Even In Other Worlds

by Rytex

The Best Laid Plans

Even In Other Worlds
Chapter 18 - The Best Laid Plans

It was a rather unfamiliar sensation, being summoned to the mindscape. Luna had grown used to traversing it on her own, but when she did, it was always because she was the one who initiated entry and traversal. It had been a long while since she had felt the pull of contact from another.

Naturally curious as she was, she allowed herself to be pulled in, feeling the strange sensation of gravity changing as she fell toward the caller’s own mind. Whoever was doing this, and she had a suspicion on who it was, had to be someone talented in the arts of dream traversal, and she had personally trained the second-best in Equestrian history. Despite her sister’s experience with taking up her mantle over a thousand years, she just hadn’t quite gotten the hang of it like her Night Apprentice had.

Though as the glass mindscape of her caller began to shine out of the darkness around her, her suspicion was proven wrong.

It wasn’t the second-best, but the third-best who was calling her today.

The glass platform was, as always, a beautiful depiction of the pony it represented. It was a deep navy blue in color, with several circles arrayed along the edge, depicting various ponies. The five along the top featured five of the six Bearers of Harmony, flanking either of them were Luna herself and Celestia on one side, and Cadance and Shining Armor on the other. Underneath the subject were Spike, Night Light, and Twilight Velvet.

And in the center, standing tall and proud with wings outstretched and eyes shut, was the likeness of Twilight Sparkle. And behind her, facing opposite, with his own head held high and his eyes closed as well, was her own Night Apprentice Nova Shine. And between their heads was her cutie mark emblazoned in glass.

She felt the smile work its way onto her face before she could even consider stopping it. It truly was rather special, what they had.

As she felt herself be drawn downward, eventually touching down, there was a bright flash of light, and once again, she found herself in pony form.

“Faust above, it feels so good to have our wings back,” she flapped them vigorously to punctuate the point. “When we return to Equestria, we will fly for three days straight!”

A flash of light at the opposite end of this mindscape caught her attention, and just as she anticipated, Twilight Sparkle appeared, in pony form just as she was, holding a hoof to her head as though she were having a migraine.

“Ugh, how does Nova do this?” she asked aloud. Luna didn’t think it was addressed to her in particular, but it still felt prudent to answer.

“Well, our dear Twilight,” the princess stepped forward to greet her younger equal, “with practice and regular use, the headaches should face.”

As the princess approached her, Twilight smiled weakly. “It’s good to see you again, Princess Luna.”

“Not nearly as good as it is to see thee whole and unharmed,” the princess replied, leaning down to give the younger mare a brief hug. “How art thou ‘holding up,’ as they say?”

“Ugh,” Twilight rubbed at her head again, in particular near the horn. The action mirrored Nova’s own tic of doing the same when he was deep in though that she giggled ever so softly. “I’m… fine,” Twilight finally said, quiet to the point of sounding almost exactly like Knightmare Tranquillitatis at his loudest.

Yes, Knightmare will work perfectly! she thought, quite pleased with herself for thinking up this new name for the collective third-to-sixteenth favorite ponies on her “non-family” list, behind Nova and Twilight, naturally. To pit them up against her sister Celestia and niece uCadance would be unfair.

Of course, to put them up against Pipsqueak and those three adorable foals from Ponyville would also be a bit unfair…

We will need to revisit and reorganize our “Favorite non-family ponies” list, she thought.

“If ever thou wouldst like someone to help thee deal with the psychological aftereffects,” Luna said, giving the younger mare a hug once again, “we will be more than happy to help thee work through it.”

“Thank-you, Princess,” Twilight said, looking more than a bit haunted as the memories had to be running through her head, though nothing reflected in the darkness around them. “But I think just having Nova around will do wonders.”

“True, true,” Luna nodded. “So, for what purpose didst thou summon me?”

“There’s been… a problem,” Twilight sighed.

“Is Nova involved?”

“Is he ever not?” Twilight asked.

Luna sighed, with a slight note of exasperation behind it. “Of course he’s involved. He’s never not involved. That stallion is like a trouble magnet. He can never just live quietly without attracting attention…”

She pinched her nostrils together for the briefest moments.

“What did he do this time?”

“It’s… not so much what he did,” Twilight looked very unsure what to say, and set to pacing around the mindscape. “When he destroyed the crystal with the curse… it was like this fog lifted from all of us. I could feel my magic again, and it seemed like everyone else could as well. Shining started conjuring shields and stuff.”

“The curse that was upon everypony was far more than just a simple memory curse, like Sombra had cast upon his subjects,” Luna frowned. “This curse felt like a… suppression curse. It suppressed memories, but it also suppressed the magic inside of everypony, preventing their spirits from breaking them out.”

“Except Nova,” Twilight put forth.

“Yes, except Nova,” Luna nodded. now frowning all the more. “We alicorns had to be dealt with differently, because we are too powerful to be contained. Our sister was left stranded in Equestria, thou wert put inside of a Soul Gem,” Twilight shifted uncomfortably, “and we have yet to identify what happened to Cadance.”

“She’s fine,” Twilight smiled at that. “She was under the suppression curse, same as everyone else. Nothing happened to her.”

Luna frowned even more.

“Perhaps being separated from the Crystal Heart has weakened her enough to make her not a threat,” she hypothesized. “Or perhaps not being on the same world as the embodiment of love that the Crystal Heart is. In any case,” she waved a hoof dismissively, “what does the curse breaking have to do with Nova?”

“After a few minutes of the curse being lifted, Nova turned into a… I don’t even know how to describe it.”

“Wait, so he’s transformed into--”

“No! No,” Twilight interjected, trying not to alarm the princess any more than was necessary, it seemed. “Just… you know how he taught me to sense energy?”

“We do,” Luna nodded.

“He… his energy got so… bright?” She considered her wording for a moment. “We’ll go with that. His magical energy got so bright that it drowned everyone else out in the room.”

