A Walk in the Park
The Apprentice, the Student, and the Charlatan
Chapter 09 - A Walk In The Park
One more musical piece for a while. I don’t have too many picked for this story, so as to not rely on them. Remember to open it in a new tab.
*knock knock knock*
“Coming~!” sang Rarity as she quickly sliced a strip of cloth off of a reel with a pair of shears to add to her latest piece. “Rarity, you’ve really outdone yourself,” she sighed to herself as she pinned the cloth in place. There wasn’t time to stitch it in place properly, not with a guest waiting at her door, but a metaphorical bookmark in her work would restore the creative spark when she came back.
It was the perfect shade of blue to really bring out the color in her eyes, complete with, as Spike so delicately put it, “poofy sleeves” and a “butt cover.” Days like today were rather few and far between. The little dragon was endearing, and his rather obvious crush was just adorable, but sometimes he could really inhibit more than he helped.
Sometimes.
“And… there, that will do for now,” she finished pinning the strip of periwinkle cloth right where she envisioned it, and with that, she dashed out of her designing room and out into the Carousel Boutique entrance.
“And…” she threw open the door, “Welcome to the Carousel Boutique! How can… Oh.”
There was a white unicorn stallion standing there, his unruly blue mane making him look a bit more bedraggled than usual today, and his brilliantly-blue eyes were currently fixed on her with… was that desperation?
“It’s you,” she said, frowning, but backing up to allow him entry. “To what do I owe the… pleasure?”
The way she said it suggested anything but.
“I need your help,” Nova Shine answered rather quickly, practically bolting in.
Rarity blinked. “You… need my help?” she asked skeptically. “Is this a prank, Nova? Are you trying to get back at me for the ‘dessert incident?’”
“It’s not a prank!” Nova snapped, glaring at her as she shut the door behind him. “Believe me, Rarity, if there were anyone else out there I believed were more capable, I’d be right on their doorstep right now, but unfortunately for me, you’re the best mare in town for what I need.”
“Hm,” Rarity frowned, “and what do you need?”
“...I have no idea how to put on a date.”
“What was that?” Rarity leaned an ear toward him. “Do speak up, darling.”
“I said ‘I have no idea how to put on a date.’”
Rarity stared at him. She knew Nova was dense. She knew Nova was headstrong. She also knew that Nova was mostly clueless when it came to romance. Seriously, how could he not have seen the constant stream of cartoony hearts issuing from Twilight's head every time she looked at him before their trip to Trottingham?
He was truly as blind as he was stupid.
And yet, here he was, admitting he had no idea what to do, to her of all ponies.
They may have had their disagreements in the past, but in light of his confession (and perhaps a teensy part of her wanting to make it up to Twilight for tormenting her stallion with that awful song), she… considered it.
“So you come to me, asking me for help putting on a date for your dear Twilight, is that it?” she queried.
It was, of course, rather obvious what the answer to that question was, but the way his muzzle twitched when she said “your dear Twilight” was rather telling. As though he weren’t quite comfortable with that phrase just yet.
So he hasn’t quite gotten to that point yet, she thought to herself.
“I thought that would be rather evident by the fact that I’m here at all,” Nova commented dryly.
“I figured, but I didn’t want to assume,” Rarity shrugged.
The town was well aware of Nova’s lie-detecting capabilities by this point after one of his odd jobs for Spoiled Rich had gone awry, with her trying to weasel out of paying him for his work. As such, while it wasn’t a total lie, it wasn’t completely the truth, and she wondered if that would satisfy whatever it was that allowed Nova to sense when ponies were being dishonest.
Whether it did or didn’t, he didn’t seem to react.
“I am willing to help you, Nova Shine,” Rarity continued, leading him into her lounge and gesturing at one of her sofas for him to sit on. “But let’s get a few things out of the way before we get started.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
“First,” she took her own seat, and gave him a very stern gaze, “why me? You could go to anyone else in town for help with this. Pinkie Pie knows a thing or two--”
“Hell no!” Nova exclaimed suddenly. “I want a quiet date without interruptions.”
Rarity blinked.
“Point taken,” she conceded. “That aside, you still come to me, even after the Cake Song debacle. Why?”
She giggled to herself at the sour expression that crossed his face as she said “Cake Song.” Trolling him was too fun sometimes.
“Because you’re the most romantic pony in town,” he replied, giving her a flat look. “You and I have our disagreements, but we can both agree that we both want Twilight to have the night of her life.”
Rarity smiled at that. “That was a rather gentlestallionly thing for you to say. I daresay you aren’t completely hopeless after all.”
Nova just kept his flat look at that. She had to wonder just how much she could push his buttons before he decided enough was enough.
“You are correct,” she dipped her head. “I would love nothing more than to see my friends paired happily with stallions or mares that complete them. And though you and I have our… disagreements, I cannot deny the effect you have had on Twilight.”
She didn’t know whether it was more sweet seeing Twilight practically bouncing over the last month and a half or more distasteful knowing that it was this ruffian having that effect on her.
“So let us be quite clear,” she narrowed her eyes, “I’m doing this for Twilight. Not you.”
Nova grinned. “Wouldn’t have it any other way.”
“Good. Are you free for the rest of the day?”
“Wouldn’t have come if I wasn’t.”
“Good, good,” her horn shimmered blue and a blackboard appeared, chalk words already writing themselves across it. “Do you know anything about dates? Have you even been on one before?”
“Before I met Twilight, I had absolutely zero interest or knowledge in dating,” Nova answered. “And when we were in Trottingham, she literally dragged me kicking and screaming out to look at the lights festival.”
Subtle, Twilight, thought Rarity, frowning.
“How did that date go, do you feel?”
“Well,” and here Nova did a very uncharacteristic thing: he kicked his hooves rather awkwardly and blushed. “...it went alright.”
“Just ‘alright?’” Rarity pressed.
“We kissed,” Nova’s head seemed to sink down into his shoulders as he said that, and his blush got even brighter.
Rarity stared at him in incredulity for all of a moment. “Damn it, Twilight, I made all of you promise to tell me when you had your first kiss,” she finally growled to herself.
“We were kind of in Trottingham at the time,” Nova replied timidly. “And then we went to Canterlot…”
Rarity facehoofed. You know what? It doesn’t matter. I’ll harp on Twilight later. For now, let’s see if we can’t do everything to engineer a second kiss instead.
“So, you two kissed on that date, and you feel it went ‘alright?’” Rarity asked. “Why just ‘alright?’”
“Because the kiss didn’t exactly go well.”
Rarity blinked. “Didn’t go well? Was it just… too inexperienced?”
Nova opened his mouth to reply, but paused. “...yeah, sure, let’s go with that.”
Whatever he meant by that was rather irrelevant, so she simply continued with her current plan. “So, you enjoyed a date up until that point. And it was spent looking at Hearth’s Warming “Lights, correct?”
“Yeah,” Nova dipped his head.
“Good, so we have a past experience to go by,” she nodded to herself. “Very well, Nova, let’s begin.”
After an hour that seemed to blow right by, they were finished. Rarity had made sure to drill into Nova several things he needed to know, such as dinner, good ideas for things to do one a date, bad ideas for things to do on a date, and several other topics. He had also requested she craft a couple of pendants, something he would be retrieving toward the end of the date to close the night out.
She had tried to tell him that leaving the date to visit another mare, even for a purpose like this, could backfire spectacularly, but considering he had specifically asked for diamonds, and baby dragons just happened to love to eat diamonds she could see his concern. Still, his cluelessness about tact was frustrating.
Really, though, Nova’s cluelessness in general was infuriating, especially about the mare he was taking on this date. How could he not have known that Twilight’s favorite type of food was Bitalian? Or that she had a soft spot for hayburgers?
Well, he knew now, and he would be taking her to Ponyville’s best Bitalian restaurant on the night of their date. She was going to call in a favor with Cordon Bleu, the owner, to make sure of that.
Really, whose idea was it to put a Prench waiter in charge of a Bitalian restaurant? Perhaps it was the same being who thought making Nova come to her of all ponies for help would be funny.
The lengths I go to for my friends, she thought to herself as she led Nova to the door. Except, upon opening it, it turned out that Twilight herself was standing there, hoof raised to knock.
“Uh-- oh! Hello, Rarity,” She grinned. “Can I ask you for some…” she trailed off as her eyes slid sideways to fall on Nova, who had just trotted in behind her on his way out. “...oh. What are you doing here, Nova?”
“Nothing much,” Nova replied, shrugging. “Just getting ready for our--”
Rarity elbowed him and cut him off. “We were just making amends for the dessert incident! That’s all, Twilight. It was about time we actually buried the hatchet.”
“Yeah,” Nova squeaked, eyes watering. She had accidentally-on-purpose hit him right in the solar plexus. “That’s definitely what I was here for.”
“Oh,” Twilight smiled brightly at that. “Good to see you two getting over that. I did always think you were being silly for your little feud.”
“Anyway,” Nova’s voice was still rather high pitched as he sidled his way out, “I’ve got to get some work done in Ponyville Park for Mayor Mare. Be seeing you, Twi, Rarity.”
And with that, he was off, trotting away, though Rarity noticed he was wincing every step of the way.
Twilight watched him go, and then let out a quiet sigh as he trotted off. “I’m never going to get used to that feeling, am I?”
“What feeling is that, darling?” Rarity backed up to let her in, her horn shimmering blue to clear the blackboard that had been there.
“The butterflies,” Twilight answered, stepping in. “Every time he’s around, I just get these butterflies in my belly. It kind of tickles.”
What Rarity wouldn’t give to find a stallion or mare that gave her that feeling.
“So, how can I help you, Twilight?”
“I need your help,” Twilight sighed.
“That seems to be a recurring theme today,” Rarity observed, setting her down on the same couch Nova had been in minutes before. “With what, may I ask?”
“I need help getting ready for my date with Nova.”
Rarity froze completely, staring straight ahead at a spot on the wall.
“...Rarity?” Twilight asked. “You okay?”
