The Apprentice, the Student, and the Charlatan

by Rytex

History Lessons

All in all, not one of my better weeks, thought Nova glumly as he stared at the ceiling in Shining Armor’s room.

Counting the moment he had set out from Ponyville with Trixie and Twilight in tow to Trottingham as the beginning of the week, it had been one of the worst weeks since that time he had contracted Starswirl Sickness.  He had never thought that dealing with two mares that never stopped arguing would ever be considered a high point in the week, yet there it was.

The first thing he could remember since passing out in the Everfree Vaults was coming to on an emergency chariot to Canterlot, where the medic with him had informed him that he had used dangerously-high levels of his mana pool in that one spell alone.

“I’m prescribing one week of rest.  No magic use outside of the very basic, so your mana pool can replenish,” the doctor he had been taken to in Canterlot had said.  “If you had used almost any more magic, it could have had disastrous consequences on your future magic casting ability.”

So there was that.

Upon being discharged from the hospital after an overnight stay, he had gone straight to Canterlot Castle, where he had attempted to barge into Princess Luna’s room while she slept.

Luna’s thestral guards were very displeased, practically throwing Nova into the wall behind him.and obstinately refusing to let him in.  Of course, they hadn’t met Nova before, despite the fact that he was their own master’s Night Apprentice, and they remained unconvinced until the argument roused Luna.

...who was not a morning pony.

Nova shuddered.  Some memories were better left unremembered.

Still, the earliest he could get time for Twilight and himself to sit down and talk with them was in five days, which was today.  More specifically, a bit later in the afternoon.

He had gone straight to the Princesses’ private lounge, a place he actually was allowed in given his position, the next day and asked Princess Celestia why it wasn’t a national emergency.

“Quite simply,” she had responded, taking a sip from her morning coffee as Luna helped herself to a bagel, “because of how laughably ineffectual it would prove, and how much it would rile up the Griffon Emperor.  The politics of the situation cannot be ignored, Nova.”

“Indeed,” Luna nodded.  “As you know, the Griffon Emperor is all but completely open about wanting to seize an excuse to send his armies out to intimidate.  Were we, a pacifist nation with a very quiet military, suddenly seized by a spur of the moment decision to suddenly mobilize our forces, he would respond in kind, except where he sent his forces would be on their ships close to our borders.  Obviously, not the ideal situation to attempt to defuse.”

“And besides,” Celestia took another sip, “The being you encountered, Envy, is very proficient at worming her way into control of others’ minds.  Mobilizing a military would just give her more targets.”

But the serious was intermixed with the (for some reason) heart-rending.

For whatever reason, Twilight had not decided to visit him in the Canterlot hospital-- not that he wanted her to visit, or anything!  It was just boring with no one to talk to, is all.

After leaving from his first attempt at getting an explanation out of Princess Luna, he had gone to the Sparkles to request a place to stay while he waited.  As soon as Velvet opened the door and saw him there, he was yanked in and found himself the center of a tight embrace by both her and Night Light.

“Thank-you,” Night muttered into his ear, “for saving our daughter.”

“It… it was nothing--” he had tried to protest, only to be whapped in the cheek by Velvet.

“You rescued her from that creature in the forest,” she reminded him sternly.  ‘“That was not nothing, and don’t ever act like it wasn’t again.  If it weren’t for you, she--”

Velvet bit off the end of her sentence and glanced away, but not before Nova caught a slight glimmer of tears in her eye.

“Speaking of,” Nova extricated himself from Night Light’s hug, “where is she?”

“Up…”Night swallowed nervously, “up in her room.”

“What’s wrong?” Nova asked, a bit perplexed.

“She...” Night glanced at the ground, “she hasn’t spoken a word since she came home.  She’s just been in her room, reading or staring out the window or at a wall.”

No sooner had he said this than Nova had dashed up to see her.  He had practically barged into her room without even waiting for her to answer, for that matter.  And there she was, sitting in her bed, staring glumly out the window.

Her ears flicked in his direction when he’d entered, but she didn’t look away.

“Twilight!” he had exclaimed, his insides doing that strange jitter they had been doing so often as of late, and only at that did she show any reaction.  And all it was was a nervous half-glance at him, before she went back to staring out the window.

It only made an already-sour day even worse.

The next few days were spent in a library, trying to ascertain the cause of those strange jitters, be they from something he ate or some kind of illness he was contracting, but almost as if the universe were cosmically laughing at him, he was thwarted yet again by unhelpful ponies.  He either had something that should have gone away four days ago, or he had terminal cancer.  Nothing in between.

Welp, might go see the Doc again tomorrow to ask about that, Nova thought bitterly as he slid out of his bed.  He could feel Twilight’s aura moving away from the bathroom as she headed off to her room after her shower.  There’s gotta be a perfectly logical explanation for it.  Or maybe Luna knows something.

Whatever the case, at least there was a good chance one of his frustrations over the last week would finally end today.

Later that afternoon, Nova and Twilight were sitting on a pair of seats outside the throne room, waiting for Celestia to dismiss the Day Court, which would be happening in a few moments, if the clock on the wall was anything to go by.

“Still not talking to me?” he asked, giving her a glance.

She silently kicked her hooves in response.

“Well, alright then,” he said, trying not to let how much he hurt for her show in his voice.  “If you want to talk about whatever it was I did, I’m right here.”

“Mm-mm.”

Nova’s eyes snapped back to her.  She was shaking her head.

“You don’t want to talk about whatever I did?”

She shook her head all the more vigorously.  Nova blinked.  A simple ‘No’ shake would have sufficed.  But then it clicked.  She was saying it wasn’t something he had done.

“Oh.  I gotcha,” he replied, though it hardly put his mind at ease.  “Wish I would have known that sooner.  Would have saved me a lot of unpleasant thoughts.”

She didn’t respond.  If anything, her hanging head seemed to sink just a bit lower, which only added to the strange sort of emptiness inside his gut.

“Well,” he muttered, just loud enough for her to hear, “when you’re ready to talk, here I am.”

He didn’t expect a response, nor did he get one, but at least he assured her that he would be there to hear her out when she felt the time was right.

The throne room door opened, and out strode the bureaucrats and the brown-nosing nobles, the inconsequential chatter filling the room.  Many of them gave Nova and Twilight a once-over and a few of them made polite nods in their direction, but most of them ignored the pair as they made their way out back into the city.

After a few moments, with the throne room empty, Princess Celestia rose from her throne and began to stride toward the two of them.  Luna was nowhere to be seen, presumably already wherever they were going to have their little talk at.

“Follow me, please,” she said, giving the two of them a warm smile as she turned and began to trot further into the castle.  Nova and Twilight wordlessly complied, taking up positions on either side of her as they went.

“Luna will meet us in our personal sitting room,” Celestia informed them, as though she could read Nova’s mind.

“I thought the throne room was the sitting room,” Nova remarked.

Out of the corner of his eye, he could have sworn he saw the corners of Twilight’s mouth lift just a fraction.

“Yes, well,” Celestia cleared her throat, “in one room, all of the asses speak rather than sit, and in the other, you will be the only ass that speaks.”

“Oh, touché!” Nova snickered.  Twilight now appeared to be struggling not to smile.

“But in all seriousness,” her smile fell slightly, “some of this information is not for prying ears.  Not that they would remember to begin with.”

“Would you catch them, then?” Nova asked.

“Not exactly,” Celestia replied, a bit of a cryptic note behind her voice.  “All that we can will be explained soon.  Patience, Nova.”

Nova didn’t like being told to be patient, but then he figured that “soon” meant “within the next hour” soon, so that made it easier to take.

They were led to the wing of the castle that had the Royal Bedrooms.  Nova had found himself very familiar with the area after his attempt to break into Luna’s a few days before, since the only time he had been in Luna’s room was when he had been teleported there and so he didn’t know his way around.  The sitting room was one of the rooms closest to the corps de logis of the castle, probably the better for Celestia and Luna to make their way to the throne room when finished with a break.