Luna froze.

No… no, that cannot be true. That would mean it’s happening faster than…

“Like,” Twilight continued, “he was so bright that I couldn’t sense anything else in that room. Have you ever seen that before?” she asked, turning to give Luna an inquisitive glance. “Have you ever been near a pony so bright that it outshone everyone else around them?”

Luna’s response was to give Twilight a long stare. It took a few seconds, but Twilight did realize who she was asking this to.

“Oh. Right. Nightfall. Sorry,” she added hastily at Luna’s unamused look.

“It is forgiven, Twilight Sparkle,” Luna waved a hoof dismissively. “We only ask that thou be mindful of whom thou art speaking to in the future.”

“Sorry,” Twilight said again, but she continued. “But the thing is, no one else noticed! It was just me, since I’m pretty sure Nova and I are the only ones who could sense energy in that room.”

“Did Nova notice?” Luna asked. This was going to be the question that confirmed or refuted her fears. If Twilight answered the way she was dreading…

“Yes, he did,” Twilight sat down, staring intently at the ground as she recalled the scene. “He said he felt… overwhelmed or something. Like, he said he’d never felt this powerful before. He said it was like he had enough power to go against me when I had the combined power of all four of us alicorns, back when I took on Tirek! And Luna,” she added, giving her a meaningful look, “he meant it. He wasn’t exaggerating.”

No, Faust above, no!

“...Princess?”

Luna had fallen on her own haunches, an expression of horror on her face.

“Twilight Sparkle… I…” she tried to say, but the words died in her throat.

“What… what’s wrong?” Twilight asked, moving to sit beside her.

“You…” she sighed and shook her head. “I had best start from the beginning. This is not going to be pleasant.”

“What…” Twilight’s face fell into one of apprehension. “What’s going on?”

“Thou recallest Nova’s foray into the past, of course?” Luna asked. At Twilight’s nod, she continued. “Thou recallest, then, how he was pulled out specifically to battle Nightmare Moon alongside our sister and Comet Novus?” She nodded again. “Dost thou recall how our… darker half was defeated?”

“The Elements of Harmony,” replied Twilight automatically. “Celestia, Comet, and Nova took up the Elements of Harmony to defeat you.”

“Indeed,” Luna nodded. “But as thou may recall, the Element of Magic required its five fellow Elements to have appeared around it before it would take up residence in its bearer. But Nova was never its true bearer when he took it up in our stead.”

“Yeah,” Twilight nodded, no doubt thinking back to the day Nova had been sent back, returned as an older stallion, and told her the story. “Yeah, he said that the Consciousness of Magic had possessed him to talk to the three of them before it allowed him to use its power.”

“That moment,” sighed Luna, “the moment the Consciousness of Magic came down and took possession of Nova, has proven to be blessing and curse to the colt.”

“Stallion, Princess Luna,” corrected Twilight with an admonishing look. “He’s going to be my husband when this is all over, and I’m not a fan of you calling him a colt all the time.”

“Our apologies,” Luna shook her head. “He told us once that he considered us to be more his mother than Shimmer Novus ever was. We suppose we started reciprocating that view after some time.”

“It’s fine,” Twilight shrugged, “but how has the Consciousness of Magic affected him?”

“Only four ponies have ever been touched by the Element of Magic over the time of its use,” Luna frowned. “Ourself, naturally, as we were the one who took the Element of Magic from the Tree of Harmony. Next was Lady Clover the Clever, whom the Consciousness of Magic took possession of to speak to us. Third was Nova Shine, and finally, you as its most recent bearer.”

She gave Twilight a meaningful gaze.

“There are a lot of links between them, so there is little point in asking if thou could see the common thread. What binds us together relevant to this situation is what happened to all four of us after we took up the Element.”

“Which is?” Twilight asked.

“Dost thou recall how thy own magical ability grew at an exponential rate over the next few years? How once thou had difficulty casting teleportation even once, and now thou can use it as though it were second nature?”

“I do,” Twilight dipped her head.

“The same happened to us when we took up the Element,” Luna frowned. “Once upon a time, our sister was the greater of the two of us in magical ability, but ever after taking the element, she was never able to match us, save for when our power was drastically weakened after our restoration.”

“What about Clover and Nova?”

“Clover took up the element only a few years before she passed away, but those years were rather eventful for her,” Luna recalled her friend rather fondly, smiling at the thought. “She forged her Spellblade in such a quick amount of time, many started to wonder if she would eclipse her former master in magical talent. This is relevant, as Nova Shine did the exact same thing merely a couple of hours ago.”

“So the Element of Magic has caused us all to grow better at magic?” Twilight asked. “That makes sense.”

“More than that, Twilight. The Element of Magic has deepened our mana pool. While thou were still a unicorn, thou went from struggling with teleportation, as mentioned earlier, to manipulating gravity within only a couple of years! Precious few ponies would be able to make a leap like that, and never in that short a timespan.”

“This sounds like nothing but a blessing,” Twilight frowned. “How is this a curse?”

“Because the body of a non-alicorn has its limits, Twilight,” Luna pressed her hooves together and rested her muzzle on them. “If we alicorns grow too strong for our bodies to contain, we can simply let it off, or our bodies will grow to contain it. However, non-alicorn bodies have a ceiling on how much energy they can contain that cannot be broken.”

Luna could see the dawning realization on Twilight’s face now. She was coming to appreciate the problem.

“A-and… if they contain too much?”

“The energy within forces its way out,” Luna made a face as she recalled it. A foolish pony, trying to copy Tirek’s art of siphoning magic away from others, only to absorb too much and explode with catastrophic force.

Thankfully, they had been in a very remote place for just this instance, and no one had perished but the pony in question, but her decision to go along with this stupidity remained one of her greatest failures. Night Master Andromeda Lulamoon did not deserve a death like that.