“You two truly are made for each other,” Rarity sighed. “Truth be told, he was actually here to get help putting on your date as well.”
“He was?” Twilight asked, sounding surprised.
“Very well, it seems I shall have to orchestrate your entire date if there’s to be any chance of the two of you succeeding. But,” she frowned, turning to give Twilight her best impression of Princess Celestia, “two conditions.”
“Two conditions?” Twilight repeated, looking a bit nervous.
“Yes. First, if I ask a question, I want you to answer it as honestly as you can unless you find it just a bit too personal, in which case I will back off.”
“O...kay,” Twilight looked a bit confused. “I think I can do that. And the second?”
“Clear your morning schedule the day of your date,” Rarity smiled. “We’re going to have a spa day.”
{T} {A} {T} {S} {A} {T} {C}
One week.
One long, frustrating, nerve-wracking, grueling week.
A long week of headaches, nervousness, double-checking with Rarity to make sure she was coming through for him, and twelve kisses on the cheek from Twilight. He hadn’t intended to start counting them, but with how nice they were, it kind of got easy to.
But here they were. Tonight was the night.
Unfortunately, the day of the date found Nova pacing in the basement at top speed, trying his best to hype himself up, all while Spike the Dragon sat on one of the stairs with a large tub of popcorn and a pair of 3D glasses perched on his nose while he watched Nova talk himself into insanity.
“Alright, once more,” he dipped his head to some beat best known only to him. “Meetup here in a few hours. Take her to Brayo. Enjoy dinner together. Take her to the park. Do the thing. Finish evening inside.”
“You forgot a step,” Spike pointed out, before grinning and preparing for Nova to repeat his reciting.
“GAH! MOTHER--” his eyes fell on Spike and he remembered the time Twilight had whacked him with a book, “--PARKER SWEET TEA! Alright, starting again!”
“Relax, dude,” Spike advised him, setting the popcorn and 3D glasses down and walking down the stairs.
Nova was many things to many ponies, but to Spike, he had sort of filled in as the cool older brother in place of Shining Armor lately, which was weird, because he looked a lot like Shining in his own right. Twilight had always been Big Sis, but Spike had a suspicion siblings didn’t usually bond over reshelving, literary criticism, and organizing everything to the most minute detail, so Nova being Big Bro was definitely welcome.
“How can I relax?” Nova fell onto his haunches and clutched at his head. “I’M TAKING TWILIGHT ON A DATE! This is no time to relax, Spike!”
“Yeah-huh,” insisted Spike, plopping down next to him and patting him on the knees patronizingly. “Dude, trust me, I know all about mares. I can give you some advice if you want.”
Nova’s response was to give Spike a flat look.
“Really!” Spike nodded vigorously. “You gotta wow her, bro!”
“‘Bro?’” Nova asked, eyebrows raising.
“Uhh, yeah, ‘bro,’” Spike smiled sheepishly. “I mean, if Twilight’s big sis…”
“Fair enough,” Nova shrugged. “Just didn’t know you thought of me like that.”
In fairness, Spike hadn’t thought of him like that for long. They hadn’t even done anything brothers usually did. Brothers usually talked about mares, went to hoofball games together, talked about mares, helped each other with homework, talked about mares, listened to the same music, ragged on each other for every little thing, talked about mares, and generally were best friends.
And they talked about mares.
Nova, meanwhile, usually spent his time out doing his odd jobs, out practicing magic with Twilight, or in his room sulking about something he did. So they were a bit low on quality time spent together.
“But anyway,” Nova went on, “I think I’ve already planned something that will wow her, so I think I got that covered.”
“Aww,” Spike hung his head.
“What were you gonna suggest, out of curiosity?” Nova asked, giving him an inquisitive look.
“You gotta grow a mustache.”
It really was the perfect plan. Mares dig the ‘stache.
Nova, however, just stared at him. “A… a mustache.”
“Yep,” Spike grinned. “I grew one myself before Trixie came to town. Man, you should have seen the look on Rarity’s face…”
“Slow down there, Casanova,” Nova held up a hoof to stop him. “How did you even grow one? You don’t have any hair.”
“Oh, well, Twilight used Spell #25 on me.”
Nova blinked. “And what exactly was the look on Rarity’s face?”
“Dude, she totally digged it. Trust me,” he lay a hand on Nova’s knee again, “You grow a mustache, and Twilight’s gonna love it.”
“Discounting the fact that I can’t exactly grow a mustache over the course of a few hours,” he answered, though Spike could tell it was more to himself than anyone else, “I think she’ll appreciate it more if I’m just myself, and don’t try to be somepony else.”
He sighed and fell backward, his back hitting the floor with a thump! Spike, however, got to his feet and went to retrieve his popcorn and 3D glasses.
“Spell 25, right?” Nova suddenly asked as Spike started to climb.
“Yep, I’ll go grab the book!” Spike dashed off.
{T} {A} {T} {S} {A} {T} {C}
“More popcorn, Luna?” asked Princess Celestia, offering her sister the little paper tub, as they watched the proceedings on Luna’s scrying ball.
“I would love some, sister,” Luna said, levitating it over to her with her magic and digging in.
{T} {A} {T] {S} {A} {T} {C}
“Aaaah,” sighed Twilight as she relaxed against the wooden bench in the sauna of the Ponyville spa. Aloe Blossom splashed a ladleful of water on the coals, causing a loud hiss and letting loose a cloud of stam.
Beside her, Rarity leaned back against the bench, letting her head loll backward as the two of them let all their worries drift away for the next several minutes.
But as soon as Twilight was seated, she started to shift around uncomfortably.
“Twilight, dear, relax,” Rarity admonished. “This will do no good if you are constantly moving around.”
“I never understood the point of a sauna,” Twilight stated, staring at the steam issuing from the coals as Aloe trotted out of the room.
“Really? In all your reading, you never saw the purpose of it?” Rarity asked, rather surprised by this. Twilight was, after all, a walking fountain of exposition on every conceivable subject.
“Never really bothered to read about spas, despite our visits,” Twilight shrugged.
“Simply put, saunas induce excess sweating, so that the body may flush out toxins, release stress, and so on,” Rarity explained, taking a small bit of pride that she was the one explaining something to Twilight. “And relaxed muscles are very important to any spa visit. Do try to let your worries drift away for the time being, darling.”
Despite that, Twilight only seemed to shift even more, which only led Rarity to sigh.
“Very well, I can see this won’t work, so let’s try a different tactic.”
Twilight glanced over uncertainly, but Rarity wasn’t going to make her do anything uncomfortable.
“Instead of temporarily forgetting about your date with Nova, let’s instead try to focus on it. So tell me, Twilight, what do you see in him?”
“What do you mean?” Twilight asked, giving her a strange look.
“Let me be quite blunt, but I just do not see it,” Rarity replied. “With my own personal experiences with Nova Shine, he has come off as a rude delinquent who enjoys tormenting others with his sarcasm and pranks. But clearly you must have seen something in him to be chasing after him like so.”
Twilight went a little pink and rubbed at the back of her head. Cute, Twilight, Rarity thought. There really must be something there if this is how you react.
“Well…” Twilight stared at a spot in the floor, her eyes glossing over. “It’s… hard to put into words.”
“Do your best,” encouraged Rarity with a small smile.
“Well, he’s… funny, we’ll start with that,” she said, and Rarity could hear a spike in confidence. Focusing on something concrete like that would certainly help. “He does act like a gentlecolt most of the time. When he’s not putting his hoof in his mouth, that is,” Rarity wondered if Nova’s recent black eye had something to do with this, “he’s very forward and doesn’t like to beat around the bush--”
“Twilight, dear,” Rarity interrupted, adjusting her mane, which was starting to grow rather sweaty, “forgive me, but you are merely describing him as he is now. Perhaps I should have made my meaning clearer, what caused you to fall in love with him?”
“W-well,” she went pink again, “it was when Trixie was here a couple of months ago.”
Rarity pursed her lips. Yes, if there was one pony she disliked more than Nova Shine, it had to be that charlatan.
“Remember when I barricaded myself in my room for a few days?” Twilight asked, sheepishly rubbing the back of her head again.
“Yes, I do,” Rarity nodded. The five of them had all wondered exactly what had put her into such a state, and how exactly she had come out looking no different.
“Well, Trixie said… let’s go back to a bit before,” she amended. “See, after Nova left, I suddenly realized just how boring it was without him around.”
“Boring? When you had Trixie to yell at?” Rarity asked.
“Maybe boring was the wrong word,” Twilight furrowed her brow. “Let’s just say I enjoyed having him around."
A knowing smirk started to grow on Rarity’s face. Oh yes, this was very definitely when she realized she had a thing for Nova.
“I mean,” Twilight gulped, “you know that he and I argue a lot. Sometimes it’s over stupid stuff, like whether I should list the Harry Trotter series in the library by alphabetical or numerical order, and the like.”
Rarity gave another slight twitch near the corners of her mouth. Of course Twilight and her fellow bookworm would argue over book organization.
“But our arguing... It started off as just arguing for the sake of arguing, but now, I think it’s become a bit of a game for us,” she theorized, rubbing her chin thoughtfully. “Anyway, without him around, it just seemed dull. With him, there was always somepony to talk to, somepony to laugh with, you know the drill.”
“I will take your word for it,” Rarity replied.
“But what really did make me realize just how I felt about him happened after Trixie said what she did,” Twilight continued softly. She had gone pink, and despite the fact that this event was in the past, it appeared she was still slightly embarrassed that she had overreacted like she had.“It wasn’t when I spent my time, crying my eyes out on my bed. That was just my reaction to a schoolfilly’s crush being... well, crushed,’ she said with yet another sheepish grin. “What really did it...”
She trailed off. Rarity looked up from observing the coals and steam to see that she had her eyes closed, and that they were slightly wet at the corners. And it was rather obvious it wasn’t sweat
“...was when he... when he comforted me after he got back. I mean,” she paused and swallowed nervously, “There as one particular moment, where we locked eyes, and I just...” she looked down, using her bangs to hide her face from view, “I just knew it. I just knew that I would love nothing more than to spend the rest of my life with him.”