The interior of the room was surprisingly bland, though the way it was designed seemed to indicate that it had been a bedroom of some kind before its repurposement.  The room was square, with a hearth set into the center of the left wall from the door, a round window on the wall opposite them pointed outward in the direction of Ponyville and the Everfree Forest, with Neighton only just visible if Nova craned his neck.

Three couches were arrayed around a coffee table placed before the hearth and laden with books, three shelves of which were on the wall opposite the hearth, and several pictures hung on the walls on either side of the door, window, and hearth.

Most of them featured Celestia with various ponies.  One, a young Cadance.  Another, a young unicorn mare with a golden coat and a red and gold mane.

But then Nova’s eyes found a picture featuring Celestia and Luna with another mare.  It was already distinguishable by the fact that their manes were pink and a light blue respectively, both of which were not their freely-flapping selves by the look of it, but what made it stranger was the appearance of a beautiful mare who looked exactly like Twilight, but roughly ten years older, grinning exactly the same way she did at the camera.

“Princess, who’s this?” he asked, not looking away.

“Mmm,” he could hear Celestia ponder how to answer behind him.  “Who do you think it is, Nova?”

“Well, it looks like an older Twilight, but I highly doubt that’s her.”

Twilight sidled up next to him for a look, and she, too, looked quite a bit confused.

“That is a very dear friend of mine from an age long past,” Celestia said, also trotting up next to him to look at the picture.  “Back when the Principality of Equestria was still in its formative years.  Nova, Twilight, that pony is Lady Clover the Clever, the first Faithful Student and first Prime Magus.”

“Huh.”  Nova hadn’t expected Clover to look exactly like Twilight.  He’d expected Clover to look more green, like clovers.  Were the cutie mark visible, there would be no confusion.

“Yes, and this actually provides us with an excellent segue,” Celestia left their side.  “Come and take a seat one one of the couches.  It is time you learned the truth.”

“The truth about what?” he asked, his indignation at being kept in the dark starting to show itself again as he and Twilight sat on the couch that directly faced the hearth.

“About the Night Apprentices, the Faithful Students, the Prime Magi and Night Masters, and about the being you met down in the Everfree Vaults,” Luna answered, seated on the right couch, closer to Nova.

"And this information that you clearly knew of already is something you couldn't have given us before we accepted our roles?" Nova asked. Twilight elbowed him, probably in an attempt to tell him to be more respectful.

Needless to say, he had done a lot of thinking over the week.

"Truthfully? You wouldn't have remembered, even if we had," Celestia answered, which only increased Nova's irritation. He was supposed to be outright pissed at his teachers. They had withheld important, literally life-threatening information from them! And yet... for some reason, something was telling him there was, at least, an explanation behind it.

Whether it would be a good or bad one remained to be seen.

"And what about the previous Night Apprentices and Faithful Students?" Nova demanded. "I thought I was the first Night Apprentice. Why was there a vault specifically made for us there, if I was?"

"Nova Shine," Luna frowned at him, "you will not remember this, but we did tell you on the night you were accepted as my Night Apprentice that in the past, my sister and I took on students who had cutie marks of stars as personal students. "You do not recall, correct?"

Nova racked his brain, frowning even deeper than Luna was. "...no. I don't."

"There is an answer to why, related to what we will be talking about today. So please, hold your questions."

"Still, you clearly knew about her. About Envy," he pointed out.

"We did," Celestia nodded.

"And you simply let us blunder into that trap in the Vaults."

"We were watching you in the scrying orb from the moment you set out from your hotel," Celestia replied, giving him an emotionless stare to counter his mildly irritated one. "From above, Philomena kept her watchful eyes on you, and when you began your expedition into the Vaults, we scried everything through the reflective surface of the compass you carried with you.

"So you were watching," Nova conceded. "But you didn't seem to want to jump in and help when Envy started strangling--"

He felt Twilight stiffen beside him and he bit off the end of that remark.

"Truthfully, we were mere moments away from teleporting in and putting a stop to Envy's attempt at murder," Celestia explained, that same dispassion creeping into her voice. "but before we could, you stepped up and drove her off yourself."

"You would have teleported all that way, miles out, into a Vault that prevents a pony from teleporting inside?" he asked skeptically.

"I don't know if the thought occurred to you, Nova," Celestia examined her hoof idly, "but we know a thing or two when it comes to magic. We wouldn't have teleported directly in, but merely right outside the Vault itself, and then charged in horns blazing."

"You still let us blunder into the trap," he pointed out again.

"We did not know that this particular instance were a trap," replied Luna. "We believed Envy to still be sealed within her Soul Jar. But as you clearly saw, we were wrong. We were prepared in case we were wrong, but we still misjudged your situation."

"You still could have told us we were in mortal peril."

"You would have investigated what this mortal peril was," Luna retorted, "and when you would have found nothing, you would have accepted the position regardless. One way or another, here we all stand."

“Hold your other questions for the time being,” Celestia added, sensing that Nova was indeed about to ask another.  “I promise, we will tell you all that we can, and it should answer most if not all of your questions, but let us explain first.  You will understand why this information was withheld.”

Nova wasn’t convinced, but he trusted the Princesses, so he settled into the couch, feeling yet another little flutter in his gut as Twilight took a seat next to him, her hoof brushing against his for a mere moment.

“We will start with Clover,” stated Celestia, leaning back into her own couch as well.  “What history knows of Clover is very incomplete, partly because of her reputation during the Great Migration.  As you both know, she played a vital role in saving the Three Patriarchs, alongside Smart Cookie and Private Pansy, and their bond birthed the Fires of Friendship that still warm the land as we speak.

“What you do not know, however, is her story before and after the Great Migration,” Celestia pressed her hooves together under her muzzle.  “It begins in Dream Valley, as the unnatural cold of the Windigos is starting to bury the land.”

“I thought the Windigos came quickly,” Nova interrupted.  “The Hearth’s Warming story always shows it that way.”

Luna smiled bitterly.

“As with any divide between peoples, the division was long-standing, and as such, the cold the Windigos brought was also a slow encroachment.  Indeed, it was six years before the Three Patriarchs left for these lands that the first ponies froze to death.”

“And this picks up a year after that sad occasion,” Celestia nodded sadly.  “Clover, at the age of ten, had discovered her cutie mark to be in magic, but with the ice and lack of food, there was no one who would take her in, so her parents, in a last-ditch effort to give their daughter hope, took her to Lord Star Swirl’s aerie, a tower built in the middle of the Mystical Forest.”

“And he obviously took her in,” Nova finished.  “Hard to believe she was one of his apprentices, but she isn’t remembered by history.”

“Part of that lies with the other three ponies who were Star Swirl’s apprentices in magic,” Luna explained, smiling.  “All three of them have had varying impacts on Equestrian history, some much more than others.  His first two apprentices were myself and my sister, after he freed us from being frozen in stone."

"You both were frozen in stone!?" Nova's mouth fell open.

"A story for another time, though we ourselves do not know much about it," Luna waved a hoof, dismissing that topic. "But yes, he freed us and apprenticed us. And after he deemed us to be fully educated, he took on his third apprentice, Prince Luxius, the son of King Crystallis.  He was the last prince of the Crystal Empire and was in line to be king, were it not for a coup thrown together by the nobles which resulted in his father’s assassination and his exile.  Sombra seized his opportunity in the confusion and took the throne for himself, and you know the rest of that story.”

“Interesting,” Nova stroked his chin.  “I didn’t know he was your master.”

“I did,” came a croak from his left.

Nova’s head snapped to Twilight, mouth parted in surprise.  She was still staring at the floor, but at least now she ws talking again.  Realizing her own inaudibility, she cleared her throat.

“I’ve thought that for a while now.  It only made sense, since Luna knew Star Swirl well enough to know how even his clothes were worn.”

“Astute insight, Twilight Sparkle,” Luna praised.  “Yes, we were Lord Star Swirl’s pupils, but that is a story for another time.”