Twilight paled. “No… you mean to say, Nova’s going to…”

“I wish we could say otherwise, but at present, he will.”

“No, no, that cannot happen. That will not happen,” Twilight growled. Luna couldn’t help but smile just a bit at that. As ever, her determination outshines any horror or fear. Nova, you have yourself a remarkable young mare. “There must be a way to stop it,” she stared at Luna, as if daring her to challenge her. “There must be. You said alicorn bodies don’t have this limit, right?”

“We do not. As we said, we grow to fit the power we control,” Luna dipped her head. “But I’m afraid it’s not that simple, Twilight.”

“How is it not? My husband-to-be is going to die! Just turn him into an alicorn and he won’t!”

“We cannot force the change upon him, Twilight!” Luna shook her head. “When you were transported to the Plane of Ascension, if you had not wanted to accept the spell that transformed you, the spell would have had no effect. The spell only works if its target accepts the change!”

Twilight’s countenance began to show even more horror than before. She has to know exactly the day I’m leading up to, Luna thought.

“And we art sure thou recallest, Nova rejected the path we offered,” she spat. “Even after he knew that the path was his grooming to becoming an alicorn prince, he rejected it because he valued his freedom and what he hoped would be a normal life more than what he saw as a cage of its own.”

“He should know better, though!” protested Twilight. “He’s seen me as an alicorn for the past several months!”

“We believe he still fears that becoming a prince, and the responsibilities it carries, are a prison of their own. And he desired to stay away from such a ‘prison.’” She ran a hoof through her mane, scowling as she did so. “Nothing we, or even thou said could convince him.”

“Then… is there no hope?”

“There… was.”

“Was?”

“Didst thou think we offered him the arch-mage position for no reason, Twilight?” She rose to her hooves and set to pacing just as Twilight had done. “We needed a way to have Nova use as much magic as possible. We figured that if we could put him into a position where he was constantly expelling mana from his system, it would buy us time to find a better way. It was no permanent solution, as eventually his capabilities would be so great, his mana pool so deep, and its regeneration so quick, that he would eventually reach a point where he could cast some of the most mana-dependent spells known to ponykind and still have plenty to spare.”

“But that doesn’t sound like you had hope to begin with,” Twilight observed. Luna had to admit, she was taking this rather well. Perhaps she had yet to really appreciate just how bleak Nova’s chances were now. Or perhaps she was still in denial about it. “You were just hoping to delay the inevitable.”

“We were, but a lot of it was that we were hoping that either thou would convince him, or he would convince himself, that becoming an alicorn wouldn’t be as bad as he thought.”

She covered her nose with a hoof.

“It wasn’t originally as bad as it seems. He had a good forty years before things would start to become a problem if things progressed at the rate they were. But now…” She shook her head. “The suppression curse has ruined all of that.”

“How is the curse responsible for any of this?” Twilight asked.

“Twilight, thou knowest him better than anyone,” Luna pointed out. “It is in Nova’s nature to fight against anything trying to contain or control him. Even without this… quality,” that word felt right; neither blessing nor curse, but simply a quality, “Nova’s very spirit would have broken free one way or another. But it would have taken far longer for him to do so. And as thou art well aware, magic is tied to the spirit.”

“His magic channeled his spirit and amplified itself to fight the suppression curse!” realized Twilight. “It grew to such a level to match Nova’s normal levels without the curse, and that was with the curse smothering them! And now that the curse is gone…”

“Now that it is gone, Nova’s magic will increase meteorically because there is nothing for it to fight against.”

“Precisely.”

“And nothing we can do will inhibit it?” Twilight asked.

Luna knew the stages all too well. She loved the colt-- stallion-- like a son. And to know that someone she held so dear was going to wither and pass before her eyes while she endured had not been an easy time, especially in her emotionally fragile state after being restored to her own self by the mare before her.

“Nothing,” Luna shook her head.

Said mare was clearly in the shock and numbness stage. All she could do was stare blankly at Luna, perhaps not quite coming to grips

“And you… you knew, and you didn’t tell me?” she asked softly. “You and Celestia?”

“We… did,” she nodded.

At once, her mane exploded into flames, her eyes became a bright red, and her coat shone white she stepped forward to glare her right in the eyes.

“YOU MEANT TO TELL ME,” she screamed, even as Luna’s rear hooves slid back just a fraction, “THAT ALL THIS TIME, MY HUSBAND-TO-BE WAS DYING, AND YOU DIDN’T THINK I SHOULD KNOW ABOUT THAT!?”

“Nova was in no danger until he was dragged onto this world, and Envy’s suppression curse lay upon him,” Luna answered defensively. “He was in no danger until--”

“THAT MAKES IT SO MUCH BETTER!” a wave of heat blasted out of her, pushing Luna back even further. “IT’S ALL FINE, BECAUSE HE’S STILL A WALKING TIME BOMB, BUT THE CLOCK IS LONGER, SO NOTHING IS WRONG AT ALL, IS THAT IT!?”

“Twilight, we--”

“I’ve had enough of you,” the flames mercifully abated, but Twilight’s glare through icy purple eyes sent a chill down her spine. Luna had never before appreciated how terrifying a truly angry Twilight Sparkle could be. “You and Celestia, with your scheming. Your machinations. Moving us around like pawns!” she spat. “You just can’t help yourself, can you!? This is all one big cosmic game to you, is that it!? And MY STALLION IS DYING BECAUSE OF IT!”

The accusation stung far more than Luna would have liked. She had little to do with Celestia’s grand design, but that did not change the fact that Twilight Sparkle, like Nova before her, was right.

Being an Undying being meant that far too often, the fleeting existence of pony lives failed to truly be appreciated. And it was one of her worst fears that she would stop seeing every subject as a pony with a life, and start seeing them as game pieces that they moved around the board.

While she would never ever see Nova or Twilight as such, it was not hard to come across that way with all the secrets and manipulations.