She pawed away one of her tears from her eyes rather hastily. Rarity smiled at that. She still thought of Nova as a rude delinquent, but if he truly made Twilight this happy, who was she to meddle in their relationship?
“Good, Twilight. Focus on that feeling. You truly do love him, so use that to motivate you tonight. Everything will go perfectly.”
“I hope you’re right,” Twilight sighed. Rarity rolled her eyes at her friend’s insistence on being nervous about it, but allowed it.
But the day was young. There was plenty of time for things to work out.
{T} {A} {T} {S} {A} {T} {C}
“Spike, what is this?” Nova asked, his eyes positively blazing as he gestured to what was very obviously not a moustache sprouting from above his lips. Rather, it was a good deal longer and busher sprouting from under them.
“That, uh, doesn’t look like it’s a mustache...”
“That is because THIS IS A BEARD!” he suddenly started shouting, almost blasting Spike into the wall behind him with the force of his voice.
Geez, he’s definitely Luna’s student, Spike thought, staggering to his feet.
“I look like feathering Star Swirl right now!” Nova added.
“Wouldn’t Twilight like that, actually? Also I thought his beard was--” Spike tried to console Nova, but Nova just rounded on him again
“Irrelevant! I have a date with Twilight in five hours, and I have this monstrosity on my face.! How do I get it off!?”
“Easy. Use Spell Number 26. Hair Removal,” Spike helpfully held the book up to the right page.
“Oh-ho no. I am not risking any more damage,” Nova scowled, turning away.
“It’s that, or let Twilight see you like this.”
There was a pause.
“Gimme the spellbook.”
{T} {A} {T} {S} {A} {T} {C}
“Oh dear, it appears we are out of snacks,” said Princess Luna, wistfully turning her tub upside-down. Beside her, Celestia sipped happily from a bottle of Colta-Cola. She’d never been one for Pony-Cola. The original is always best, after all.
“‘Tis a problem simply fixed,” said Celestia, closing her eyes and thinking hard upon an image of a certain pegasus guard.
With a flash of bright golden light, the guard appeared with his back to them.
“—and so I told her ‘Who the buck do you think I am? Princess ... Celestia … ?’” he trailed off as he comprehended his teleportation. He turned around.
“Oh bollocks,” he said rather casually for someone who had to be thinking he was about to be court-martialed. “I’m in trouble, aren’t I?”
“You have done nothing, Corporal. Only, please mind your tongue when around your superiors,” said Princess Celestia with a twinkle in her eyes. “My sister requires more popcorn. Please be a dear and bring us some. When you have brought it, you are welcome to join us for some entertainment.”
Aegis glanced down at the glass orb on the ground. When he saw Nova on it, he looked up at the Princesses with mild disapproval in his eyes.
“So you derive pleasure from watching my best friend make an absolute fool of himself? That’s kind of mean-spirited.”
“He’s going on a date with Twilight, tonight. They’re both attempting to prepare,” Luna answered, grinning impishly.
Aegis broke into a wide, toothy grin.
“...but these kind of opportunities only come around once a lifetime,” he amended. “Be right back.”
{T} {A} {T} {S} {A} {T} {C}
“Ow!”
Twilight winced as the brush caught on a particularly stubborn tangle.
“Our apologies, Miss Sparkle,” said the one of the two spa ponies who were currently attending to her. Twilight thought her name was Lotus. Her sister Aloe was currently filing her hooves. “Eet ees just, you ‘ave not been brushing your mane regularly, ‘ave you?”
“No, I don’t normally do that sort of thing in the mornings.”
Aloe smiled patronizingly as Twilight punctuated her statement with a reflexive kick, which yanked her back right hoof from her clutches. She just would not sit still for her filing! If she kept this up, things were bound to go wrong.
“T-t-t-twi-i-i-light, d-d-d-ear, r-r-relax!” said Rarity from a bed next to her. She was on her belly, with a pink sleeping mask over her eyes, a content smile on her face, and Bulk Biceps pounding gently at her back, which was easily responsible for the shakiness of her voice. “Rem-m-m-member what we t-t-t-talked ab-b-b-b-out in-n-n the s-s-s-sauna.”
“How can I relax!? I HAVE A DATE TONIGHT!” Twilight shrieked.
Bulk cast her a wary glance as he paused in his massaging. Rarity lifted the mask from over her eyes to give her a look of admonishment.
“Twilight, dear, trust me when I say that this will all be worth the effort when you see the look on his face tonight.”
Take that as you will, Twilight, Twilight thought, already thinking of the hundreds of bad looks that could be on Nova’s face.
Unfortunately, her thoughts were interrupted by another snag in her mane.
“Ow!”
{T} {A} {T} {S} {A} {T} {C}
“SPIKE, I SWEAR TO CELESTIA—!”
“You’re the one who cast that spell, not me!” yelled Spike over his shoulder as he shot up the stairs and into the library’s main floor to avoid pursuit from the angry unicorn behind him.
{T} {A} {T} {S} {A} {T} {C}
“Isn’t spying on your best friend as he makes a complete fool of himself so much fun?” asked Princess Celestia, passing Aegis the popcorn tub. Aegis took it and popped a few pieces into his mouth.
“Mm-hmm,” he said while nodding. He swallowed. “Oh, I am so gonna give him hell about this the next time I see him.”
Princess Celestia looked at a clock on the wall. There were two hours left until their date began, which coincidentally was when Luna needed to raise the moon.
“Sister, you need to go and start your routine,” said Celestia to her sister, who nodded. “Oh, and make sure to make the night extra-bright tonight. And remember that the weather pegasi scheduled some rain,” Tia added.
Luna’s eyes twinkled, and she nodded. She had just the thing. After all, Nova’s recent letter explained things quite clearly.
“I think I know just what to do tonight.”
{T} {A} {T} {S} {A} {T} {C}
There were a great many underrated feelings that were well-documented through Equestrian history. The feeling of getting new horseshoes after wearing the old ones down, for instance. The feeling of finishing that one task you’ve been meaning to get done all weekend. Even the feeling of finishing a 5,000-word essay on the subtle differences in the various transmogrification spells in the Alteration school of magic a whole seven minutes ahead of schedule for a quick submission to Princess Celestia was rather underrated.
But today, for Twilight Sparkle, the single most underrated feeling was the feeling of lightness after a good session at the spa. It had been a long time since she had felt this light. Her mane was sleek and shone in the late afternoon sunlight, her coat glistened with some of the still-drying oil that had been rubbed into it, and she was practically bouncing her way back to the library.
Everything was on track for this to be, as Princess Luna would say, the most wonderful of nights.
But as Twilight and Rarity entered the library, that train of thought came to a screeching halt.
The entire place was a mess. Several books were left out, the wooden horse head had been knocked onto the ground, and Nova’s door was shut and glowing with a blue aura.
Oh no… thought Twilight as she took it all in. Next to her, she could see her sudden nervousness reflected in Rarity’s face. What happened here? she wondered. Did Spike misbehave? Did a spell go wrong?
Spike apparently had not misbehaved, because down the steps from the second floor he came, wondering who the newcomers were. At the sight of Rarity and Twilight, there was a momentary look of panic on his face, but he was quickly able to overwrite it with that wannabe-casanova look of his.
“Oh, hey,” he said in as casual a voice as he could.
“Where’s Nova?” Twilight asked, cutting right to the heart of the matter. “What’s with all of this?”
“Oh, uhh,” Spike rubbed at the scales on the back of his head, “he, uhh, had some trouble getting ready for the date.”
“Really?” Twilight asked, eyes narrowing. “And this trouble of his was entirely his doing?”
“Yeah,” Spike nodded rather vigorously. “Honest!”
Twilight sighed and trotted over to the door to Nova’s room, still glowing blue. With a quick magical survey, she was able to figure out that he had blanketed all of the walls in his room so that no one could teleport in.
Not the best sign.
“Nova?” she called, knocking on the door. “Are you in there?”
He was definitely in there-- there wouldn’t be magic preventing her from teleporting in if he weren’t-- but it was only polite to ask. This was reinforced when she could hear some shuffling on the other side, but Nova said nothing.
“Nova, I know you’re in there,” she sighed patiently. “Come on out and we’ll fix whatever’s wrong.”
“No,” responded Nova flatly, muffled by the door. “I’ve suffered enough indignity today.”
Twilight’s head snapped to Spike with an angry glare on it. Spike smiled nervously.
“What happened?” Twilight asked silkily, trying not to sound too angry.
“Nova, uhh…” Spike trailed off, looking away.
“Any time now, Spike,” Rarity said patiently, much to Twilight’s consternation.
“Nova… was trying to impress you,” Spike finally admitted. “He, uhh, tried to grow a mustache.”
Twilight felt her eyes clench shut, her lips purse, and her brow twitch reflexively. And the vein throbbing in her temple didn’t help things.
“And I suppose this was entirely Nova’s idea?” she asked, massaging her temple to ease the headache. “No input whatsoever from a certain baby dragon?” she added meaningfully.
“Uhh, nope! None at all!” Spike replied hastily, looking like he would rather be anywhere but here.
Twilight chose not to pursue the matter, and instead knocked again on the door.
“Nova, please, come out so we can fix this.”
“No,” Nova replied again. “Go away.”
“Nova, we have a date tonight. You promised.”
“We’ll do it later.”
“We won’t be able to do it at all if you don’t come out,” Twilight pointed out. That got a pause out of him. Twilight knew Nova well enough to know that this meant he was at least caught.
“Fine,” she could hear the defeat in his voice, and that alone made her feel awful for him. What put him into this state? “I’m coming out.”
The blue glow on the door vanished, and the door was very slowly pulled open. Inside his basement, it was pitch-black. Nova must have turned off all of the lighting so no one could see him.
But then he stepped out.
