for Spike to finish off his meal and patted his belly in satisfaction. “Wow Spike, did you even taste them?” Twilight asked.
Spike simply answered with a belch.
“I think that’s a yes.” Nova responded with a laugh. The rest of breakfast was spent with the trio talking while enjoying the meal. Nova had brought up the subject that while living in the library now with Twilight and Spike, he’d be more than happy to lend a hoof whenever he wasn’t busy with his own job. Spike was more than happy to have an extra hoof around as it would probably lighten his load of work which wasn’t really that much to begin with but no pony commented on it.
Once things had been settled, Nova had to go to his ship and start work. He had a few orders to take care of and gave Twilight a simple kiss on the cheek good bye even though he was going to be right next door now. The rest of the day went without incident and was rather peaceful.
The day waned on and the sun was starting to set as night began to descend on the town of Ponyville. Nova returned to the library he would now call home and helped straighten things up to close for the night. He helped with sweeping the floor and placing any stray books back in their rightful place. After, it was now time to turn in for the night and the trio went upstairs to the bedroom.
Spike made himself comfortable in his little basket while Nova and Twilight snuggled up to each other in bed and shared a quick kiss goodnight before Twilight used her magic to turn off the lights and resting their heads on the pillows.
Not long after, a ruckus suddenly sounded of a dog barking and hooves clopping against the ground as if they were running. “Oh for galaxies sake, what is that?”
Twilight used her magic to turn the lights back on and peeked out the window of the bedroom. “There’s a group of ponies running around coming up to the library.” Twilight said.
“What? What for?” Nova asked.
“One of them has a rainbow tail. I think it’s Rainbow Dash.” Twilight said. “We’d better go see what’s going on.”
Nova gave a sigh and climbed out of bed. Spike was sound asleep at the time so they decided to let him sleep.
They quickly headed downstairs as Nova cast his disguise spell instead of using his necklace and to the front door as Twilight flung it open to see Rainbow crouching down wearing a black outfit that covered her entire body save for her face wings and tail. There were four ponies coming up to her with flashlights. One was dressed as a security guard, one was one of the nurses from the hospital and the third was the doctor. “Rainbow Dash, what in the world is going on? Why are you stealing slippers?” The doctor asked.
Before she could answer, the barking was heard again. There was a mare with a light blue coat and white mane and tail in a mess with a crazed look on her face as she barked like a dog.
Nova gave a concerned look at the mare and frowned. “What in the cosmos is wrong with her?” He pushed that aside for now.
“Hey, get back to the hospital.” The doctor ordered the crazed mare. She was chased away towards the hospital by the security stallion.
Rarity and Fluttershy had approached wearing their robes. Applejack soon strolled up next to Fluttershy. “What’s all the ruckus?”
Pinkie popped up in front of them suddenly seemingly out of nowhere. “Oh, I’d say it was more of a fracas than a ruckus.”
Rainbow was looking nervous as she had her forehooves crossed in front of her.
“What’s going on Rainbow Dash?” Twilight asked suspiciously.
“Seriously, what is going on that you would wake up everypony like this?” Nova added.
Rainbow took a moment before she answered and hung her head. “I’m an egg head.” She said dejectedly.
“Pardon?” Rarity asked with a raised brow.
Rainbow began explainging. “See, I was trying to get back into the hospital to finish the last chapter of…”
Twilight cut her off and named the book she had recommended before. “Daring Do and the quest for the sapphire statue.”
Rainbow hung her head more. “You got me.”
Twilight came up to Rainbow with a smile. “Wow, I knew it was good, but I never thought it would drive a pony to petty theft.”
“Good? Try awesomely amazing. That book is unquestionably, undeniably, un-putdownable.” Rainbow pointed out. “But I had to put it down. I was sent home before I could finish it.”
Nova gave a flat look. “Really? That’s what this is about? You know Rainbow, you could have asked Twilight for a copy, she has the whole series.”
“Well I’m glad that’s what this is all about.” Twilight stated with a smile. Nova simply rolled his eyes with a smirk.
Pinkie hopped over while the others trotted over. Applejack started a little speech. “There’s no reason to go around causin a ruckus…”
“Fracas!” Pinkie suddenly corrected.
Applejack continued. “Causin a fracas just because you like to read.”
Rainbow gave an appologetic look. “Sorry every pony. I didn’t mean to wake you all.”
“Oh, it’s all right, no real harm done.” Fluttershy said.
“Speak for yourself, you interupted my beauty sleep.” Rarity whined and started back for home.
Applejack and Rainbow snickered at Rarity. “Well, I reckon we might as well get back home then and get some sleep. See ya’ll in the mornin.” Applejack started off back for home.
“Good night every pony.” Fluttershy said before going off herself.
“Rainbow, just come back in the morning and you can get the book yourself from here.” Nova said. “It’s too late at night right now to be worrying about this.”
“Great, I’ll be back first thing in the morning.” Rainbow zoomed off for home quickly.
Nova shook his head. “By the stars that mare sure is something.”
Twilight giggled in response. “I’ll say.”
The next morning, Rainbow showed up just like she said and came in. Spike was busy sweeping the floor at the time as Twilight showed Dash the shelf where she keeps her Daring Do series. “Like I said, I own every book in the series, and you can borrow them anytime you like.” She levitated the first book off the shelf and in front of Rainbow.
Rainbow gave an appologetic smile. “Thanks Twilight, I’m sorry I made such a big deal about this. I thought reading was for smart ponies like you and Nova.”
Twilight kept her smile but shook her head. “Rainbow Dash, just because you’re athletic doesn’t mean you aren’t smart.”
Spike chimed in. “Yeah, just look at me.” He stopped his sweeping and flexed his arms. After a moment of them just staring at him oddly, he narrowed his eyes and went back to sweeping.
Twilight continued. “Reading is something every pony can enjoy if they just give it a try.”
“Yeah, I get it. I shouldn’t knock something till I try it.” Rainbow said.
“Sounds like you just learned a lesson.” Nova said.
“One that I think would make a great letter to the princess.” Twilight added.
Rainbow went over to Spike. “Did you get all that?”
Spike paused in his sweeping and answered carefully. “Yeah?”
Rainbow smiled. “Great, you write the letter, I gotta finish this book.” Rainbow suddenly lurched her head forward, causing Twilight to duck as Rainbow grabbed the book in her teeth and disappeared out the door.
Nova chuckled again. “By the cosmos, looks like she found a new interest.”
Twilight giggled with him. “Very.” With that out of the way, they went about their buisness and tended to the library.