Twilight’s chest was heaving from the strength of her breaths, and Luna could see the glimmering of tears that had yet to fall in her eyes.

“Is…” she started, but her voice cracked as she said it, causing her to sniff and glance away, “is there truly no hope?”

“There is,” Luna said, making sure to put the nervousness behind it that she felt would communicate the uncertainty she felt. “Nova’s acceleration has reached meteoric levels, but we believe there should be a few years with which to work.”

“You’re doing it again,” snapped Twilight. “You’re planning. Stop! It’s already done enough.”

“It’s all we have left!” snapped Luna, feeling her grit her teeth. “Unless you want to watch Nova literally explode into disintegration right in front of your eyes, then we have to figure out some way to delay it, or better yet, save him!”

Twilight had nothing to say to that. Instead, she just gave Luna one of the most intense glares Luna had ever seen.

“When we return to Equestria,” growled Twilight, “you, your sister, and I are going to have a very long conversation about secret-keeping.”

“We will be the first to remind thee of it when we return,” Luna inclined her head. “But for today, nothing else matters but returning home. When we return home, we can deal with… all of this.”

Twilight just glared at her for a long moment, before relaxing. “Will you be fighting now that the curse is gone?”

“Neigh,” Luna shook her head. “We still do not feel… whole. It still feels as if our power is limited. Perhaps it is a side-effect of the Nightmare’s control over us. We wilt be protecting our subjects, particularly those who will not be participating in the coming battle, but we will not be entering the fray ourselves. What of your own plans?”

“I have no idea where anything is,” Twilight just shook her head. “One minute, I was in Canterlot Castle chapel, the next I was trapped in darkness, and now here I am in a world I’ve never seen before, and as far as I’m concerned, only thirty minutes ago, I was about to be married to the love of my life. And now I find out he’s going to die!”

Luna chose not to reignite the argument. Twilight was right to be upset. However, it would get them nowhere to continue speaking about it.

“Then we recommend that thou stay with a group. Preferably with the other Bearers.”

“They’re currently scattered across this city,” Twilight set to pacing, mercifully dropping the previous topic so that they could plan. “My guess would be Nova’s going to group everyone up and we’re all going to unite them, and we’ll use the Bearers to get us home.”

She paused. “You know, it doesn’t really make sense. How exactly will the Elements of Harmony take us back?” she looked at Luna. “Would they simply be reversing the teleportation spell Envy used, or…”

“That seems the most likely outcome.”

“But what if they don’t?” Twilight asked. “What if they don’t send us back?”

“Then our best advice would be to search for the portal to the Crystal Mirror,” answered Luna. “There is a portal here somewhere, else Envy never would have found this world to begin with.”

“How?” Twilight asked. “How would we find the portal?”

“Portals radiate a considerable amount of magical energy,” Luna recalled, thinking back to the crystal mirror when it was active. “With thine and Nova’s energy sensing abilities, that seems like a task best delegated to the two of you, when not linking up with the other Bearers.”

“Surely there are others with sensing ability that could help? Nova’s father, or Doctor Hoofman, perhaps?” offered Twilight, which caused Princess Luna to pause.

“We wilt reach out to them and see what we can do,” promised Luna. “Time grows short, Twilight Sparkle, and we have work to do. We promise, we shall have our talk on our return to Equestria. Thou hast our word.”

Twilight’s face soured for a moment, but she inclined her head.

“Fare thee well,” Luna added, in a voice barely above a whisper, “for Nova’s sake.”

---

“You know,” Shining Armor said, sliding into a seat beside him on the roof of the apartment as they both watched the streets below, “I would have expected you to want to talk to my sister before anypony else.”

“Believe me, I would love nothing more than to spend all of my time with the love of my life,” Nova smiled at the thought of doing just that, “but we have work to do, and there will be time for that later, when we return and we can finally exchange our vows.”

Shining smiled at that as well. “You’ve grown a lot since your trip to the Crystal Empire, those years ago, you know? When Cadie told me that my sister had a crush on you of all ponies, I was about ready to take the first train down to Ponyville to set her straight, but now?”

He didn’t finish that thought. Nova didn’t need him to. Shining’s approval meant a lot. Especially considering the Prince had every opportunity to pummel him after the disastrous aftermath of their first official date, but chose not to.

“So, what’s the plan?” Shining asked, looking off to the collection of skyscrapers in the distance that signified downtown. “Do you have a plan?”

“I do,” Nova dipped his head. “And I want you to critique it.”

And with that, Nova explained rather succinctly his plan. Shining’s expression as he recited it was unreadable, but Nova had learned to tell from some of the smaller details, such as how Shining was an “eye-smiler”. He never really noticed anything Shining disapproved of, which was heartening, but he did notice some slight unease at one particular part of his plan.

“And before you say anything,” he added as Shining opened his mouth, “I am well aware that Twilight is not going to be happy. I’ve given it a lot of thought, and I think it’s just the best course of action.”

“I trust you,” Shining replied. “I know next to nothing about this city, outside of what the cursed version of me remembers. You, however, have been out for several weeks now. You have the most experience as your current self with this city, so we have little choice but to trust you.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence, Shining,” Nova shook his head with a sardonic smile on his face.

“Eh, what are brothers-in-law for?” Shining nudged him playfully, but then stood back up. “More helpers are arriving, and I’m gonna be there to greet them. Want me to send Twilight up when she gets out of her little trance thing?”

“Yeah, sure,” Nova nodded. Why Twilight insisted on contacting Princess Luna that way was beyond him when he could just have Philomena ferry letters between them. “But first, have Flash come up.”

“Sure thing,” Shining nodded. “Gonna grill him about his crush on Twilight?”

“Something like that,” Nova frowned.

Shining smiled, got up, and climbed down into the apartment for a few moments. It wasn’t long before Nova felt the aura of the pegasus guard he disliked most in the world climb up in his place.