There was a single heartstopping moment in which Nova and Twilight & Rarity stared at each other.
But then Twilight broke into shrieks of laughter, to the point where she fell onto the central table of the library for support as she laughed herself to tears. Rarity almost did as well, but she managed to catch herself and stick a hoof on her mouth to prevent it from happening. Spike, looked away, trying to avoid Nova’s gaze. And Nova, just worked his jaw, standing there and enduring the laughter despite looking like he wanted to hide under a rock, with burning red cheeks a look of shame very similar to the time he stood before Princess Luna only a few weeks prior in the induced dream.
To say he had radically changed would be the understatement of the century. Rather than being a simple white unicorn with an unkempt blue mane and tail, Nova was now a heliotrope pony, sporting a long and thick white beard that trailed on the ground. His mane had somehow become a mohawk that looked very similar to Thunderlane’s, but it kept its blue coloration But the strangest changes were that his tail had been replaced with some kind of strange plant-like growth, and a magnificent black handlebar moustache stood in stark contrast on his face just under his nostrils.
Twilight’s laughter didn’t end any time soon after it started. After several seconds had passed, she had given up on using the center stand for support and had fallen to the ground, but she was still laughing as hard as she could, with small tears leaking out of the corners of her eyes. Yet despite this, despite knowing that she was laughing at him, Nova suddenly felt the urge inside of him to giggle a bit. And then the giggle became a chuckle. And then the chuckle became an outright guffaw. And in no time at all, both of them were laughing equally hard.
Rarity just watched the situation unfold, not sure whether to feel more horrified or amused, and a quick glance at Spike showed his own expression mirrored hers. Neither of them had any idea what was going on, and so all they could do was watch.
It took several seconds, but Nova and Twilight finally managed to stop laughing. Nova hadn’t fallen to the floor like Twilight had, but he did appear a bit weak at the knees. Twilight, however, had to pull herself to her hooves using the center stand, wipe her eyes, and contain the last several giggles as she looked Nova over.
Nova, meanwhile, just gestured to the handlebars. “I, uhh… I wanted to impress you.”
Twilight lightly facehoofed, fighting off another set of giggles, and shook her head.
“Nova, come on,” she said. “You had to know that I was happy with you just the way you were.”
“I mean, you say that, and you go off to the spa and get this done,” he gestured at her.
But only now that he brought it up did he finally get a proper look at her. And whatever he had been about to say died in his throat.
She was beautiful. It was as if someone had taken the Twilight he knew and had.. enhanced? That seemed like the right word. Someone had enhanced her. Her coat, normally a matte lavender had instead been made to shine in the light, her mane had been combed and straightened and now was sleek and polished, and she looked like she was carrying herself far more gracefully than he had seen her before.
So lost in the vision of perfection was he that he missed Rarity give Twilight a very clear “I told you so” look.
But he did not miss Twilight blushing and smiling bashfully to herself. And it was then that he noticed something.
“Something’s… off,” he said, rubbing at his horn for a moment, before he stepped forward, stuck a hoof into her sleek mane, and gave it a light tousle.
Rarity felt her eye twitch at all of the work that had gone into it, but as Nova stepped away, her mane still looked very neatly styled, but it did look more like a manestyle Twilight would wear.
“There,” Nova said, smiling with satisfaction at his change. “Much better. That looks more like you”
Then he sighed heavily, his mirth vanishing.
“Now what about… this?” Nova gestured at himself.
“I’ve got it,” Twilight assured him, before tapping into her magic.
With a flash of magenta light, Nova Shine was restored. His beard and moustache vanished, his mohawks collapsed into the organized chaos of his usual manestyle, the plant growth that was his tail was transfigured back into tail hair, and the heliotrope of his coat faded away back into its pristine white.
“Oh, good, Spell 25 wasn’t permanent,” Spike sighed, full of relief, before clapping a claw over his mouth. Rarity gave him a disapproving look, knowing full well who would think a moustache would be a good suggestion for Nova to wear. No one else would have made it but Spike.
Except for, perhaps, Pinkie Pie. But Rarity and Rainbow Dash had gone to great lengths to ensure the date wouldn’t be interrupted.
{T} {A} {T} {S} {A} {T} {C}
Applejack sighed in relief as she shut and locked the door to Sugarcube Corner’s basement behind her. A hefty payment of bits and both a favor to Rarity and Twilight made her willing to go through with the ordeal she was about to endure.
The basement was rather large and empty, more like a cave than a basement. Maybe it was a hastily-dug-out shelter for all the recent monster attacks? Pinkie had actually not known it was there. Mentioned something about relocating her Party Planning Headquarters when she had seen it.
Speaking of, the mare in question was pronking around the cave, happy as could be, staring at different spaces and writing things down. No doubt, calculating… something. Applejack didn’t want to know.
“Ah sure hope this is worth it,” Applejack muttered to herself, before raising her voice. “So, uh, how was your day, Pinkie?”
“It was greeeeeat!” she shrieked, delighted to share her day’s experiences. “I got to pick a new favorite word today! Wanna hear?”
“Uhh, sure?”
“Well I was sitting in the kitchen at Sugarcube Corner making me some cupcakes because you know me and cupcakes,” she started, in her usual top-speed manner, “because I just love me some cupcakes for lunch! Anyway I was making me some and I said to myself ‘Pinkie it’s been almost sixty-three point seven seven eight seven days since you picked your last favorite word! Don’t you think it’s time you picked a new one?’ So I went and I got Sweetie Belle, because you know how those bronies outside the TVs and computers think she’s a dictionary, right? Well I asked her what the longest word in the dictionary was, and she said she’d go get her own dictionary to look it up!”
“That’s great Pinkie,” Applejack said, already regretting having asked and feeling the vein bulge in her head. Maybe she had bitten off more than she could chew.
“Well, she got some help from somepony,” Pinkie continued, oblivious to her friend’s plight, “but she came up with this really long word! So my new favorite word is this really long one that I think is the longest word published in an Equish dictionary! The word is pneumonoultramicroscopic-”
“MAKE IT STOP! OH PLEASE, MAKE IT STAH-HA-HA-HAP!”
“-silicovolcanovolcanoconiosis! Isn’t it just so much fun to say!? Especially since it has a silent P in it and everything! I just love words with silent Ps in them! So I spent a few hours saying it over and over and over and over and over, but then I found this other one, which is supposedly this really long word that was invented by a writer in the real world, and it goes like lopadotemachoselachogaleokranioleipsanodrimhypotrimmatosilphioparaomelitokatakechymenokichlepikossyphophattoperisteralektryonoptekephalliokigklopeleiolagoiosiraiobaphetraganopterygon!”
“Uh, Pinkie Pie?” Applejack asked, choosing that moment to interrupt her friend.
“Yeah-huh, Applejack?” Pinkie asked, beaming innocently at Applejack.
“It’s for you.” She held up a phone.
Applejack was no stranger to telephones. Sweet Apple Acres had one that she often used for getting ahold of Rarity when she was watching Applebloom. But apparently Time Turner, town tinkerer and clockmaker, had managed to make one that functioned using a battery rather than wiring. Apparently there was only one like it in the world right now. Maybe Turner could make more.
Pinkie Pie, however, asked no questions. Instead, she took it and held it up to her face, beaming.
“Yyyyelloooow?” she said conversationally, looking happy as could be.
There was a pause. No one was actually on the phone. Applejack just wondered how long she could keep her hyper friend distracted so that Twilight could enjoy her date.
“Hello?” Pinkie asked, a bit more clearly. Naturally, no response came.
“Well if we’re going to be like that,” Pinkie growled into the phone, “two can play The Quiet Game!”
And there she sat for the next several minutes, still as a statue, and determinedly not making any noise.
{T} {A} {T} {S} {A} {T} {C}
They had gone to great lengths indeed.
Rarity shook her head and returned her gaze to Nova and Twilight.
“Very well, it appears the two of you are ready. enjoy your evening. Nova, I shall have your request ready around eight o’clock. Come along, Spike,” she gestured with her head for the baby dragon to follow.
Spike positively floated out the door after her, leaving Nova and Twilight to watch them go.
“Really nice of her to help out like this,” Nova muttered.
Twilight gave him a curious look. “What ‘request’ is this?” she asked.
“You’ll see,” Nova replied cryptically. “Remember the day after our duel, when you found me at Rarity’s and she said we were burying the hatchet?”
“Yeah…” Twilight answered cautiously. This better not head where I hope it doesn’t.
“We were planning this,” he admitted. “I, uhh, I had no idea what to do.for this. But I wanted to make it really nice for you, so I felt that Rarity would be the best pony to ask, despite our differences. And… there was something I asked her to make for the date.”
“What… thing?”
“You’ll see,” repeated Nova, with a mysterious smile. “I had Rarity hold onto it because it involves gems, and… well, you know Spike.”
“Yes,” Twilight replied evenly, already thinking back to Spike nearly spoiling the night. “So, when will you be getting them, exactly?”
“After we do… some stuff.” He had very clearly improvised that line. “When the night’s over, that’s when. It’s supposed to rain tonight, so I figured I could dash over, grab them, and then get back in time to enjoy a nice, quiet evening in from the rain. Apparently there’s a chance of snow, too. How about it, Twi?” he added, a twinkle in his eyes. “Up for a snowed-in date?”
“Snowed-in, reading books does sound nice,” she smiled dreamily at the possibilities.
Nova, however, simply continued on forward, with her following suit. The sun was descending as Celestia lowered it, though it was hard to tell with all of the cloud cover. Twilight wondered if this would have an effect on the evening’s plans, but Nova didn’t seem remotely perturbed.
“So, where are we going?” she asked.
“Do you like Bitalian?” he replied, glancing back.
She felt a broad smile break across her face. He really had thought of everything, hadn’t he?
“I love Bitalian,” she answered.
Nova smiled at that, and she noticed he definitely seemed to stand a bit taller after that. Perhaps deep down, he was just as nervous about tonight as she had been. How couldn’t he, considering he thought that impressing her was a logical choice?