“Indeed,” Celestia dipped her head.  “Clover was his last apprentice, and her tuition at his hooves was unfinished.  When the situation in Canterlot got too bad to bear five years after Clover became his apprentice,, the Princess herself came to Lord Star Swirl’s tower to ask for him to accompany her on her quest to find a new land.  Lord Star Swirl had other matters to attend to, so he sent Clover along.”

“And the rest, as they say, is history,” Luna finished.  “Everypony knows what happened after that.  Clover, Pansy, and Cookie formed a bond that birthed the Fires of Friendship and destroyed the Windigos, and the three tribes all moved westward to Equestria.  And for their parts in helping save everyone, Private Pansy received the Pegasi’s Golden Wing and a promotion, Smart Cookie was given a permanent job as Chancellor Puddinghead’s right-hoof mare, and Clover was made Princess Platinum’s own lady-in-waiting.”

“If you were his first pupils,” Nova was struck by a sudden thought, “does that mean you lived in Dream Valley at the time of the Great Freeze?”

“We did,” Luna nodded.  “We came over at the same time as the three tribes did, with a small band of ponies to help us lay the foundation for the Principality of Equestria.”

“How long did it take?” Nova asked.

“The history books would have you believe that the Principality of Equestria took root quickly, but the truth is far more complex than that,” Luna said, resting her chin on her hooves, which were pressed together.  “Partly because of the play, which skips the immediate decade or so.”

“The first five years of the fledgling nation of Equestria were mostly uneventful,” she continued, “though Discord did attempt to start his kingdom of chaos right around the same time we attempted to cross over.”

“And of course, we used the Elements of Harmony to encase him in stone,” Celestia jumped in again.  “With that, we began to construct the city of Everfree, while the Unicorns began to build their city on the mountainside, the Pegasi grouped a great number of clouds together, and the Earth Ponies cleared land for farming.”

“Immediately, we tried to set ourselves apart from them,” Luna smiled.  “While the Pegasi built a fortress for their generals and commanders, while the unicorns built a palace to show off their princess’ regality, and while the earth ponies constructed a manor fit for a chancellor, we helped our ponies build a town before we even planned our castle.”

“Quick question,” Nova interrupted.  “If Unicornia became Canterlot and Pegasopolis became Cloudsdale, what did Dirtville become?”

“Dirtville did not stay the name for long, actually,” Luna grinned.  “As we said, Puddinghead built his manor first, but the rest of the townsponies built their houses close to their farms, with a great gap in between.  Eventually, the town sort of developed in that space, but Puddinghead’s manor was still closer to the outskirts rather than in the midst of the town center.”

Sounds like my house, Nova thought, smiling slightly.  Wouldn’t that be something if my house turned out to be Puddinghead’s manor?

“No one liked the idea of it being called Dirtville,” Luna continued, “especially when the Chancellor didn’t even live among them.  They rechristened the town ‘Ponyville,’ but that name didn’t stick very long either.  It was about forty years after its initial founding that they permanently renamed it Neighton.”

“And as you may have guessed,” Celestia’s smile mirrored Nova’s earlier one, “Nova, you actually live in what used to be Chancellor Puddinghead’s manor.”

Nova’s eyebrows shot into his mane and Twilight stared at him, mouth parted slightly.  And then her surprise turned into a bit of an angry glare.

“So help me, if I find evidence of even ONE scratch you’ve caused next time I visit…”

“How will you even tell if I’m the one who scratched it?” he asked, his happiness that she was talking to him again briefly overshadowed by his amusement.

“Let’s return the conversation to the topic you are here for,” suggested Luna.  “A few rabbit trails are fine, but let’s not go completely out of our way when we’re relaying important information.”

“Yeah, and we need to get past this backstory part of the chapter, anyway.” Nova muttered.:

“So, to pick up, we are building a city instead of a capital, and the others are building a capital instead of a city,” Celestia recapped.  Her horn flashed gold and a cup of tea appeared out of thin air.  “For the next five years, that was life in Equestria.  But on a random day in Unicornia, the main player in our story makes his grand entrance.”

“Nova Shine himself,” Luna said, and Nova had to stifle a bit of a giggle at the little note of dramatics behind Luna’s voice.

“Indeed,” Princess Celestia chose to ignore Nova’s action, “Nova Shine was a riddle wrapped inside a mystery inside an enigma, because though everyone seemed to know he came from Canterlot, not many claimed to have known him before he appeared outside of Unicornia and even though he was the talkative sort, he remained quiet on his past.  And ‘appeared’ is the right term here,” she added, “because as best anyone could tell, Nova Shine somehow teleported himself all the way from Dream Valley to Equestria and wound up unconscious in the middle of a charred circle outside Canterlot’s main gates.”

Nova whistled.  Damn, my namesake was powerful.  Twilight, however, didn’t seem to be taking it as well as he did.  She looked completely flabbergasted.  “All the way from Dream Valley!?”

“As best anyone could tell,” Luna shrugged.  “Caused quite the ruckus.  In short order, in a time when unicorns took great pride in magical strength, Nova Shine became one of the most unintentionally-influential ponies in Unicorn society.  Or he would have, had he not hightailed it out of Unicornia and gone to everfree that very afternoon.”

Nova snickered.  He could just imagine a pony (with a startling resemblance to like Rarity) fawning over a Nova that looked a lot like him, trying to get him to be her best friend and win her all the respect, only to get rebuffed time and again.

“It was that night that I met Nova shine for the first time, for I found him sleeping in a little grove as I patrolled the town,” Luna said, smiling.  “We had heard about the havoc he had caused in Canterlot that day, and so I was very eager for a chance to speak with him.”

“Nova, it turned out,” Celestia put her teacup down on the table, “had a way with my sister the like of which I hadn’t seen since Lord Star Swirl was still our teacher.  He knew just the thing to say to her to dispel her insecurity about the ponies sleeping during her night, and he even suggested taking on a student to educate so that she would have a constant companion.  Naturally, Luna brought the idea before me and I allowed her to go ahead.  And so, the position of the Night Apprentice was born, with Nova Shine being its first occupant.”

Twilight’s interest was piqued.

“Wow,” she breathed.  “To think one of the greatest minds in magical history learned it all from you, Princess,” she said to Luna.

“Well, at first, the position wasn’t anything special,” Celestia went on, “as Luna was not accustomed to teaching yet, so Nova Shine was little more than a diplomat, tempering his control over his own formidable Source and mana pool, so he did very little magic learning for first few months.  Instead, he helped broker agreements between the pegasi and earth ponies regarding the weather and food exchange, as well as slowly building a good relation with the Principality of Equestria.  After he had established himself as a very fine diplomat, we sent him to the unicorns to see if he could open up negotiations with them.”

“And it was here,” Luna cut in,” that Nova Shine first met Lady Clover the Clever.  Clover, as the lady-in-waiting, was to be Unicornia’s representative in opening diplomatic ties.  Nova and Clover hit it off almost from the moment they met, and negotiations were concluded within two days.  Clover volunteered to become the unicorn ambassador to Equestria, and shortly after, my sister created the Faithful Student position.”

Nova hopped out of his seat and began to pace around the room, still soaking all this information in.

“Now, remember how Nova was influential because of his magical prowess?” Celestia asked, eyes twinkling.  “Well, it led to no shortage of mares applying for the Faithful Student position.”

Nova snorted.  Of course.

“He was powerful, if unrefined, but he was also very witty, handsome, and quite the educated student.  In short, he was perceived as, using today’s term, Equestria’s most eligible bachelor.  Why,” she snickered, “Nova once had to chase a mare out of his house at three o’clock AM so he could sleep.”

“I can only imagine what that must have been like,” Nova remarked, chortling.  “To have mares falling at your feet all over the place…”

“The levity does not last long, Nova,” Luna chided.  “It was one of these mares who was the being who would become Envy.”

And sure enough, the grin slid off his face.  “So, she was the ultimate stalker?”