“Captain Armor said you wanted to see me?” he heard the youthful voice say, and he was a bit pleased to hear, it sounded a bit nervous.

“Sit down, please.” He patted the spot Shining had just vacated.

Flash, to his credit, did so without hesitation. Ever the soldier, he was.

“I’m Nova Shine,” he reached out a hand. The private eyed it for a moment, before nervously taking it.

“What do you need from me?” Flash asked. “Is this about the Princess Summit, or--”

“No, it’s not,” Nova replied, but he didn’t keep the distaste out of his voice. “But I do want to talk with you about it all the same.”

“Y-yes sir,” Flash hid his face from view. “I, uhh… I’m sorry, but I can’t really help it. Twilight’s just--”

Nova glared at him, which he noticed immediately.

“P-Princess Twilight’s just…” he amended, but fell off at the end.

“Private, listen,” Nova sighed, “I completely understand. You can’t help who you find attractive. And my fiancee is a princess and one of the most beautiful mares in Equestria. I get that.”

He gave the private a stern look.

“But make no mistake, Private, I am well aware that you can help how you act around an engaged mare. I love her to death, and she loves me. You do not fit into that picture.”

The private cleared his throat nervously and looked away. “Sir, really, I am sorry. I didn’t even really do anything though. She just sort of collided with me a couple of times.”

“I know,” Nova told him. “And most of my wife-to-be’s… well, most of why I’m touchy about this has to do with her experiences in that human world, the one Sunset Shimmer’s from--”

“Sunny’s from our world,” corrected Flash, with a challenging look.

“The one she got pulled out of,” Nova corrected himself, inclining his head at the private, “and the Flash Sentry from that world. But if our theories are correct, that would mean the inclinations are the same. So I’m laying down the law now before anything bad happens that one of us will regret.”

Nova liked how that word hung in the air after. He really wasn’t a terribly vindictive pony, and he really didn’t want to make the poor private shit his pants, but he’d be damned if he were going to let someone steal the love of his life away from him.

“Understand?”

“Y-yes sir,” Flash nodded, looking a bit pale.

“Good,” Nova grinned. “Now, I’ve got a job for you today.”

“Okay,” Flash took a deep breath to calm himself. “And that is?”

“I would like you to keep an eye on Sunset Shimmer.”

That got Flash’s attention.

“With all due respect sir,” Flash said slowly, “I was going to do that whether or not you asked me to.”

“Good, so now it’s an order,” Nova turned his gaze out into the city. “We don’t know what we’re going to face out there today, whether the changelings will be trying to kill us or just subdue us. But either way, she got pulled into this because of that shadow being. She has no stake in this, but was dragged here anyway, and so I’d prefer it if she were able to get away unscathed.”

“You can count on me, sir,” Flash announced. Nova was thankful for his enthusiasm.

“Good. Out of curiosity,” he added, stopping the private before he could get up and head back in, “how do you know Sunset? All I know about her is that she fled into that other world after she got mad at Celestia.”

“That’s… pretty much it,” Flash dipped is head sadly. “We grew up together in Canterlot. She was a couple of years older than me, but that didn’t stop us from being friends… and then dating.”

“Oh?” Nova arched an eyebrow at that. “How old were you?”

“She’s 24, I’m 22, and this was about 8 years ago,” Flash sighed at the memory. “Everything was going well until Princess Celestia began to spend time training Twilight as her Faithful Student in addition to Sunset, and… well, Sunset never did take kindly to sharing at the time.”

Nova understood. As best he had heard from Twilight, Sunset Shimmer had only just gotten better about that sort of thing. After her second trip and her encounter with the Dazzlings, he took Twilight’s word for it that Sunset had reformed and helped her to defeat the Sirens.

“After that, well,” Flash hung his head. “I heard about an argument between them at the castle, and then she stormed off and ran away. Never saw her again. Until about thirty minutes ago, that is.”

“Will your history be a problem?” Nova asked.

“I… don’t know. I hope not, but if she’s still angry about what happened…”

Nova nodded understandingly. “Alright. Thanks, Flash.”

Flash dipped his head and stood up, ready to walk back in, but Nova caught his arm.

“Private, I… well, I’m sorry for being so brusque with you earlier. I promise, I want nothing more than a good relationship between us.”

Flash nodded at that.

“Just… watch how you act around Princess Twilight, and remember whose lover she is.”

“Got it,” Flash nodded. “Should I have her come on up?”

“Yes, please.”

Flash grinned and leapt off the building, landing lightly and noticeably slowing down as he fell, no doubt getting used to his wings, before heading inside.

With that, there was nothing left to do but continue to wait. Nova couldn’t sense what was going on out in the city, but he hoped the chaos was starting. The more chaos there was, the easier it’d be for them all to go about doing their thing without attracting attention.

One of the greatest feelings Nova ever knew was the moment whenever he felt Twilight Sparkle near him, and this was no exception. When he sensed her gentle aura approaching, he felt himself smile reflexively.

And when she slid into a seat beside him, when she immediately took his hand in her’s and lay her head on his shoulder, that moment alone was worth every shred of time they had left.

“I can’t wait to get back,” he sighed, leaning his own head down onto hers.

“Did you grill Flash Sentry before you called me up?” she asked, looking a bit amused by it.

“Yeah,” Nova nodded. “Haven’t had a proper chance to remind him which stallion you’re marrying when we get back.”

She snorted. “Why?”

“Your two adventures to that other human world,” Nova answered simply. “What did you see in him, anyway?”

“Well,”: she blushed slightly, “he reminded me a lot… of you.”

“He reminded you of me?” Nova asked, taken aback. “How?”

“Well, he was kind, he had the blue mane and tail, he liked his coat, and he was a bit goofy like you tend to be from time to time. But,” she added meaningfully, “he’s not you.”