“Have you eaten at Brayo, before?”
“I can’t say that I have,” her smile broadened. His deal with Rarity did truly seem to have been well-spent. “I’ve been meaning to go, but it’s very expensive. Though I guess for you, money is no object.”
That thought caused her to pause for a long moment. She had never really thought about how Nova had earned his money. Sure, he worked odd jobs, but coupled with his history, it really wasn’t an explanation.
“Speaking of,” she said slowly, hoping not to touch on a rough topic, “how are you so rich?”
“Hm?” Nova asked, giving her an inquisitive glance.
“How do you have so many bits working only odd jobs?” she amended.
Nova smiled a bit humorlessly at that. “Honest answer, I stole from the Novus family.”
“You--” she blinked uncomprehendingly. No. No, she must have misheard. He wouldn’t have.
“I did,” he looked down at the ground, his tone getting a touch more somber. “After… when I decided to run away, I broke out of the school before… before he could find me. I ran back to my house, I grabbed everything I thought I would need. I knew I needed bits to survive, so I stole many from… from the family safe. I knew the way to get in. Ever since my grandfather had it installed, he stored actual currency in high-value units, so as to keep space taken to a minimum. No bank, only the safe, protected by several layers of magical enchantment. Layers that he showed me how to get past.”
His expression soured a bit.
“I’m not proud of it, but I can’t change it now. I stole close to eighty-thousand bits from the vault, stored in increments of one-thousand.”
“Eighty-thousand!?” Twilight mouthed incredulously.
“For my-- for the Novus family, that was like taking a drop of water out of the ocean,” Nova added, “but still… Cadance took it all from me, stored it away, but left it in my name. That’s why I had to work for Professor Hoofman,” he nodded his head. “Didn’t want me relying on that eighty-thousand alone; had to make more while they bankrolled me through that one year of university.”
They had arrived. The building that Brayo was located in looked no different to the other buildings of Ponyville, though there were stands that strings of magic lights were draped from, illuminating the several outdoor tables that several other ponies sat at.
Nova trotted forward to a host stand, where a sharply-dressed creme stallion with a very neat black mane stood by, with Twilight right behind him.
“Buonasera, signore e signorina,” he smiled brightly at them as they approached. “Welcome to Brayo. How may I be of service, tonight?”
“I should have a reservation, name ‘Nova Shine’,” Nova said.
“Un momento, per favore,” the stallion said quietly, his brown eyes scanning the list of reservations, until they lit up ever so slightly. “Ah, si, here you are. Reservation for Rarity, answerable to a Signore Nova Shine. Very well, follow me, per favore.”
Their table was still outside, perfect for the beautiful evening. With the gathering clouds in the sky, a fantastic sunset had to be planned, which made this outdoor seating just perfect. Twilight made a mental note to thank Rarity for helping Nova with all of this.
The host gestured to their seats with a bow and a flourish. “Your waiter will be with you shortly. Enjoy your meal!”
“Thank-you,” Nova grinned, before pulling out a chair and allowing Twilight to take a seat in it.
Since when has he become such a gentlecolt? Twilight wondered, slightly bemused by this.
As they sat waiting on their waiter, Twilight noticed a peculiar pair within the restaurant. Was that Sharp Eye and Fluttershy?
Yeah! That was them! That was unmistakably Fluttershy eating with Sharp Eye!
"Hey Nova?"
"Hm?"
"Look behind you," she pointed with a hoof.
Nova shifted around, getting a glimpse of the indoor section of the restaurant.
"Huh. Sharp Eye and Fluttershy are on a date the same night we are," he said, sounding not the least bit surprised.
"You knew about them?" Twilight asked.
"Yeah," he shrugged, turning back around. "He told me about it over drinks a couple of days ago."
"When did it happen? Was it while we were in Canterlot, or...?"
Nova looked skyward and tapped his chin thoughtfully. "Pretty sure it happened in the Interlude chapter..."
"The what?"
"A couple of weeks ago," he clarified. "Ah, there's our waiter," he said, brightening a bit as another stallion, wearing a full tuxedo and with a rather thin moustache trotted forward to welcome them.
They ordered drinks, just a water for Twilight and a soda for Nova, and then the both of them got alfredo pasta (Twilight was sure he was only getting what she got to please her), but it was after that that Twilight got an idea for meaningful conversation.
“Nova?” she asked.
“Hm?” Hie responded, raising his eyebrows.
“I know this may sound a bit strange, but I want to play a game,” she said, with the tiniest of smiles. Nova wouldn’t be able to resist this.
“A game, huh?” Nova leaned back in his chair. “What kind of game?”
“Just something for us to get to know each other a little more. I’ll ask a question, and you’ll answer if you want. You don’t have to. But if you do, I’ll answer it too, and then you get to ask me.”
Nova suddenly looked a bit nervous at that. No doubt he thought she was going to try to unearth more things he wanted to keep buried, but she had no intention of doing that. And she planned on answering whatever he asked.
“Fine,” he finally shrugged. “Why not. Ask away.”
She beamed. Already there was a good question to ask.
“Okay, so you like sports, I know that much--”
“Only a little,” Nova replied with a straight face.
“Only a little,” Twilight inclined her head at him, as the memory of Nova running out of a bar, screaming with joy at a hoofball goal could attest, “but do you like any sports other than hoofball? And if you do, who are your favorite teams?”
Nova rubbed his hooves together, grinning. “Going right for the deep, meaningful stuff, are we?”
Twilight just waited expectantly/
“Well,” Nova rubbed around his horn, “I do like baseball. Big Trotston Red Sox fan.”
“Really?” That was unexpected. “I would have thought you’d be a Yankees or Mets fan, since you lived in Manehattan.”
“Eww,” he made a face. “Never. Well, at least never now. Before I liked the sport, I could have ended up a Yankees fan. Thank goodness that never happened.”
“How’d you end up a Sox fan?”
“Cadance,” Nova shrugged. “Remember I hated her guts? Well, she dragged me off to a Yankees game once. They happened to be playing the Sox. She was supporting the home crowd, so to spite her, I rooted for the Sox. Just kinda fell in after that. Though I did get to see some cool moments. I was even at the World Series game back in ‘97.”
“When they played Coltorado, right?”
“Yeah, when we swept them. It was only Game 2, though, so I didn’t get to see us hoist the trophy.” He smiled fondly as his eyes glazed over. No doubt he was thinking of the game. “Good times.”
“Any other sports?”
“Eh,” he shrugged. “Never got into Amareican-style hoofball. Though I guess you could call me a Patriots fan? They’re also from Trotston, after all.”
“Are you saying that just because they’re the best team in the EHL?”
“They are?” Nova looked genuinely surprised by this. “Maybe I should pay attention to it more. How do you know?” he asked, suddenly giving her a bemused look of his own. “I never pegged you for a sports fan.”
“I like baseball.” She remembered the several games Mom had taken her to watch the Giants when they had been playing the Canterlot Royals. “Mom’s family was from San Franciscolt before they moved to Canterlot, so she’s a big Giants fan. And I keep up with Amareican hoofball because she’s a Niners fan.”
“Nice,” Nova dipped his head. “How happy was she when they won it in 1000 and 1002?”
“I dunno,” Twilight shrugged. “I was here.”
“Oh, right,” said Nova. “So… my turn?”
“Yep!” chirped Twilight.
“Hmm…” Nova tapped his chin thoughtfully for a few moments. “How about… if you had to pick a favorite EPL team, who would it be?”
“Of course you’d ask about hoofball,” Twilight chuckled to herself as he lifted his glass to his lips. “Well, Dad took Shining and I to a few Princess’ Park Rangers games as foals, but if I had to pick… I’d say…” she thought about it for a long moment. “Trottenham.”
She had been hoping he would spit it out or otherwise get a reaction out of him, but he didn’t seem perturbed in the slightest. Instead, he set the glass down delicately, licked his lips for a moment, and then shook his head.
“I’m sorry, but I don’t think this relationship is going to work out,” he leaned back, meeting her eyes. She could hear the playfulness behind it.
“Yeah, I know,” she faux-sighed. “Such a shame. I thought we were really enjoying a good connection there for a while.”
It was Nova who broke character first, stifling a laugh. “Didn’t expect you to play along,” he admitted, before giggling a bit.
“In fairness, I expected you to spit out your soda,” she was trying to fight off her own chuckle. Their food was going to get here soon, and she wanted to be able to actually enjoy her pasta.
“Is it your turn?” Nova asked with all seriousness.
“I didn’t really answer. Though to be fair, I don’t really have one, since I’m not big into hoofball like you are, and it’s pretty easy to tell who your favorite team is,” she smiled. “How about another one?”
“Alright.”
Nova once again started to tap his chin thoughtfully, with the tiniest of smiles, but one that slowly slid into a frown.
“Why me?”
Twilight’s mouth parted as disbelief coursed through her. Again?
“You could have had anyone you wanted,” Nova continued, looking away. “But instead you want me. Why?”
Rather than have any desire to berate him, she had a different tactic in mind.
“Better question,” she responded. “Why not you?”
“Is it not obvious?” he snapped, causing Twilight to flinch. Where did this come from? Why was he suddenly down and angry?
It seemed there was a legitimate argument for Nova having a case of depression. But before she could dwell on that thought, he was continuing.
“Look at you,” he said, a note of bitterness in his voice. “Smart, stable, attractive,” she felt herself blush a bit, “a steady job, a family that loves you, incredibly accomplished with magic, a national hero four times over, and Princess Celestia’s personal student to boot.”
“You’re Luna’s,” she pointed out.
“But look at me,” he added, that note of self-defeat entering his voice. “I’m smart, yeah, I’ll admit that, but compared to you, I’m average at best. I also have serious commitment issues and get angry really easily. I wouldn’t know what to say about my own looks. I rely on magical mercenary work for bits, a family…” he paused and worked his jaw for a moment, “...progenitors that I’ve disowned. I’m very mediocre when it comes to magic. In the end, I’m just some vagabond from Neighton who happened to get enough of Princess Luna’s pity to convince her to train me.”