Celestia tilted her head.  “Not necessarily.  As best anyone knew, Envy was one of the few who had known Nova in Canterlot, and she sought the position legitimately to try and learn magic, but also to spend more time with him.  It did not play out the way she had hoped, and because her apprenticeship to Star Swirl was unfinished, I ultimately chose Clover.  It had the added bonus of strengthening ties with the unicorns as well.”

“And in Clover’s eyes, it meant more time to spend with Nova, with whom she was rapidly falling in love,” added Luna, smiling sagely.  “And though he denied it to us, Nova, too, was developing feelings for Clover as well.”

“Well, obviously,” Nova commented dryly, glancing at the wall with the hearth, the wall with the door, and the wall with the window as he attempted to organize his thought.  “The stallion likes the mare, the mare likes the stallion.  The mare is open about it, the stallion keeps it to himself, leading to all this unnecessary drama and tension.  Really, this story just writes itself, doesn’t it?” he asked, leaning on the fourth wall.

Luna chuckled at Nova’s quip.  “Remind me, Nova, who is sitting on this couch over here?”

Nova opened his mouth to reply, but suddenly saw what she was getting at.  “Right.  Stopping thought.”

“Regardless,” Celestia seemed determined to steer the conversation back onto its original topic, “it was apparent to everyone that Nova and Clover were developing feelings for each other.  Things came to a head on the night we finished construction on the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters, in which Clover asked to borrow Nova for a bit, and when she was granted that request, she dragged Nova out onto the battlements.”

Her countenance darkened, and Nova almost felt the room’s overall mood shift as a result.

“What happened up there only they knew, but we can hazard a guess that Nova and Clover finally confessed their feelings to one another, but what cannot be denied is that the one who would become Envy had followed them, and she caught sight of them.  This drove her into such a rage that she attempted to kill Clover in her sleep.  Luckily, Nova was on hand to defend Clover from the attack, and she was captured and dragged before us.”

“All of this, just because she didn’t get the guy?” Nova asked, incredulously.

“The pinings of the heart can do very strange things to ponies,” Luna bowed her head.  “In some, it can inspire them to become the best they can be, but in others, it drags them downward.  Such was the case of Envy.”

“And it was here, that we committed the sin of hubris,” Celestia’s voice grew ever so quiet.  “We had used the Elements of Harmony to defeat Discord and seal him within stone, so Luna and I used the Elements of Harmony on Envy, decreeing that because she had attempted to end a life, she would no longer be able to interact with anypony else’s lives.”

She grimaced.  “The Elements were not a tool for discipline.  They were for defense, and our breach of that use caused the Elements to turn our own decree against us.  Envy indeed was turned to shadow, but was still able to compose herself and strike.  Nova Shine had to capture her in a Soul Jar just to keep her contained, but it didn’t hold for very many years before she was out again.”

She shook her head sadly.  “Nova vanished that very day.”

“What?” Nova asked.

“But if he and Clover finally confessed feelings, wouldn’t they pursue a relationship after that?” Twilight asked, unconsciously glancing at her own Nova Shine right next to her.

“No, they did not,” Luna also shook her head.  “No one could say where or why he had gone.  Some believed Nova blamed himself for what happened to Envy, which seemed a very plausible explanation.  Either way, he didn’t finish his tenure as the Night Apprentice, leaving Clover alone to learn from myself and my sister.  Clover was heartbroken for the first several months, but eventually graduated from her apprenticeship and became the first Prime Magus.  She married, had children, and lived peacefully thereafter.”

“But Nova had to come back,” protested Twilight indignantly.  “History says he became one of the most brilliant magical minds.  He and Star Swirl wrote almost 60% of the spells still in use today between them!”

“And indeed, Nova Shine did appear in Everfree for the first time in many years not long after Clover was married,” Luna nodded.  “He was once again taken on as the Night Apprentice, finished out his education, became the second Night Master, mastered magic like none before him save for Star Swirl, married one of Lord Star Swirl’s descendants, sired a bloodline that would eventually produce our Night Apprentice today, and died peacefully in his sleep.”

Nova didn’t know what to say after that.  How… sad, he thought.  He had everything he wanted, but because he blamed himself for Envy when it wasn’t even his fault, he threw it all away.

He glanced at Twilight, who quickly looked away.  Kinda like the opposite of what’s going on with me, eh?

Sure.  If you want to call you panicking at lip contact “love.”  Which we’re not in, might I add.  We’re not even dating her yet.

Fair point.

“We took on more Night Apprentices and Faithful Students after that,” Luna continued, a bit louder and less melancholy.  “Each time, Envy would escape and attempt to rampage, but each time, the Night Apprentice and Faithful Student would stop her, sometimes with the help of the Prime Magi and Night Masters.  A few cycles in, and it began to dawn on Envy that they knew she was coming.  And this is where the complications begin.”

“Subtlety was always Envy’s strongest attribute,” Celestia smiled humorlessly.  “The fact that ponies knew she was around was unacceptable.  So, at one point in one of her many escapes, she scoured the furthest reaches of Equestria, searching for any scrap of parchment with her name on it, and destroyed it.  Then, in one of her more brilliant moves, she cast a curse upon herself, causing anypony who had never met her in person to forget her, even if they had read her name in a surviving book or such.”

Nova felt himself grow cold.

“And since a lot of her mentions were linked with the Night Apprentices, Faithful Students, Night Masters, and Prime Magi, all of their history vanished in a very quick window, and given their very prominent positions, they were in a great many history books.  In short, much of our history pre-Nightfall is lost because Envy made it so.  Now do you see why you never knew?” Celestia looked at both of them meaningfully.

“Y-yeah,” Nova nodde.  “I… I’m sorry about blaming you for not telling us.”

“It is not your fault,” Celestia dismissed, “and your reaction was to be expected.  That is why you will find very few ponies who are even aware that the Night Apprentices and Faithful Students existed before Nightfall, and even fewer who are aware of Envy’s existence.”

"But I do have to ask," Nova interjected before Twilight could ask her question, "could you not have informed us, in the general sense, 'hey, something's going to try to kill you!'?"

"You would have wanted to know what," Luna answered. "And when we could not provide an answer you would remember, you would have either investigated it yourself and gained no ground, or you would have waved me off and accepted the position regardless."

She does have a point, Logic pointed out. You were so desperate to be able to study magic, you probably would have taken up this position even if she had told you.

“So, some ponies today know who Envy is?” Twilight asked, sounding noticeably less dejected than she had been as of late, which set Nova’s mind more at ease.

“Yes, actually,” Luna nodded.  “And with any luck, you will get to meet them.  Every Night Apprentice and Faithful Student has, in some way, kept a record of their experiences.  You do it with your own letters to my sister, and Nova has a journal he keeps.  When the time comes that you graduate from your apprenticeship, your letters will be compiled and published in a single copy, which will be handed over to the Bookkeeper. the pony whose family has been charged with keeping the many diaries of the many students safe from Envy’s influence over the years.”

“How does he know about Envy if he’s never met her in person?” Nova asked.  “Is there an exception to the rule?”

And for what seemed like the thousandth time that afternoon, Celestia smiled.  “Yes, actually.  The Bookkeeper for Faithful Student Star Dancer and Night Apprentice Sanguine enchanted every one of the diaries with a spell that dispelled Envy’s curse on its reader.  Often, the Bookkeeper would share with his closest friends as well, because if the information got too public, Envy would come after those journals as well, and prepared though we are, she would find a way.”

“Why is he called the Bookkeeper?” asked Nova.  “That seems like a really lame name.”

“Because it was the best thing we could think of,” admitted Luna,  “He keeps a collection of books.  He’s not a librarian, for the books in question are not checked out and in; they are your’s to consider property, until you graduate and a new cycle begins.”

“When can we meet this pony?” he asked, eager to read the books for himself.  Celestia and Luna glanced at each other meaningfully, something Nova did not miss.  His eager smile fell.

“We… can meet them, right?”

“Yes, you can,” Luna assured him, but there was something off about the way she said it.  As though there were some hesitance behind it.  “But we will discuss that later.  Arrangements will need to be made.”