He was satisfied with that answer.

“There are no others like me,” he said, mostly to himself. “Only me. And I quite like that.”

She said nothing to that, seemingly content to watch the distant city with him. In truth, he rather liked this. Nothing needed to be said. It was just the two of them together, and their silence was all that was needed.

Until she broke it with a mumble of some kind.

“What was that?” Nova leaned back to glance at her. She too sat up, but she looked away and mumbled the same thing. “Twilight, love, speak up.”

“I said ‘I love you,’” she clarified.

Nova gave her a bemused look. “And you felt the need to mumble that? Are you embarrassed or something?”

“N-no, I just…” she rubbed at the back of her head. “I’m just ready for all of this to be behind us.”

“No kidding,” Nova nodded. “Sooner we’re done here, sooner we can get back to the wedding, and then it’s till death do us part.”

It was lucky he missed the wince that crossed Twilight’s face.

“When… when we get back,” Twilight swallowed, “you and I are going to have a word with Princess Celestia and Princess Luna.”

“Why?” Nova asked, tilting his head. “Is Celestia hiding things from us again?”

“Y… yes,” Twilight sighed, and returned her head to his shoulder. “I talked to Luna about it. Nova, it’s… not good.”

“What is it?” he asked, now very concerned. Clearly, this was eating her up. “You can tell me.”

Twilight worked her jaw for several moments, but ended up just shaking her head. “When we get back,” she promised. “All of us need our heads in the game today, you especially.”

Nova couldn’t argue with that. In light of his plan, the last thing he needed to be was distracted.

Fortunately, whatever his inner feelings about Twilight’s little revelations were, her hand and head returned, dismissing them instantly.

“Let’s just stay like this forever,” he suggested. “No Envy, no Tirek, no Princesses, just you and me.”

“As much as I would love that, there’s work to do.”

“You just have to ruin everything, don’t you?” he teased. “Like that time I was enjoying a perfectly good book in our hotel room and you dragged me out to go lights-watching.”

“You didn’t seem to complain when we kissed under the Hearth’s Warming Tree,” she reminded him.

“Nah, only after,” he shook his head. “Faust above, I was so blind back then. Imagine all the time we could have had if I had just admitted to myself I had fallen in love with you immediately. None of the stupid things I did to pretend I wasn’t in love with you would have happened and we’d have had several extra months of an honest relationship.”

“Well, we’re here now. Let’s enjoy the time we do have.”

Nova grinned. “I hear that.”

---

“So, let’s get down to business,” said Nova seriously, as his hand shone blue and a map of the city illuminated itself on one of his blank walls. There was a blinking dot near the southern part of it. “Today’s the day we make our push to get back. It’s going to be a long day, everyone. Let’s be prepared and let’s do everything in our power to make this happen.”

The waiting audience featured a solid several ponies now. Twilight, Sunset, the five Nightmares, and thirteen guards in addition to Flash and Shining that had come in. This fit Nova’s plans rather well.

“So, here’s my initial plan on how we’re going to do this,” he said, turning back to the blue aerial view of the city. The blinking dot split into two, one green and one red that blinked in the same spot. “This is where we are at now. This,” an orange dot appeared outside of the city limits, further south, “is the Appleby Farm, where Applejack and Rainbow Dash are currently waiting. And here,” a yellow dot started to blink northeast of downtown, “is the spa that Fluttershy, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie are currently at. Sharp Eye is watching them to make sure nothing happens.”

He turned to face his guests again.

“The plan is to split into two groups,” he recited. “Group One will take Twilight and retrieve Applejack and Rainbow Dash from the Appleby Farm, and then make their way to the rendezvous point. Group Two will retrieve Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie and make their own way to the same rendezvous point. The rendezvous point is here,” a blinking white dot joined the mix, currently a fair bit north of downtown, but a bit further south than the spa, “at the university. Both groups, with their three Bearers of Harmony, will meet up and then our Bearers trigger the Elements and send us home.”

Twilight raised a hand.

“Yes, love?” Nova asked.

“Princess Luna mentioned earlier when we spoke, should the Elements fail to activate within us, our best bet would be to locate the portal,” she supplied.

Nova nodded. “Yes. The thought had crossed my mind. I have already accounted for that, but I will get to that. Thank-you for bringing it up.”

Twilight smiled at him, and he felt his confidence grow.

Now it was Nightmare Starstep’s turn to raise a hand.

“Yes, Nightmare?” Nova asked.

“Wouldn’t it be better off to move as one group?” he asked. “We’d have bigger safety in numbers, and all six Bearers would be protected by a grand total of twenty guards, plus Miss Shimmer.”

“I’m glad you asked,” Nova nodded at the young stallion, as did Frigoris, which had Starstep shift and try to hide a pleased smile of his own. “I did consider that, and even talked it over with Shining Armor. However,” a number of black dots appeared all over the map, “the changelings abound. A larger group would move more slowly and attract more attention. Two smaller groups can move quickly and in today’s chaos, they can avoid too much additional suspicion.”

Starstep nodded understandingly. “The less they know about us, the better?”

“Precisely,” Nova looked back to the board. “Conflict with the changelings will be inevitable. You will have to fight. We just want to limit those fights so you can save energy and so that they don’t know what the plan is.”

“So who’s in charge of the groups?” asked Flash.

“Shining Armor,” Shining nodded in acknowledgement, “and Nightmare Frigoris,” the thestral also nodded, “will lead the two groups. Frigoris, if I may ask, do you feel your Nightmares would be at their best as a whole unit, or would splitting them up not have an effect?”

“So long as there is more than one Nightmare to a group, it shall have no effect,” the thestral answered quietly, his soft voice carrying well in the room of twenty-three ponies. “We were made for cooperation. While any one of us can hold our own alone, we work best when there are others of our number with us.”