“Enough,” Twilight said, preventing him from beating up on himself any further. “What’s gotten into you? Why are you suddenly so… so self-loathing?”
Nova said nothing, choosing to continue staring glumly at the table.
“You were doing so well,” Twilight said to herself, pinching her muzzle for a moment, before discarding her irritation. Nova needed positive reinforcement, not this kind of negativity. “You want to know why you? Because every word of what you just said was wrong, and then some.”
That got his attention. He looked up, meeting her gaze and looking almost ashamed to do so.
“I have met very few ponies with whom I can have an intellectually stimulating conversation, and those that I have have been nothing like you,” she asserted rather fiercely, resolute enough to where she would shut down any denial from him. “I’ve had plenty of times where I’ve gotten angrier than I should have, and I’m quite possibly the most neurotic pony you will ever meet. You are quite attractive yourself. Your job doesn’t matter to me. Your family loves you more than you know--”
“How do you know that?” he asked, cautiously.
“I met your mother on that trip to Canterlot I took, remember?” she replied. “If you won’t believe me, that won’t change the truth. Continuing,” she said, preventing him from challenging that, “you’re not simply mediocre; you’re one of the few ponies I’ve ever met that can learn a spell and master it as quickly as myself, and I’m not exaggerating,” she added. His mastery of shields and beams had almost been just as fast as her own mastery when Princess Celestia was teaching her them. “And even if your family don’t love you-- which they do-- Princess Luna chose you to be her apprentice because she saw something in you, and she believes you can be a great spellcaster. As do I. None of this was done out of pity.”
His mood didn’t seem to be changing, but that was fine. It was important that he hear it, regardless of how he felt about it.
“And beyond that,” she continued, “you like to pretend that you have this air of not caring about others, but I know the real you. You’re one of the kindest ponies I’ve ever met, and that’s including Fluttershy! You’re fantastic with foals, you made sure to set the record straight when Envy had me locked in my room a few months ago before you even thought about setting your stuff in your room, you were ready to defend me to the death in the Vaults, and despite everything he did to you, you were able to let go of your past grudge with Tantalus Lulamoon. Beyond that, you tried to make your peace with your family. I chose you, Nova Shine, because underneath all of the sarcasm and self-hate, you are a very good stallion. You are far better than you think you are. That is why I chose you. That is why I love you.”
After all of this, Nova said nothing, continuing to stare at the table. Twilight, however, hadn’t meant to get emotional, but seeing Nova beat himself up like this hadn’t exactly made her all that happy. Failing to blink back small tears, she stood up and started for the restroom.
“Be right back,” she promised. Nova, again said nothing, but nodded. Twilight gave him a small reassuring smile, but then left to clean up, and to let him think on those words.
And think on them he did. As he sat there, her words having an all-out assault on his Fortress of Self-Dislike, he himself felt his eyes well up slightly.
I can’t even let go of it for just a date, he thought dully, but she still thinks that of me.
She really was something else. This whole relationship thing wasn't turning out to be such a bad idea after all.
You are far better than you think you are.
Nova wiped a small tear of his own from his eyes. Whether or not she was right, tonight it didn’t matter. Tonight was supposed to be about her, and he had gone and flubbed it with that question. There would be time to wallow later. Right now, he needed to get his head back in the game. There was still plenty of time for the night to go right.
“And here you are, darling.”
Wait, what?
Nova looked up to see, of all ponies, Rarity there, with two bowls of pasta held in her red magic, setting them down at their table.
Red magic?
She turned to give Nova a sweet smile as she did, if the magic confirmed that this wasn’t Rarity, the red eyes certainly did. Red eyes that looked far too familiar…
“You!” he gasped, horn brimming with magic.
“Tut tut, Nova Shine,” Envy said, shaking her head disappointedly, like a parent would to a child in trouble. “We wouldn’t want to make a scene.”
“What’s stopping me?” he demanded quietly.
“You mean besides the fact that your dear marefriend’s going to come out and see you attacking one of her friends? Or perhaps every townspony here seeing you attack a well-respected member of the community?”
Nova grit his teeth. She was right. He could attack her if he wanted, but all she had to do was pretend to be Rarity, and not use any magic to defend herself, and it would look as if he were trying to hurt her, unprovoked.
“Trixie’s fine, by the way,” Envy said airily, rolling her eyes, “and she thanks you for such touching concern.”
“Shut up,” Nova growled, glaring at the smirking imposter. “What’s your game? why are you here?”
“Why indeed?” Envy asked, with a careless shrug, before responding in a sing-song voice, “You’ll see…”
Nova, however, had no response, and simply kept glaring at her, prepared to defend himself should she attack.
“You’re no fun,” she pouted, her smirk falling. “Oh well, I guess not every Night Apprentice can be entertaining. Be seeing you soon, darling,” she added, reverting back to Rarity’s accent, and trotting away rather leisurely, leaving him to glare after her.
What was that all about? he wondered, his eyes darting around and trying to ascertain if there were any other threats, and paying extra attention to the energy around him.
But everything seemed fine. He couldn’t sense anything off. Was she just here to psychologically pester him? Keep him on guard for something that would never happen, until he lowered his guard?
“What was that about?”
Nova’s head snapped back toward the restaurant proper, where Twilight was on her way out, staring in the direction Envy had gone off in.
“”Is everything alright?” she asked, looking back. “You looked angry. What happened?”
“Nothing,” Nova said, trying to keep the growl out of his voice. “It was nothing.”
“What was she even doing here?” Twilight wondered, taking her seat and starting to eat. “She’s supposed to be watching Spike.”
“I guess trying to make sure the date’s going well,” he lied.
Twilight seemed to know it was a lie, too. She gave him a slightly suspicious look, but seemed to shrug it off.
“Feeling better?” she asked, before taking a bite out of her pasta.
“A bit, yeah,” he sighed. “I’m sorry. I just… I dunno, I just get really hard on myself sometimes.”
“Nova, it’s fine,” she reached over and laid a hoof on his shoulder. “I understand. If you’d like, I can try to help you through it. I am a certified counselor, after all.”
Nova blinked. “Wait, really?”
“Well, no,” Twilight smiled sheepishly, “I never got officially certified, but you can ask Princess Celestia. I am more than capable of passing all certification tests.”
“Uh-huh,” Nova just stared at her in disbelief. “Well, I guess it’s only fair. After you learn I like a lot of things, you demonstrate your own hidden talents.”
And like that, everything was back to normal. For the next several minutes, it was back to eating, talking, and laughing. Nova thought it was particularly funny when she started talking about the time she had charmed a bunch of rapidly-reproducing fuzzballs into eating everything except food, leading to the whole town being consumed. In return, Nova told her about the time he had somehow charmed his house to float upside-down on a cloud.
Everything was going well, and Nova was definitely sure there would be more dates like this in the future. There was no check, apparently Rarity’s work, but even if there had been, Nova learned that Twilight liked the inexpensive things. Perfect for future dates.
But now, it was time to head to the park.
After leaving a generous tip on the table for their waiter, they set off, with Nova leading Twilight further into the town.
“Okay, so what’s this about?” she asked as she kept pace with him.
“It’s a surprise,” Nova replied, smiling cryptically.
“I hate surprises,” Twilight shook her head. “I had to lecture Pinkie Pie about it, when she startled me in the middle of my transmogrification practice. I turned a blue jay and a frog into a half-orange hybrid. I like things better when they are predictable and controlled.”
“You’ll love this one,” he promised. “Really. And you’ll appreciate it more if you don’t know it’s coming. Almost moonrise, though, so we’d better get a move on.”
“Are we going to watch the moonrise, or something?” she asked, suspiciously. “Because I’ve kind of seen it at least a hundred times.”
Nova chuckled.
“No, and quit your asking. I’m not giving you any hints.”
She stopped walking behind him, which forced him to stop and see what was the problem. When he looked back, she was looking down at the ground. Nova rolled his eyes; she was obviously trying to pout her way to victory in this argument. Nova may have had his moments of being dense, moody, idiot of a unicorn stallion, but he prided himself on his resistance to the whims of any such cute creature. Not even wearing socks, or her wet mane when she had freshly exited the shower would be able to-- Sweet Celestia, just look at her eyes!
Whether she had magically charmed them to look like that, or whether it was just the effect of the fading sunlight reflected off of them didn’t matter. What did matter was that her eyes were huge, dilated in mock-sadness, and shone with some sort of light from within her pupils.
The longer he stared, feeling his inner fluttering start to turn into gut-wrenching twists, the more a strange voice in the back of his head was telling him, Give into your new marefriend overlord.
But he successfully rolled a Natural 20 on his Charisma save.
“No amount of puppy-dog eyes will work on me,” he shook his head, smiling with amusement. “Trust me, Twilight, you’re going to like this.”
She gave an annoyed groan.
“Why can’t you just tell me?” she asked, exasperated. He simply smiled in a tantalizing way back at her.
“Oh, but it would ruin the dramatic effect, dear Twilight,” said Nova, with a shake of his head. “Besides, you don’t have to wait too much longer.”
The bottom of the sun had touched the horizon, and it would soon be time for Princess Luna to raise the moon.
It only took a few more moments and they were passing through the small kissing gate that led into the park, and slowly making their way toward the park center. Dirt paths wove around small hills, trees had been planted every few feet, and in the exact center of the park, where four paths converged, a great round eight-tiered fountain heated by magic shone in the fading sunlight. Twilight, however, was more interested in the black posts that had appeared in the park since her last visit.
Every few meters, a tall black post was planted in the ground on both sides of each path. Each one was about three meters tall, and at the top was a glass box, similar to a lantern.
“Nova, what are these?” she asked, approaching one and tapping it with a hoof. A clanging accompanied every tap on the black metal.
