The Apprentice, the Student, and the Charlatan

by Rytex

Grey Monarch, New Student, Old Master

The Apprentice, the Student, and the Charlatan
Chapter 15 - Grey Monarch, New Student, Old Master

Dinner was a talkative affair.

After spending an exorbitant amount of energy slowly patching Nova’s stab wound back together throughout the day, Twilight ordered two full meals and had practically inhaled them while Nova and Spike got caught up. With all of the mana she had expended, even forcing her Source to draw reserve energy from within her body, she needed the calories badly.

Now, Twilight wasn’t a mare that took pride in her tushie-- for that matter, she didn’t even know if Nova was a plot pony or not, and thus had no real reason to care about how it looked-- but her butt, her hips, and her stomach were all feeling noticeably less full than before. Any more energy expended, and she’d probably have the figure of a model like Fleur de Lis, or that impossibly thin figure Cadance seemed to have but with none of the body tolerance.

“What do you mean you want another hayburger?” Spike asked, staring at the two sets of burger wraps and fry holders she had already completely cleaned.

“She used a lot of magic to knit my back wound together,” Nova mercifully came to her rescue, giving her an understanding smile and pulling out a rather plump bits purse. “Spike, I’m saying this completely seriously, this was just her appetizer.”

Spike’s mouth fell open. Sure enough, when Nova bought her more, she hungrily devoured everything while they continued to laugh and joke. She wanted nothing more than to participate, but… well, foody called. Even as she ate hayburger after hayburger, Nova and Spike were now chattering about some of the random things that happened to Nova during his brief foray.

It was like Nova had never left. Except…

She could see it in his eyes. Part of him had, and it hadn’t come back with him.

What had happened to him?

She could see it when he thought neither her nor Spike was watching him. The jovial attitude would just fade ever so slightly, and he’d gain a distant faraway look in his eyes until they got his attention again.

She was halfway through her seventh burger’n’fries and starting to feel a little on the full side when she saw it again. He had just finished giving Spike a little more detail about the time someone threw a glockenspiel through his window, but as Spike began to suck down his milkshake, Nova gave her a quick glance to see her devouring the sandwich, before the smile fell, his eyes lost focus, and Nova was suddenly a million miles away.

“Hey.”

She reached over and tapped him on the shoulder, which caused him to jump, a hoof flying to grab hers. Twilight let out a startled “Eep!” as Nova’s tense grip took hold only for a moment, but after a heart-stopping instant, he relaxed.

“Sorry,” Nova sighed, sliding down in the booth. “You’ll understand if I’m a little on edge after this morning.”

“What’s wrong?” Twilight asked.

“Well I got attacked by Envy--” Nova began, but she cut him off.

“Nova, look me in the eyes.”

He did so, again trying to hide that distance he’d been working to cover up behind a quick smile. Twilight didn’t bite.

“You know what I mean,” she frowned at him. “What happened to you? What happened back then?”

Nova inhaled sharply, and she could see him visibly tense up. He glanced away, but then looked back at her, failing to disguise a haunted look as he tried to plaster another smile on his face.

Twilight reached out and grabbed hold of both his hooves, while Spike’s gaze flicked between the two of them. All she could think about was how touchy Nova could be about his memories, considering he had always shut himself off whenever his parents were brought up before they patched things up. That had been the Nova from before he’d gone back in time, though. That had been the Nova who was still hurt from his experiences growing up and was slowly healing. Now he had been wounded anew.

But how?

“I…” He trailed off and licked his lips, trying to buy himself some time. “It’s… it’s my fault.”

“You said that, yeah.” She reached across the table at the fast-food joint and took hold of his hooves in hers. “Nova, please, let us in. Let me help you carry this.”

Nova shuddered, looking away in shame. Spike reached up and patted Nova on the shoulder. Twilight gave him a warm smile, trying to put all her appreciation for him trying to comfort his big bro into it. Spike, however, looked extremely uncomfortable about all of this. Twilight also had to wonder if he even remembered Nova saying it was his fault that Envy existed, given he had no idea who Envy was.