Nova noticed a slight flare-up of energy from her, and instantly his suspicions were increased tenfold.  What are they hiding…?

As if she could sense Nova’s distrust, Celestia took the opportunity to address him.  “Nova, I assure you that there is a reason this information is being withheld from you at the present.  I promise, once you hear who the Bookkeeper is, you will understand why, and you may not like it.  You will know who the Bookkeeper is by day’s end, but you will have to be patient just a little longer.”

He felt no telltale flare-up from Princess Celestia’s aura, so his suspicions did decrease, but they were not entirely gone.  Still, who would it be that would make them so hesitant to tell him?

“It’s not my father, is it?” he asked, eyes narrowing.

“No,” Celestia and Luna both said together, and Nova could hear the slight frantic edge behind it.  For some reason, it felt grimly satisfying, knowing that they were so quick to disavow his father of such an important job.

“You will know soon enough,” Luna assured him again.  “We are almost finished with our brief history, and then we will answer any more questions you may have.”

The response seemed reasonable enough, so Nova crossed his arms leaned back on the couch, not failing to notice Twilight leaning into him just a fraction.

“After Envy destroyed all of her own references throughout history,” Continued Celestia, “you can imagine that this gave her an unprecedented edge in her last few cycles with the Night Apprentice and Faithful Student.  Nevertheless, she was defeated and re-sealed within a Soul Jar every single time.  Obviously, the cycle came to an abrupt end at the time of my sister’s… absence,” Nova noticed Luna shift uncomfortably in her spot, “but it has begun anew with the two of you.”

“You took on other Faithful Students during the last millennium,” pointed out Nova.

“The last Night Apprentice and Faithful Student of their day, Comet and Sunbeam, both graduated from their apprenticeships shortly after Nightfall,” Celestia nodded, “but as there was no Night Apprentice, I felt no need to take on a Faithful Student.  That is, until I met a precocious young mare about… oh, six-hundred years ago, whom I felt would benefit from training.  Amethyst Sparkle went on to become a very prestigious Archmage of Canterlot. After that, I did offer a helping hoof to several unicorns attempting to study the mysteries of the arcane, though I only took on just the few true Faithful Students.”

“Speaking of, what about the other Faithful Students?” Twilight asked.  “There were only two more after Nightfall, Amethyst not included.”

Nova noticed Luna shift uncomfortably.

“Princess Cadance was a Faithful Student,” answered Celestia, nodding approvingly at her pupil, “but I educated her only after she had become an alicorn.  She was the first non-unicorn to hold the position, and she is currently the only living Prime Magus.  The other was Sunset Shimmer.  I was educating her around the time I found you, Twilight.”

Nova noticed that her voice had suddenly gained a distant quality, and that there was a certain somberness in her eyes, though she attempted to mask it.

“She ran away, I do not know where, but she was very ambitious, and her desire to rise through the ranks quickly and without patience ultimately led her to leave me when she felt she was not getting what she wanted quickly enough.”

The mood in the room had darkened instantly, and Nova didn’t like it one bit.  Plus, he still had a question that needed answering.

“So,” he said, a little louder than he usually would, which successfully broke the spell of the room, “now that Envy is back, what should we do?”

“A good question,” Celestia nodded, “but ultimately, one we cannot answer completely, nor to your satisfaction, I believe.”

“Envy never tried the same ploy more than once,” Luna explained.  “All of her ploys involve attempting to divide the Night Apprentice and Faithful Student, the better to slay them without having to worry about the other, but exactly how she goes about doing that changes every time.”

“And Envy is not limited to just the two of you,” cautioned Celestia, giving them both a look.  “She will not leave bystanders alone.  She was able to control Trixie because Trixie’s mind had been weakened by the Alicorn Amulet, and even then her control wasn't outright. She acted as little more than a voice in Trixie's head up until very recently. That being said, Trixie would hardly be the first pony she had used to get to our two students.”

Nova felt Twilight stiffen next to him, and glanced over, to see a horrified expression crossing her face.

“Something the matter?” he asked.

“It’s… my fault,” she whispered, her voice reflecting the same horror as her face exuded.  Nova glanced up to see Celestia and Luna exchange alarmed looks.

“Excuse me?” he asked, but Twilight just buried her face in her hooves.

“It’s my fault!” she wail.  “If I hadn’t humiliated her all those years ago, she wouldn’t have gotten the amulet to begin with!  Trixie’s being controlled by Envy because of me!”

And before Nova could try to shut off her catastrophic train of logic, she collapsed into a sobbing mess.  Instantly, he leapt in front of her and wrapped his arms around her as she broke down completely.

“Twilight, look at me,” he commanded.

She continued sobbing, but he could tell she was trying to steady herself.  It took some time, but finally, with a slight hic, she squirmed out of his grasp and looked up at him, eyes betraying the hysterics beneath the surface, showing that the effort she was exerting just to not break down in front of him was staggering.

“It’s not your fault,” he stated sternly.

“Yes it--” she started, but Nova stuck a hoof on her lips.

“It’s not your fault.  Twilight, listen, it is not your fault.”

Her lips quivered, and without warning, she grabbed him and broke down again, sobbing into his shoulder.  This time, rather than try to reassure her that it wasn’t her fault, which he had a feeling she was starting to accept, he simply stroked her mane and crooned, “It’s going to be alright,’ in her ear.  He didn’t know how long he was there, nor did he care.  His best friend needed him, and that’s all that mattered.

A gentle touch on his shoulder made him pull back to see Princess Celestia beaming down at him, but she gestured that he move away.

He did so hesitantly, in case of another breakdown, but Twilight was leaning back on her own, eyes clenched shut, and taking great gulps of air.  Occasionally, a tremor would rack her body as her lungs would try to sob again.  But this gave him plenty of time to clean up his drenched shoulder.

After a few moments longer, it almost looked like she was meditating.  She looked at peace, the redness around her eyes notwithstanding.  And finally, after just a moment longer, she opened her eyes eyes and sighed.

“Thank-you,” she mumbled to him.  He sniffed and smiled warmly at her.

“Anything for my best friend,” he said sincerely.  Luna caught his eye and winked, but Nova turned away, feeling heat rise to his cheeks.

“Twilight, I must ask you to come with me,” Celestia said, laying a gentle hoof on Twilight’s shoulder.  “You could use a pick-me-up after the week I understand you’ve had, and there are things I am sure we need to talk about.  Nova and Luna will join us in time.”

Twilight nodded, rubbing a hoof on her nose and sniffling.

“‘Kay,” she grunted, before sliding out of her seat and following Celestia as she led her out of the room.  Just before the door closed behind her, Twilight glanced back at him and caught Nova’s eyes one last time, her glowing look communicating gratitude and… something more.  Nova didn’t know, but when he locked eyes, he felt the strange leaping feeling in his gut that he was starting to get used to.

I guess now’s the opportunity to ask her.

But just as Nova opened his mouth, Luna held up a hoof.  He forestalled his question, waiting for her to make the first statement.

“Night Apprentice Nova Shine,” she began, and he could hear a very odd note of formality in her voice, “never have I felt such pride in one of my pupils.  You have come a very long way, both in your magical prowess to your relationships with others.  I am very proud of how you reacted to Twilight’s current state of mind.”

Nova shrugged modestly.  “She’s my best friend.  I’d do almost anything to help her.”

“Indeed,” Luna smiled at him.  “Either way, it is a far cry from the colt who first agreed to become my Night Apprentice three years ago.  I watched you through the scrying orb as you met Envy.  I watched you stand your ground, watched you leap to Twilight’s defense and ward her off.  You are becoming a fine Night Apprentice, and an even finer stallion.”

Nova looked away, feeling his cheeks burn at the praise.  “Really, it’s nothing anyone else would have done.”

“But now comes the part that I have been dreading,” the pride in her voice had vanished, leaving Nova apprehensive.

“What part?”