“Specially-made lamp-posts. I know you’ve seen normal ones before, in cities like Canterlot, but tonight they do more than just illuminate the path. I got special permission from Mayor Mare for this one, for one night only.”
The sun was three-quarters beneath the horizon. ‘Twas almost time. Nova led Twilight in front of the fountain and sat down. She mimicked his action, but her head remained on a swivel, inspecting all of the lamp-posts.
“For this what?” asked Twilight, giving him a slightly nervous look. “Nova, I told you, I hate surprises.”
Nova just smiled.
“You won’t have to wait long,” he said softly, so only she could hear.
Three…
The sun was but a hair’s breadth above the horizon now.
Two…
He could hear Twilight’s nervous-yet-excited breathing beside him as he closed his eyes and concentrated.
One.
The top of the sun vanished below the horizon, and suddenly, every bit of light vanished, leaving them in total darkness.
Nova felt Twilight instinctively grab hold of him, but he couldn’t blame her. After their experience in the Everfree Vaults, he had a feeling she was going to be jumpy whenever things were this dark. But it was time to do what he came here to do.
For a brief moment, his horn shone in the darkness, but then it vanished, leaving them once more in an eternal night.
Nothing happened.
“Nova,” said Twilight, with something of a shaky voice, “You tell me right now, what the hell is going on?”
“It’s alright, Twi,” he said, slipping his hoof free and placing it around her shoulders comfortingly. “I promise, this isn’t anything bad. If I were you, though, I would turn around.”
He felt her shift beside him, and he heard the crunching of the bits of gravel in the path that indicated she was looking behind them, and he followed suit.
Two faint red flickers had appeared in the far distance. Based on their locations compared to each other, the lights were in the lamp-posts at the far end of each path. This was corroborated by the fact that at the ends of the other paths, which they could not see, similar red pinpricks of light had appeared.
The red lights grew brighter and brighter, until they shone at what Nova knew was the maximum brightness. Their combined glows illuminated the path directly underneath, but not much further. Then again, these were meant to be used on moonlit nights, rather than on completely black ones.
The lights started to change color. It started off subtly, with the red becoming only slightly lighter in hue, but it soon became apparent that every red light was shifting to an orange color. And as each red light shifted to an orange color, the next pair of lights sparked feebly to life, displaying the earlier flicker of red.
The lights at the end were a very bright orange by the time the new lights were in full blaze, but again, they started to change. The new lights started to become orange, while the old ones started to lose their redness and become bright yellow.
Slowly, mesmerizingly, the lights on each path grew closer and closer to the fountain. As each new light flickered to life, the ones behind it shifted to the nxt color in the rainbow, until finally, all seven lights on each side of each path displayed the colors of the rainbow in order.
“It’s beautiful,” whispered Twilight beside him. Nova felt his cheeks heat up slightly, and he smiled to himself.
“It’s not over,” he whispered back.
The purple lights at the end suddenly started to shift color again. Instead of turning red, the lights became a bright white. And rather than continue shifting color, it stayed that color as the next lights went from purple to white. Eventually, there were fifty-six bright white lights illuminating the park’s paths, hills, trees, and fountain brightly.
Despite the spectacle, Twilight couldn’t help but notice that ponies visible outside the park seemed to be acting as though there was not an eternal night around them. Some of them were watching the light show as well, but beyond them, most ponies seemed to be going about their normal nightly business.
“How come--” she started, but Nova pressed a hoof to her lips.
“I’ll explain later. You won’t want to miss this, though. Look at the fountain.”
They turned around, but there appeared to be nothing out of the ordinary about the large fountain. But even as Twilight began to wonder what would happen, a series of bright purple lights illuminated the lowest tier of the fountain. And a few seconds later, a slightly more violet color illuminated the next tier. It was like the lamp-posts all over again.
Finally, the second-to-last tier was illuminated in red light. A great sense of excitement came over Twilight; she thought she knew what was coming next. But she was completely unprepared for it.
A great beam of pure white light shot upward from the top of the fountain and into the sky. Twilight watched its progress with wonder, for it was not light, but magic. It flew higher and higher, until it was nothing more than a pinprick in the sky.
And then...
With a great flash of light, the enchantments surrounding the park were dispelled as a full moon appeared where the beacon had been flying toward.
Twilight gasped and continued staring at the moon in the sky, where the beam of white light was still shooting toward it.
“Well, now, I think she liked it,” said Nova with a wide grin. Truth be told, he had been nervous about whether or not this would work, but it had done so flawlessly. He felt quite proud of his accomplishment, for he alone had charmed everything in the park. Shame the light show was only for one night.
Twilight turned to gape at Nova, with pure wonder etched all over her face.
“You...?”
“Yep,” said Nova, feeling his grin somehow grow even wider.
“You did all of this?”
“Sure did.”
Nova was vaguely aware of the musicians behind him, but he ignored them and focused instead on Twilight. Her astonishment was giving way to pure joy. When her gape had finally devolved into a grin just as wide as his own, she laughed.
“That was fantastic! Nova, that was just amazing!”
Nova felt himself blush again, but despite all his pride in his accomplishment, Twilight’s praise meant even more to him.
He was first aware of the strumming of the harp. It was a melodic, slightly somber melody, but for some unknown reason, it calmed him to the core.
He turned around to see the musicians he had become aware of earlier. They carried an assortment of instruments. There was Miss Heartstrings, magically playing that melody he had heard on her lyre, there was a teal earth pony mare with a frizzy blue mane who carried an oboe with her, a grey earth pony mare with a pink bow tie and long black mane who played a cello, a peach earth pony mare with a violin of sorts who looked exactly like the cellist in appearance, a red flutist with a white mane, and a teal pony with a bow tie and brown mane who carried with her a Prench Horn.
Lyra caught his eye and winked at him, which caused his blush to deepen. She rolled her eyes with a small smile, but her horn shimmered slightly brighter.
Octy and I went to music school together, said a voice that sounded remarkably similar to Lyra's inside of his head.
Wait, what? You know telepathy?
She shrugged.
Well, obviously. But that’s beside the point. Sorry I was a bit hard on you for that spell a few weeks ago. Rarity asked me if I could come out and play tonight, and I figured this was my way to make up for the Cake Incident. Yeah, I got mad at you for exploding my house, but it was a bad spell, and I guess I just got carried away with my revenge plotting.
Uh... yeah.
Still, she continued, I got ahold of Octavia, the cellist, and she brought along some of her associates from up in Canterlot for this. Apparently Princess Celestia thought it would be lovely if they came down and played in this spot tonight, because they never would have gotten off otherwise.
Nova smiled.
Well, I appreciate the gesture.
Yeah, but I think you’d appreciate your mare even more.
With a small chuckle, he turned back to Twilight, who had her eyes shut, and was listening intently to the music.
“Like the song?” he asked, to which she nodded.
“I think it’s just lovely,” she breathed, opening her eyes to look at him with affection.
“Matter of fact, I didn’t ask them to come out.”
“Is that so?” she asked, tilting her head. “Sounds like a lucky coincidence, then.”
“That, or Rarity’s still helping out.”
“Nova,” she said, her voice becoming less playful and more serious, “thank you. This date has been just wonderful.
You’ve been just wonderful.”
Nova felt his heart skip a beat.
It skipped another when, for the second time in less than a month, he found himself once again leaning forward slightly as she in turn leaned towards him, with her eyes drifting shut.
She was growing closer and closer, and he felt the jittering from before, but they seemed to be egging him on, rather than scaring him this time.
He leaned forward, his eyes slowly drifting shut, until all of his sight was about to vanish… Only for a sudden spike of panic to shoot through him, causing him to shudder rather audibly, ending the moment.
“One of these days,” sighed Twilight as her head rested on his shoulder, “we’re going to find a way to do this without getting interrupted.”
“Sorry,” he said, stroking her mane as she nuzzled him.
“It’s fine,” she assured him, before leaning up to lightly kiss him on the cheek. “I don’t want to rush you. Only when you’re comfortable.”
He felt himself grin rather broadly, reveling in the lingering feeling in the spot she had kissed.
The moment lasted for an eternity and a half, but then a biting wind blew through the park, reminding them both that they needed to get back to the library.
“I think it’s time we got back to the Golden Oaks,” she said, still nuzzling him. “Maybe that way we can finish this without anypony interrupting us, or the weather.”
Nova returned the nuzzle for a moment, before gesturing back to the kissing gate they had entered through.
“After you.”
She curled her hoof around his and started to lead him back to the library.
“So, what was that deal about the darkness?” she asked, looking up at him with curiosity. “I noticed nopony outside seemed to even realize what was happening.”
“Oh,” he said. “Well, I wrote Princess Luna about my idea, and she said she had something she could do to help out. I guess that was it. She just made it to where the park was trapped in a total darkness until I activated the beacon.”
“Oh yeah, and there’s that. You said that was an idea that came over from Neighton.”
“So I did,” said Nova, nodding. “It’s an emergency beacon. If something completely out of our hooves in Neighton happened, we could just activate the beacon, and the Princess would come to see what was going on. It’s completely visible from up to twenty miles away. Granted, no normal pony could detect such a thin beam from that far away, but the princesses aren’t exactly normal ponies, are they? And they have observation teams that would see it from far off. Applejack actually gave me the idea when she mentioned shooting a beam up at the farm if things went wrong.”
She nodded and hummed slightly as she leaned over and nuzzled his neck.
“So I guess I was wrong,” she said warmly, which caused him some confusion.
“Oh? How so?”
“It looks like you did take date duty seriously,” she replied, her warmth growing, if anything, even warmer.
“I’m glad you liked it,” he muttered, leaning down and placing a kiss on her forehead. “That magic was pretty complex. Took forever to write it.”
“Took forever to write what?” asked Twilight as they arrived at the Golden Oaks, which was located very close to the park, so the walk had not been expected to be too long.