“Duly noted. In that case...” On a second wall, two columns appeared, headed by “GROUP 1” and “GROUP 2,” the top names of which were Shining Armor and Nightmare Frigoris. “I’ll split up the thestrals into two-per-group.”

Nightmares Tranquillitatis and Imbrium were listed under Shining Armor’s group, whereas Crisium and Starstep appeared under Frigoris.

“You misspelled it,” Frigoris pointed out softly.

“I… what?” Nova checked his spelling. He was fairly certain he had gotten all of their names right.

“‘Nightmare.’ Mother has changed the name. It starts with a K now.”

“Are we really doing this now?” Nova asked, giving the Night-- Knightmare an irritated look. A quick tweak and the change was made.

Frigoris only shrugged at that. Truthfully, Nova had to wonder if Frigoris enjoyed winding him up the way Luna sometimes did. It would make perfect sense. And then there was that time he and Starstep had thrown Nova out of Luna’s room after the first time they had visited the Vaults…

“Shining, I’ll leave the guards’ split up to you,” Nova continued, dismissing Frigoris’ quip and continuing. “I’d also recommend that you be the group who will be going with Twilight to pick up Rainbow Dash and Applejack.”

Brother and sister locked eyes and grinned at the development. “Couldn’t have picked better myself, Nova,” Twilight said.

“Finally, Sunset.”

The young woman’s cool aquamarine eyes met his own. Nova had never met her before, but naturally, Twilight had. She had the same fire in her gaze that Twilight had, but her’s was far more uncertain, no doubt due to being plucked out of her world to be used for Envy’s nefarious purposes.

“I know you didn’t ask for this,” he preempted, “but you’re here now. As such, I’d like to keep you out of harm’s way as much as possible. That said, would you be willing to seek refuge at Princess Luna’s safe haven?”

Sunset’s gaze hardened, and she shook her head.

“No,” she said flatly. “You’re right. I didn’t have a say in this, but that shadowy mare yanked me from my home. And Twilight’s my friend, so I’m going to fight with her.”

“Very well, then,” Nova nodded at her. “Flash, you have your orders.”

“Yes sir,” Flash saluted. Sunset looked irritated by that.

“Why, exactly?” she asked, letting the distaste enter her voice. “I think I’ve established that I can take care of myself just fine.”

“Because you don’t know how magic works on this world,” Nova replied. “It’s tied to your energy here. Back in Equestria, you use too much mana, and you’re drained but still physically capable. Here, you use too much, and you could very well end up dead.”

The mood in the room grew considerably more grim at that.

“That’s why I advise all of the unicorns-- or former unicorns,” he inclined his head to his fiancee, “to try and conserve your energy for when you need it. Which means it falls on the pegasi and earth ponies, and any unicorns trained in a martial art, to eliminate threats.”

He returned his gaze to Sunset.

“That’s why I want Flash keeping an eye on you.”

She looked over to Flash, and then seemed to resign herself to it. “Alright. I’ll go with Sparky’s group then.”

“Sparky...?” Nova asked, but then it clicked. Twilight Sparkle. Duh. Actually, he kinda liked that. Maybe he would call Twilight that when they got past today.

“Why can’t you be the one keeping an eye on me?” Sunset asked, giving Flash an uneasy glance. Flash, to his part, didn’t appear insulted or hurt by Sunset’s apparent desire to stay away from him, but Nova could see that it was affecting him.

“I beg your pardon?” Nova asked.

“No offense to Flash, but on a day where we all want to keep our head’s clear, I don’t think keeping me around a source of emotional baggage from my past is going to be the smartest move,” she replied.

That got something out of Flash. His unease shifted into pure concern. Nova could see both of them took that to mean Sunset was beating herself up for past mistakes.

“I’d trust him and Shining with my own life,” Nova answered, “and thats even though Flash and I have had a… disagreement, shall we say/” He didn’t miss the irritation that crossed Twilight’s face as he said this. “But both of them are fine guardsponies, and I’m trusting them with Twilight as well as you.”

“Wait, aren’t you coming with us?” Twilight asked.

“No,” Nova shook his head.

“Then you’d better take care of him,” Twilight turned and ordered Frigoris, who looked highly amused by this.

“Your Night Master is safe with me,” the Knightmare assured her.

“I’m not going with his group either,” Nova replied, bracing himself. He knew Twilight was going to figure out almost immediately what his game was, and he was not looking forward ot the earful he was going to get.

Here comes the hard part.

Sure enough, Twilight pursed her lips, her glare in his direction intense enough to scare even Tirek. Nova, however, continued.

“With the two groups of you moving around, the changelings are inevitably going to start trying to hinder your progress, and I intend to make sure they can’t. So while the two of you make your way to your designated Bearers, I will be running around the city trying to get their attention by taking out as many changelings as I possibly can. Hopefully, they’ll try to ignore you and take me down, but if they insist, I can always hunt down individual outposts.”

At the mention that he would be actively seeking out changelings, Twilight’s glare intensified, but Nova pressed on.

“And if all goes well, I may attract the attention of the bigger fish. Killik, or Envy herself.”

Nova knew Twilight likely had no idea who Killik was, but at the mention of him drawing Envy out, her glare shifted into full fury.

“No,” she stated, her voice carrying over the small babble that had broken out. “No. You will do no such thing.”

“Princess Sparkle, please--” Frigoris cut in.

“Stay out of this,” she warned, her eyes positively glowing due to her anger, before she turned back to Nova and started to step toward him. “If you think for an instant that I’m just going to let you waltz off and get yourself into trouble on your own--”

“I think I’m rather part of it now,” Frigoris said quite calmly, stepping in between them both. “Orders from Princess Luna,” he added as a shadows coalesced in his hand to form a small scroll of parchment.

Now that was just fascinating! Nova didn’t know Frigoris had shadow magic capabilities. When they got back to Equestria, there would be plenty of time to study that. For now, however, what did Luna want?