“We told you before that you would know who the Bookkeeper is,” she answered.  “Lord Star Swirl was the first to watch the diaries,a t Nova’s and Clover’s request.  He has passed it down through his family line.  If you did pay attention, then you know Nova Shine the 1st did marry one of Lord Star Swirl’s descendents, making you part of that family line.”

Nova felt quite a bit of pride well up.  He was one of Star Swirl the Bearded’s descendents!  Twilight was going to be so jealous when she found out.  If she hadn’t already pieced it together, that is.

“Your family is not his main line, you can rest assured of that.  His line of firstborn down the years, however, became known as the Lulamoon family,” Nova felt his insides grow cold, “and as such, the current Bookkeeper is none other than Tantalus Lulamoon.”

Nova stared at her.

No.  This cannot be.  This cannot be.  There has to be a mistake.  There’s no way he could be the Bookkeeper.

Without realizing it, he had grit his teeth.

“You mean to tell me,” he asked in a dangerous voice, unconsciously rising to his hooves, “that the one pony who holds the key to mine and Twilight’s lives is the one who cost me my future?”

Luna met his furious gaze with her calm and cool one.  “Nova, I will not pretend like this is a mission you have to like.  Nor will I make an unreasonable expectation of you.  I do not expect this to happen overnight.  But for the sake of your’s and Twilight’s lives, you must make your peace with Tantalus Lulamoon.”

“Do you know what that… that…” he searched for the right word, “that bastard did to me!?”

“Remind me,” Luna answered coolly.

“He cost me my future!” Nova yelled, snarling.  “He cost me my place at Celestia’s School!  He forced me into this life as a wanderer!  How could I go back to my father after he thought I had been accepted!?  I would have been twice the shame I ever was to him before that!”

“For your information, he has spent his time ever since banished from our presence and regretting the decision you are so victimized by,” said Luna idly, obviously doing her utmost not to goad Nova into further fury.

She had failed.

“THAT MAKES IT SO MUCH BETTER!” Nova screamed.  “THAT FIXES EVERYTHING!  I’LL JUST GO BACK IN TIME AND GO TO SCHOOL, SHALL I?”

“Be still.” she commanded, her earlier cool attitude now replaced by disappointed anger, andher voice amplified via magic and feeling as though she had shouted directly into his soul.

Nova wanted to continue shouting, wanted so desperately to try to make her understand, but of course, she wouldn’t have it.

“There is far more at stake here than an old feud, however justified it may be,” she said, a hard edge to her voice.  “For your own sake as well as Twilight’s, you must put it aside for the time being and speak to Tantalus civilly.  If you cannot put aside your own feelings and do what must be done, then your blind, selfish behavior will doom not only you, but those you care about, and possibly even all of Equestria.  Until you do, your apprenticeship will be suspended.”

“WHAT!?” he thundered, but she continued.

“If you will not do it for those you care about, or for your own sake or even because it is the right thing to do, then I will suspend something I know you value until you do.”

Nova gaped at her.  She can’t!  She-- she…

She’s my teacher, she has every right to, he realized, suddenly completely defeated.  She was right.  He did value his own education quite highly.  After all, he loved magic.  He loved studying it and casting it.  And to lose it...

“Fine,” Nova growled.  “How long do I have to pretend like I don’t hate his guts?”

Luna regarded him for a moment, leading Nova to believe he had finally gone one step too far, but he was wrong.

“Tomorrow, you will go and speak to the Headmaster of Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns,” she said, her voice making it quite clear there was no room for negotiation.

“Won’t he be busy?” Nova asked sourly.  “You can’t just drop in on an important--”

“If he has a problem, direct him to me,” she cut him off.  “I highly doubt you will have to worry about that.  Professor Hoofman has always favored you.”

Nova blinked.

“Professor who?”

Had she just said who he thought she had just said?

“Professor Hoofman.  Thomas Hoofman, former Dean of Magic at the Manehattan Institute of Magic, and before that, a Professor of Magic at the same,” Luna said.  “I believe you know him?”

“Know him?” scoffed Nova, feeling his mouth start to smile against his will.  “The stallion mentored me in magic before you did.  I didn’t know he had become the Headmaster for Celestia’s school.”

“Yes,” Luna nodded, “it was a very recent promotion.  As recent as the day before our assessment, as a matter of fact, meaning you likely would have seen it in the Equestria Daily if you had seen it that morning.”

“I must have missed it,” Nova said, the memory of him high-tailing it out of his house with steam scalding his back fresh in his mind.

“Hmm,” Luna didn’t look convinced.  “Either way, tomorrow, you will visit him.  Tomorrow, you will hear every bit of the report that the school’s own inquiry uncovered.  Perhaps then, you may finally leave the past in the past, and then perhaps you will go and speak to Tantalus, perhaps not as a friend but at least not as an enemy.”

“No promises,” said Nova curtly.  “Will Twilight be joining me?”

“Only if you want her to,” answered Luna.  She got to her hooves.  “I believe we have kept her and my sister waiting long enough.“

“One quick question before we go,” Nova quickly added, remembering what he had originally intended to ask her.

“Yes, my apprentice?”

“Have you ever heard of any illnesses involving a certain sort of flutter in your gut?”

Luna narrowed her eyes and stared at the wall for a moment.

“Describe your symptoms,” she said.

“It’s weird,” he answered, shrugging.  “Ever since my trip to Trottingham, my gut has been fluttering and leaping and jittering every so often.  A book suggested it must have been something I ate, but it’s been a good week now.  Another suggestion was terminal cancer--”

“It’s not terminal cancer, I don’t know why everyone automatically assumes that,” Luna facepalmed.

“No, I didn’t think so,” he nodded, “but I wanted to see if you knew anything about it before I went to see a doctor.”

She continued to scrutinize the wall for several quiet moments, before her eyes suddenly widened just a fraction.

“When these jitters happen,” she said, and Nova was surprised to hear a strange note of glee in her voice, “do they happen at very specific moments?  Say, when looking at a particular pony, or receiving the occasional brush from them?”

“Now that you mention it,” Nova thought back to every instance he could think of, “yeah, it does.  Every time, it involves Twilight.  Could it be some kind of magical illness.”

Luna snickered.  “Oh, it’s magical alright, but it is certainly not an illness.”

“What are you talking about?” Nova asked, confused.

“Congratulations, Nova Shine,” she smirked.  “You’ve fallen in love.”

And she was off, leading him down to where they waited while Nova chased after her, demanding a proper answer.

“I just don’t understand him,” moaned Twilight as she set down her empty glass and swiveled in her bar stool to face her mentor.  “I mean, seriously, one minute it seems like he’s got the same feelings as I do, but then he’s running away from them the next.”

“But you do think he shares your feelings?” Celestia asked, setting down her own glass of gin and tonic.

“I don’t know,” groaned Twilight, slumping over the bar and holding out her glass to be refilled with Sweet Apple Acres Reserve hard cider.  “I just… I just don’t get him.”

“Only one more for the mare, Honeyed Brew,” she directed the bartender stallion.

“Sure thing, Princess,” the stallion saluted, his voice a refreshingly snoot-free change from the nobles she’d had to spend the better part of the day dealing with.  He refilled the glass and handed it to Twilight, who promptly took a great gulp of it.

“You seem to know your way around cider,” observed Celestia.  “I always thought you never went near the stuff.”

“Applejack’s family only makes any kind of cider once a year,” Twilight explained.  “And it’s too good to ignore when it’s out.  And given the circumstances, some chocolate and some cider would really brighten my mood.”

“I hear that,” the Princess smirked.  “When you have graduated, and you’re no longer my student, we need more times like this, where we just have a drink and catch up on old times.”

“What, do you want me to take the train all the way to Canterlot just for this?” Twilight asked, smiling into her glass as she took a sip.

“Somehow, I don’t think that’ll be a problem, given the frequency of your visits to Canterlot now and in the future,” she said, thinking about a particular book Luna was preparing to send to Twilight.