“The spell matrix for a beacon like that,” he answered. “When Applejack told us to send a beam of light up the sky if anything went wrong at Sweet Apple Acres a month ago, it gave me an idea. So I worked with Balanced Budget in Neighton to make it work over there, and then Mayor Mare wanted me to put it in over here, so I did. But manipulating it to do the light show like that was not fun.”
Suddenly, he remembered about the last part of the date he was supposed to do.
“Oh nuts, I’ve got to get to Carousel Boutique.”
She put on a sort of fake pout.
“Nova, I thought the night was supposed be be about us.”
“Oh, believe me, it is,” he said. “Which is why I want to ask you to wait another few minutes. I have something I need to grab.
That package from Rarity, remember? Give me a moment while I go retrieve it, I think you’ll love it.”
She went slightly pink when he mentioned the word “love,” but she nodded. Then she leaned forward to whisper in his ear.
“Be back as soons you can. I think I might just have a little surprise for you, too.”
“I’ll be as fast as I can,” he said sincerely, his mind racing with the implications, and with that, he was off, racing through the streets of Ponyville.
He had been gone for a few minutes, and Twilight was pacing around the room, waiting as patiently as possible.
Everything has gone perfectly! She really owed Rarity for all the help she had provided both of them.
Though there were going to be words with her about leaving Spike alone to oversee the date. The incident with Nova’s moustache that afternoon was evidence for why leaving Spike alone for a lengthy period of time was a bad idea.
Why would she even need to oversee the date? she thought, suddenly struck with suspicion.
“All’s fair in love and war, Nova.” came the unbidden memory of only a few weeks ago, when Rarity and Lyra had helped her with Nova’s training.
Wait, no. No, she wouldn’t.
The thought was absurd. Rarity really didn’t like Nova. And Nova almost completely hated Rarity. The thought of her trying to seduce him in the middle of a date like that was utterly laughable.
...right?
Why did Nova try to hide whatever it was that she was actually there for at Brayo? He could have told her the truth, whatever it was, but he didn’t want to. Why wouldn’t he?
What… was he hiding?
The more she thought about it, the worse everything got. Everything started to seem more and more suspicious. The time Nova was with Rarity to “set up the date”. She had even hit him to prevent him from telling Twilight what the actual purpose was, now she thought about it!
Despite every part of her telling her Nova would never go behind her back like this, the thought remained that he wouldn't do this to hurt her, but rather, to get out of a relationship he was kicking himself for being in. The evidence was piling up, and the seed of doubt had been planted. And so she trotted out of the library, more than a little anxious about what she was going to find.
But she had to see for herself.
“Thanks again, Rarity. Really,” Nova said sincerely, outside the door of Carousel Boutique as Rarity hoofed over two pendants with diamonds set into them. He instantly vanished them in a flash of blue light, storing them within his Source.
“It was no problem, darling,” Rarity smiled at him. “ Do enjoy your evening in. It’s about to rain, you know,and your mare is waiting.”
That she is, thought Nova feeling a grin work its way onto her face. “I’ll see you tomorrow, then.”
“Good night, Nova Shine,” Rarity dipped her head, and gently closed the door, leaving Nova alone in the night. At once, he spun around and practically leaped forward to start his journey to the library.
Despite the… interruptions, everything had gone swimmingly. The time at the park, in particular, had been perfect. His enchantments for the emergency beacon had gone off perfectly. A pity they had to blind his energy sensing for several minutes after, though it wouldn’t be long till he had that ability back.
It was shaping up to be a wonderful night.
BANG!
Nova felt something hit him in the side, causing him to instantly drop. It was as though he had lost all feeling in his legs. No, he had lost feeling in everything! From his position on the ground, he couldn’t even move his neck or body. All that could move were his eyes, and he desperately tried to catch a glimpse of whatever had hit him.
But then he felt himself be lifted up, surrounded by an aura of red magic, and be pulled into an alleyway, where he was thrust up against the wall by his back.
“Too easy,” purred a soft, sultry voice that caused an icy dagger to shoot into his heart.
“N-no…” he managed to force out of his numbed mouth. “You…”
“In the flesh, darling,” Envy said, smirking at him as she stepped out of the shadows further into the alley. She was still wearing Rarity’s visage, just as she had at Brayo, but the eyes, as before, were red. “I can’t believe you were dumb enough to keep that date of yours going, even after you saw I was watching.”
Some feeling had come back to his jaw by that point.
“Ith you’re ‘onna hill me, yust noo it,” he grunted out through his numbed jaw.
“Oh, I will,” Envy promised him, smiling sweetly. “But if I do it now, that’s just going to get that Twilight Sparkle mare angry enough to come at me. No, I need to remove that as a factor first. And I have the perfect plan for that.”
Nova didn’t like how cheerfully she said that.
“After all, we both know how much Twilight likes surprises.”
How much Twilight likes... no.
Nononononono...
N, she’s gonna--!
“It should only be a few minutes,” Envy said airily, pacing around while he remained pinned to the wall. “That reminds me.”
Her horn shone red and several spells were cast on him. Without his energy sensing, he had no way of recognizing what they were, and that terrified him even more. What was she doing?
*plip*
Something wet hit his head, followed by more and more wetness falling around him.
It’s raining...
“Nova?” came the voice he hoped he would not hear.
“Oh, would you look at that,” she smiled cruelly “She’s already coming to look. Looks like she took the bait hook, line, and sinker.”
The rain started to fall harder. Nova was struggling with every fiber of his being against his magical bonds, but she had him caught, and there was nothing he could do.
“Oh, don’t worry. There’s no chance of her finding us,” came Envy’s voice, becoming slightly more sultry, but definitely too loud for just a simple conversation in an alleyway. It was a perfect imitation of Rarity’s slightly-haughty inflection.
“You... monster...” he growled, forcing it through his half-numbed mouth as feeling started to come back. The worst part about it, though, was that even though he could barely see his hooves in his peripheral vision, he could see that there was no magic around them. Envy had to be controlling his musculature from the inside, where it would be invisible to any normal observer. Twilight would have no way of knowing it wasn't him.
She giggled to herself.
“You said it yourself, you have a few minutes. Plenty of time for me to enjoy you.”
He felt his body be yanked off the wall, felt his head be shoved forward, and felt warm breath on his muzzle as his head was pulled in, but he managed to wrest his head away, hitting his cheek against Envy's muzzle.
Envy tsked, and there was a much softer zapping noise. Instantly, Nova felt his head being forced to turn back in her direction, but he resisted as hard as he could. But it was futile, and he found himself feeling the warm breath on his muzzle, just before their lips met.
And then he was forced into a kneeling position, while his lips were kept on her body, as he was pushed lower and lower…
“Nova...?”
No!
Envy gave a surprised gasp before Nova felt the magic binding him in place vanish, leaving him to collapse into the mud. He jumped up as fast as he could, not bothering to swell on the fact that the paralysis was gone, ready to pursue Envy and make her pay for this, but when he got up, he found himself looking upon Twilight.
Twilight’s mouth was hanging open in pure shock, and she was breathing heavily. But her eyes spoke the most. Whether it was the rain, or tears, or even both, there was a liquid trail running down her cheeks. And when he finally dared meet her gaze, he saw a shock, an anger, a pain in them like he had never seen
“Twilight, no! It wasn't--”
He barely had time to react. Her magical energy beam was fired so quickly at him that the only reason he knew it was coming was because he could faintly sense the magic building up in her.
“Twi! It’s not--”
She fired another beam at him, which he dodged again, but this time, she ran. She was running not to the library, but away from him at top speed.
“Twilight! please, it was--"
Before he could explain who it was, however, his tongue suddenly flipped backwards upon itself, causing him to gag and bite off the end of that statement, disrupting his rhythm and causing him to retch and heave as he tried to force it back out. Through sheer force of will, he fought it and kept running.
"Please!" he said, retching slightly.
“GET AWAY FROM ME!” she screamed at him, briefly turning her head to fire another beam at him, which he sidestepped before continuing.
“I promise I can--”
“I DON’T EVER WANT TO SEE YOUR FACE AGAIN, YOU-- YOU--!”
But she never finished. With a scream of fury, her beam hit him right in the sternum. He was lifted off his hooves and blasted back, into the wall of a nearby house. His head collided with the rock, and he slid slowly into the mud just underneath.
His vision flickered for a moment, before a purplish hoof entered his vision. He looked up to see Twilight standing over him, with an expression befitting someone who had just been betrayed by a very close friend.
"En... vy..." he gurgled out past the blood dribbling out of his mouth, but she didn't seem to hear.
She raised a hoof and struck him across the cheek, knocking him sideways.
As his consciousness started to vanish from the force of the strike and his head hitting the wall, he heard her sniffle and start to cry as she galloped off. He tried to reach out a hoof to stop her, but he lost the strength to keep it up and it fell into the mud before him.
He lay there for several seconds, watching her gallop away, with tears streaming from his eyes, trying to get up and continue after her, but his body would not cooperate.
A light-blue set hooves entered his vision, and he was able to force his head to look up.
Envy had abandoned Rarity’s look. And instead, she was wearing Trixie’s, with the smile of a cat with its prey cornered.
“And now,” she said softly, “the coup de grâce.”
There was a flash of red light, and a silver knife appeared in midair, the hilt held aloft by red magic.
And then it plunged downward. Nova clenched his eyes shut…
...but the end never came.
He glanced up nervously, to see Envy, jaw clenched and veins bulging as she was trying to force the knife down, but it wasn’t moving.
A pink aura had covered the blade of the knife, and was trying to wrench it away. An aura he recognized at once.
Trixie… he thought, as his vision started to fade.
But finally, Envy gave up, with a growl of anger. The knife vanished in another flash of red, leaving Envy to glower down at him.
“Fine. Looks like you get to live another day. But I will kill you, Nova Shine. You can count on that. And now,” she grinned malevolently, “you’ve got no one to help you fight me.”
His vision blurred, as she started to step back, between the alleys once again. And as she shadows swallowed her, he finally passed out.
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I enjoyed this chapters re-write nd I especially like the FlutterSharp ship. Well played, Rytex, well played