Twilight took the parchment and read it at top speed, her eyes bulging with anger after a certain point and her hands turning white from the strength of their grip.

“What’s it say?” Nova asked, but Twilight practically threw the parchment at him. It was rather short and sweet.

Frigoris,

Your information regarding Nova’s plan is welcome. With that in mind, your personal orders are to go with him and keep watch over him. Ensure no harm comes to the Night Master that you can prevent. Should Twilight Sparkle protest, particularly concerning Nova’s plan, inform her that I am granting Nova Level-0 authority for the remainder of our time in this human world.

--L

Nova looked up to see Twilight fuming.

“The hell is a Level-0 directive?” he asked.

“In short, Night Master,” Frigoris answered, not the least bit affected by Twilight’s anger beside him, “it means that Princess Luna has effectively made you the acting monarch of the Equestria until we return.”

It was then that a very odd sensation overcame Nova Shine.

The babble disappeared, the room just seemed to fade away, and the only ponies he was suddenly aware of were Frigoris and Twilight. Twilight still looked particularly angry, and Frigoris appeared to be the picture definition of collected, standing in stark contrast to Nova, who could feel his breathing grow more and more erratic, his hands start to shake, and beads of sweat trickle down his neck.

“I didn’t ask for this,” he said quietly, forcing himself to take deep breaths and steadying himself. “I didn’t ask to be woken up in the middle of this memory charm. I didn’t ask for Envy, for any of this. But here we are.”

Twilight’s anger abated for a moment, no doubt due to her sensing that something was wrong. Even Frigoris looked concerned at his reaction.

With a great heaving breath, he forced himself to relax. His hands stopped shaking, he lightly shook his head to tousle his hair, and he wiped the sweat off his neck rather hastily.

“I just want to go home. I just want things to go back to normal. I don’t want to be a monarch, or a prince, or anything. I just want to go back home, get married, and live a normal life. But to do that, we have to get through today.”

He gave Twilight an almost-pleading look.

“Please, I know you don’t want this, but I’ve talked it over with Shining. Our plans rest on the six of you being reunited. And I’m going to do every little thing I can to make sure it succeeds. I’m not going to waltz into a death trap or anything,” he made sure to articulate, “but I’ve got to do this. We all have parts to play. Play yours, and allow me to play mine.”

“You needn’t fear any harm coming to your stallion, Princess,” Frigoris assured her, crossing his arms confidently. “Nightmare Moon made me for combat, and Princess Luna kept me and placed me in charge of her Knightmares for a reason, and now she is entrusting me with keeping Night Master Nova Shine safe. I am not being entrusted these positions for no reason, Princess.”

Twilight bit her lip and gave Nova an uncertain look.

“You have my word, I will do everything to prevent him from coming to harm,” the thestral said, his golden eyes never wavering as he made the promise.

Twilight still looked completely unconvinced, but seemed to resign herself ot it. But before she returned to her spot, she grabbed the collar of Nova’s shirt, yanked him forward, and kissed him.

For several moments she stayed there, with Nova unsure of what to do, before she backed apart, giving him a fierce look.

“Stay safe and alive, Nova. That’s an order from your princess.”

Nova successfully resisted the urge to point out that he outranked her for the next several hours.

“I will,” he promised her.

With that, she stepped back, her’s and Nova’s gazes lingering on each other for a long moment, before she turned and went to stand by her brother, who was rounding up those in his group, including the hulking form of Tranquillitatis and the smaller form of Imbrium.

Crisium and Starstep, however, both came forward in his stead.

“Umm, sir?” Starstep asked uncertainly, “if you’re going to stay with Nova, who is going to be in charge of our group?”

“One of you two, naturally,” Frigoris smiled at the younger thestral. Nova knew of Starstep’s story, how he had been a pegasus that had been accepted into the Nightmares, and was then magically transformed into a thestral, and it was really something to see the different features, such as the golden eyes, or the fangs.

“I’ve never led anyone before,” Starstep replied, looking to Crisium.

“Then I entrust the group to you, Crisium,” Frigoris met the younger thestral’s eyes. Crisium met his cool confidence with determination and eagerness. She was clearly ready for the day’s events. “Treat the group as I would all of us. Do not get into unnecessary fights, is that clear?”

“Sir,” Crisium rolled her eyes, but saluted.

“Good. Assemble your party. It’s time to get moving.”

“Yes, captain,” Crisium nodded, before she and Starstep started to separate their own group’s members from the crowd.

“Now that it’s all said and done,” Nova raised his voice, “let’s move out in the next few minutes. Time is of the essence.”

For only a few minutes longer, they continued to separate, and Shining and Crisium addressed their group members. All the while, Nova and Twilight both kept meeting each others’ gaze, each time expressing concern, trepidation, general anxiety about the coming day, and encouragement. They would get through it.

But then, it was time.

“Let’s move out,” Nova said, opening the door to his apartment as he and Frigoris stepped out. Shining’s group immediately set off at a brisk pace to the south, out of the city, while Crisium’s group left and made their way to the northeast, further in.

Nova and Frigoris watched them go. As Shining’s group began to vanish from sight, he saw Twilight turn around and give him one last look.

“Stay safe, my beautiful star,” he whispered to himself.

And then she was gone.

“Well, Frigoris,” Nova cracked his neck and turned to the Knightmare, who still looked calm as ever, “let’s get a move on. We’ve got work to do.”

Frigoris smiled.

“Very well. I will follow your lead, Night Master.”

And with that, they were off, into the city.

Let the battle begin.

Author's Note:

Had to split this chapter into two due to how much there was to cover.

Anyway, next chapter, well...

Rytex out. Have a good day!

Comments

[Bast]

sooon

[Circe-Bluebell]

[Circe-Bluebell]

Hey I love your stuff and it's so good you inspire me to write my stories in way I never had before so don't give up rytex I believe in you and you will get this done.