Twilight finished her glass and put it back on the bar, whereupon Honeyed Brew collected it and set to washing it.  Celestia wasn’t keen on ending the silence, preferring instead to simply let the light dosage of alcohol do its part to cheer her up.  A quick look around the castle’s pub showed that the Day Shift of the guard was ending, and more and more guards were filing in for dinner or a drink.  A couple of thestrals were even playing billiards over at one of the tables, and all the while, a jazz ensemble played a very entertaining number.

“How are you feeling?” she finally asked, as Twilight also took a look around the pub.

“Much better,” answered Twilight, before using a hoof to straighten her mane.

“Are you feeling inebriated in any way?”

“No,” Twilight shook her head.  “I’m feeling more relaxed and definitely more happy than I was when we walked in, but motor control still feels normal, and there’s no rising heat in my cheeks.”

“Good,” Celestia smiled.  “So now we can return to your boy issues.”

Twilight snorted.  “Are you trying to do Cadance’s job?”

“No,” Celestia shook her head, “but if I may ask, if you had to give me an honest assessment of your feelings about Nova, and his about you, what would you say?”

As Nova confided in no one, and Twilight was simultaneously one of the best ponies who could notice details no one else would, and one of the most honest self-examiners she had ever met, she trusted this to be possibly the most accurate account of the both of them she would get, and she was not disappointed.

“Truthfully,” Twilight sighed, “I thought I was crushing on him not long ago.  He was smart, funny, good with magic, and it certainly helped that he was pretty easy on the eyes, you know what I mean?” she added, smiling a bit bashfully.  “But… when I was holed up in my room, as soon as he was back, he rushed right to my bedside and tried to assure me that he hadn’t done what Envy pretending to be Trixie had said.v  I just,” she stopped, and Celestia could see her working her tongue in her mouth, “I just knew it.  I just knew that at that moment, I didn’t just like him anymore.  Now, I…” her head sagged, “I love him.”

Celestia hummed thoughtfully.  So it was all playing out just as she had thought it would.

“But what about him?” she asked, having heard all she needed of Twilight’s own feelings.

“For him?  Like I said, I just don’t know,” she sighed and again slumped over the bar.  “Before our trip to Trottingham, I couldn’t say whether or not he was crushing on me at all, but after… I don’t think there can be any doubt that he has feelings for me somewhere deep down.”

“Deep down?” Celestia tilted her head.  “With how often he interacts with you, wouldn’t they be close to the surface, if they existed at all?”

“I think he tries to hide them,” Twilight thought aloud.  “He never wants to let me in at all, but at Trottingham, I caught him looking at me under the Hearth’s Warming tree in a way I had never seen him look at anyone before.  It was…” she smiled at the memory, “it was like I was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.”

“Hmm,” Celestia hummed again, intrigued.

“We even kissed,” Twilight admitted, her cheeks growing pinker with each passing second, “but he had a full panic attack in the middle of it and pulled away.”

“What makes you think it was a panic attack?” asked Celestia.  She had no doubt it was true, but what had clued her in?

“The symptoms matched up,” Twilight shrugged.

“Well, as I am sure you must have figured by now, Nova is far from as stable a pony as you,” Celestia explained, taking another sip from her G&T.  “He has always kept a cool and unflappable exterior, but deep down,” she paused, staring at a slight chip in her glass, “deep down he’s about as broken as they come.”

Twilight didn’t have anything to say to that, so Celestia continued.

“My sister is having Nova go and speak to the Headmaster of my school tomorrow,” she took another sip, “and if you went with him, you would likely learn quite a bit more about his past, and what made him turn out how he did.”

“He’s going to speak to Nocturnal Glow?” Twilight asked.

“No, he retired a few months back,” Celestia shook her head.  “The headmaster now is Doctor Thomas Hoofman, formerly dean of M.I.M.’s Spellstudies department.  He was also Nova’s mentor before he met Luna.  If you want to learn more about him, I would suggest accompanying Nova as he goes.”

Twilight nodded, staring at the bottles behind Honeyed Brew’s bar.

“And if I may share a bit of advice,” Celestia leaned in, “be patient with him.  If you think he does have these feelings, a sentiment I share, then let him make the first move on his own time.”

“If he ever does,” complained Twilight.

“I’m sure he will,” assured Celestia.  “But if you act prematurely, you may ruin your chances at a relationship with him for a very long time.”

Twilight said nothing, instead continuing to stare at the liquor bottles, a thoughtful look on her face.

“Just something to think about,” Celestia patted her back.  “Luna and Nova are on their way down.  Let’s finish cleaning up, and we’ll go and meet them.”

It seemed that, in the time spent speaking with Luna, Twilight Sparkle had returned to her old adorkable self, something Nova was devoutly thankful for.

Except that Nova could smell alcohol on her breath.  Celestia insisted she was perfectly sober despite it, and Nova took her word for it, since Twilight seemed to be in fine control over herself.

“Feeling better?” he asked her as they set off, out of the castle and back toward Upper Canterlot.

“Much better, thank-you,” Twilight almost sounded as relieved she was better as he did.  “I’m sorry I haven’t spoken all week.  I just…” she trailed off, apparently searching for the right way to describe it.

“It’s alright,” Nova reached over and patted her on the back.  “I get it.  You went and turtled inside a little shell.  As it happens,” he shrugged, “I do the same thing when I get seriously upset.  You’re not alone.”

She smiled warmly at Nova for his assurance, and they continued on their way.  Though the verbal conversation was silent, Nova’s mind was rife with thoughts.

That’s impossible, he thought, thinking back to Princess Luna’s last little comment as she led him out.  I can’t be in love.  I don’t even know what being in love is like.  Wouldn’t I know if I was or not?

If Rarity’s sappy romance novels would have us believe, probably not, Logic countered.  Like I said, we’re not in love with Twilight Sparkle.  We’re not dating.  We’re friends, and at the moment, that is all.

A fair point.  But what if…

What if we take that first step?

I did promise we’d have an answer after we found out what was in the Vaults.

No, you promised you would have an answer after the nightmares were dealt with.

And in case you haven’t noticed, not a single nightmare in a week.  Longer than any previous spell without them.

That doesn’t mean they’re gone; only that they haven’t resurfaced since Envy revealed herself.  Still, do what you wish.  I’m just a figment of your imagination designed to serve as a logical counter-arguer, so what can I do?

“Nova?”

A hoof was waving in front of his face.  Nova blinked as he suddenly returned his attention to his surroundings.  So absorbed in his mental conversation was he that he had failed to notice he had stopped keeping pace with Twilight, and had stopped at a street corner, in front of a little café.

“Sorry,” he shook his head, further clearing his thoughts.  “Just… had a lot on my mind lately.”

“Want to talk about it?” she asked as they resumed their walk from there.

“There’s a lot to talk about,” he mentally went over the list.  “What we learned today, Envy, any changes to our current arrangement now that we’ve found out what’s been going on in the Everfree Vaults, us…”

“‘Us?’” asked Twilight, looking over.  “Are we talking about us us, or just…” she waved a hoof vaguely through the air, “us?”

Nova snorted.  “Your eloquence astounds me, Twilight.”

She swatted him with her tail.  “You know what I mean,” she groaned.  “About our current relationship?  Or about our situation?”

“Little bit of both, I say,” Nova shrugged.  “I’ve been doing a lot of thinking over the last week.”

“Not including that little moment right there,” she pointed out.

“Well, yes,” he admitted sheepishly.  “The point is, I’ve been thinking about our little talk on the train.  I’ve been thinking about what it is I want, and since our little… casual date where two best friends can hang out in a completely platonic manner,” Twilight rolled her eyes, “I’ve been thinking about my feelings for you.”

There was silence between them for a moment as Nova searched for a good way to phrase what he wanted to articulate.

“Listen,” he began apologetically, “I honestly haven’t the slightest idea how I feel about you, other than that you’re my best friend.  Obviously, things have changed since the lights festival, and I’ve been thinking about that as well, but I have gotten nowhere.  But,” he sighed, “I did promise you I’d have an answer for you “

“Nova,” and here, Nova was startled to hear a bit of dismay in her voice, “I don’t want to push you into having an answer.  I want you to be ready when you do have one, whatever way it may go.”

“What do you mean?” Nova asked.

“I mean,” Twilight glanced at the ground, “I don’t want to force you into saying yes or no.  I want you to decide that for yourself.  And if you want me to stop being so open about it, I can.”

Nova blinked again.  This wasn’t how this conversation was supposed to go.

“No, no,” he shook his head vigorously.  “I mean, Twilight, I’ve been doing this thinking for me.  It doesn’t just involve you, you know.  And I’ve come to the conclusion…” he felt his mouth go dry and he swallowed, “that I don’t want you to stop.”

Now it was Twilight’s turn to blink dumbly.  “Uhh, sorry, what does that mean?”

“It means,” he said, inwardly taking a deep breath, “that I’ve thought about it, and I am willing to give us a shot.”

Twilight’s mouth parted in surprise.  “You,” she swallowed, “are you saying--?”

“Am I saying that I’m agreeing to be your coltfriend?”  She nodded.  “That I am,” he confirmed, and she broke into a wide grin.  “But!  You know the deal, here,” he reminded her sternly.  “If I don’t feel like it’s going anywhere, it’s off.  Got it?”

“Yes,” she breathed, still beaming.  “That’s something I think I can live with.”

And before Nova could do anything, she had sidled up to him and was nuzzling hi quite fiercely as they continued on their way to her parents’ home.  And though Nova would normally have asked her to stop… there was just something about it that he liked.

“What the actual hell,” Night Light stared after Twilight after they had gotten home and she had gone to her room.  “She leaves a zombie, she comes back completely full of life.  Nova, what did you do!?”

“Well, Princess Celestia gave her a bit of a pick-me-up, so if you smell a bit of alcohol on her breath, that’s where it came from,” he avoided Night Light’s eye as he said that.  “Both she and the Princess assured me that she was perfectly sober though.”

“So, just the alcohol, then?  I find that hard to believe,” Night stepped in front of the stairs before Nova could go up.

“Well,” he glanced away so Night couldn’t see him blush, “I also… sort of… asked her out.”

Night Light said nothing, instead staring quite sternly at him, until Nova finally chanced to make eye contact.  When he did, Night scowled.

“You do realize, you’re supposed to go to a mare’s father before you start courting her, right?”

“She came on to me, I swear!” he protested.  “Besides, I kinda just figured you’d be alright with it…”

“Well you thought wrong, my boy!” Night leaned himself into Nova’s face.  “Wrong!  I am not alright with this!  All this trouble she goes off and gets into…”

And suddenly, without really knowing how, Nova was pulled into a strong hug.

“...and after what happened in the Vaults, you're one of the few I would trust her life with.”

“Then… then you approve?” he asked nervously, not sure how to react.

“My boy,” Night backed away from him, a fatherly look on his face, “you have had my blessing since you saved her life.”

 His fatherly look fell and he frowned at Nova.

“But Nova, make no mistake,” his voice had gotten quiet, “she may live on her own, and she may make her own decisions, but if I hear anything about you toying with her heart or otherwise not treating like the princess she deserves to be treated as, the very gates of Sombra’s palace itself wouldn’t be able to protect you.”

“You can count on me not to do that,” Nova gave a quick little salute.

Night smiled and nodded, that response clearly good enough for him.  “I knew it, you know,” he glanced up the stairs behind him.  “She acted the same way her mother had when she was trying to get my attention.  If I may ask, what made you see the light?”

“Lights, as a matter of fact,” Nova smirked at his little joke.  “We spent a night in Trottingham at the lights festival.  Just kinda… clicked, I guess.  Though a little reminder that life can be fleeting never hurts.”

Night grunted.

Just like the first time, dinner was to die for.  Again the thought wandered through his head that meals like this alone were a perfectly valid reason to marry Twilight.

The key to a stallion’s heart is through his stomach! he thought.

And the key to yours is missing in action.

Quiet, Logic.  Let me have my night.

“Hey, Twilight?” Night Light placed a hoof on his daughter’s shoulder as she got up from the table, “your mother and I want to talk to you before you head off to bed.”

“Oh, umm,” she cast a nervous glance at Nova.

“It’s nothing bad,” Night assured her.

Nova nodded.  “Just the usual Dad grilling about the cute, narcissistic colt you’re dating,” he said, dabbing at his mouth with a napkin and taking his plate over to Velvet’s sink.  “I’ll see you when you’re done, alright?”

“Oh, okay,” she looked a bit relieved.

“Oh!  And before I forget,” Nova turned back to Night and Velvet, “do you mind if I stay an extra day tomorrow?  Princess Luna has me going to Celestia’s School tomorrow to talk with the Headmaster.  Don’t know how long it’ll take, and I could need a place to stay if we get finished late enough.”

“Of course, dear!” Velvet smiled sweetly at him.  “You are always welcome here.”

“Especially with you dating my little Twinklesparky.”

“DAD!” Twilight’s face went beet red.

“I think I’ll just head upstairs and wait it out,” said Nova, wisely removing himself from the room before any teasing could come his way.  But once he was upstairs, instead of going to Shining Armor’s room, he instead ducked into Twilight’s.

Might as well pick something interesting to read while I wait, he reasoned as he looked through the book selection, before finally settling on a compilation of H. Pony Lovecraft’s novels.

“...and Twilight?” Night caught her shoulder as Twilight attempted to duck out of the room, their little conversation now over.

Twilight groaned.  “What, Dad?”

“You have my blessing.”

She grinned.  “Thanks, Dad.”

Night Light shrugged.  “Hey, he earned it.”

With that, she cantered up the stairs before he could drag her back for some more ribbing.  A quick glance inside Shining’s room revealed it to be empty, meaning he was probably in her room, reading.

What does he read for fun? she wondered.

Smiling mischievously, she cast an advanced spell that bent light rays around her to make her invisible, and another to completely mute the sound of her hooves striking the floor, and when everything was set, she quietly pushed open the door to her room.

Nova was sitting on her bed, a book with a title she couldn’t see at his hooves, though a spot on her bookshelf told her it was her H. Pony Lovecraft collection.

“Evening, Twi,” Nova didn’t look up from his book.

“How-- how did you--”

The spells ended abruptly as her concentration failed.  How had he known she was there!?

“Energy sensing, before you ask,” he turned a page idly.  “You may have hidden yourself from sight, but that doesn’t mean your energy was hidden.”

“Ugh, of course,” she groaned.  She had really been looking forward to messing with him.

“So,” the book was shut and magically placed back in its spot, “tomorrow, like I said, I’m going up to Celestia’s School to talk to the new Headmaster.  Are you planning on coming with me?”

“Of course!”  Like I’d pass up an opportunity to learn more about your past, she thought.

“Great!” he grinned.  “Now you can listen to me complain all the way there and back about the whole deal.”

“Is that all you were going to ask me?” she asked.

“Well, if you had said no, there were other things,” he shrugged, “but since you’re staying, we can talk about those on the train ride tomorrow or the day after.”

He hopped out of her bed.  “Welp, I’m gonna turn in for the night,” he said, before yawning.  “G’night Twi,” he started out of her room.

“Wait!”

He paused at the door, turning around and arching an eyebrow.

“Yes?” he asked.

“I…” she started to say, before her nerves failed her.

Say it say it say it SAY IT SAY IT!

“Yes?” he said again, looking a bit concerned.

“I… nothing,” she shook her head.  “Nothing important, anyway.”

Liar, she thought.  You do know he can sense that, right?

But if he did sense it, he didn’t say anything, just continuing to wait patiently for what she wanted.

“Just…” she stepped forward and kissed him on the cheek.  “Good night, Nova.”

Nova’s cheeks went bright pink, but he smiled about as warmly as her cheeks burned right back.

“I’ll see you in the morning, Twi.”

And he was off, leaving Twilight to spend the night dreaming of him and of what the future would bring.