“Alright,” Nova finally gasped, rubbing his eyes to try and hide the tears that were starting to form. “I’ll… I’ll continue.”

“What happened?” asked Spike, with none of the gentleness Twilight had tried to convey.

“A lot,” Nova admitted, with a slight shake of his head. “Let’s see… I left off after falling asleep with Clover pinned to my side, right?”

“Yeah.” Spike made a face, and Twilight couldn’t help but feel a pang of jealousy inside of her, but she quickly forced it down and remembered the way he had refused to see anything but her first when he’d woken up earlier.

“So,” Nova began hesitantly, though he seemed to gain more and more confidence with each word, “we had to take Princess Chrysalis back to her home, but to do that, we had to cross the San Palomino Desert…”

{T} {A} {T} {S} {A} {T} {C}

The room was empty when Nova awoke.

For a long moment, he stared at the ceiling, trying to puzzle out why exactly he was in an unfamiliar bedroom instead of the one in his house in Everfree, but the events of the previous two days slowly reappeared in his mind. Especially the events of the previous night.

And Clover wasn’t there.

He felt the makings of an awkward morning start to assemble already. She was going to have questions, assuming she remembered nothing after coming home drunk and locking him in with her. She would accept his explanation… he hoped. At the very least, she would see he wasn’t lying, and then… well, who knew after that?

He swung himself out of bed and began to trot out, only to find a pair of unicorn servants waiting for him, wearing purple-and-gold uniforms that looked similar to the more modern color scheme that would eventually decorate the castle.

“Ah! Sir Night Apprentice! Lady Clover had us wait for you,” one of them said with a bow, a mare who looked surprisingly similar to Raven Inkwell, Princess Celestia’s secretary in his own time.

“...Wait for me?” Nova asked, tilting his head in confusion. “Why?”

“To show you to the baths, and the banquet halls, and then where your supplies were being prepared,” the other answered, a stallion with a magnificent bushy moustache that looked like a blue version of Kibitz. “She seemed as though she were in quite the hurry, so we did not press, but she made sure to impress upon us to pass on that your every need would be taken care of.”

“Oh. Thanks.” Great, so it really is going to be an awkward morning.

The stallion bowed, before gesturing out into the hall, with the Raven lookalike already trotting off toward what Nova assumed were the baths. He followed after her, knowing he had a lot to do today before he could even think about leaving, and not wanting to waste any time.

Despite all attempts to oil and perfume his fur, Nova made sure his bath was a simple quick wash, knowing that all of the effort would be for naught here in only a few hours when the journey got underway. Breakfast down in the Great Hall was quite subdued, especially because Nova was a bit late in getting down there. By the time he took his seat and began to munch on expertly-prepared eggs, toast, and other luxurious foods, it was just him and some of the other straggling palace staff.

To his surprise, however, the changeling from the previous few days was there, as was Princess Chrysalis, still in their disguised forms so as not to frighten the others around the castle. As soon as she noticed him, the princess bolted his way, causing the other changeling to hurry after her, abandoning his plate of food where it was.

“Mister Nova Shine!” she chirped, before vaulting over and giving him a rather strong hug. As she dashed toward him, Nova noticed her legs still seemed the tiniest bit shaky, but he knew that with time and proper feeding, she would heal. Though he knew he was going to be the one doing the healing over the next few days, which gave him a strange feeling even as the disguised nymph grabbed onto his midsection and hugged him tightly, her wings buzzing.

“Good morning, Chryssie,” he smiled, reaching down to tousle her mane. “Are you feeling okay?”

Chrysalis blushed, a strange sight on a black-coated pony, before mumbling something he couldn’t hear.

“Sorry, what?” Nova leaned an ear down toward her.

“Papa… only my father calls me Chryssie.”

“Oh.” Nova didn’t know how to react to that. “Is that… bad?”

She shook her head. “Just weird.”

“If you don’t want me to call you that–”

“No, I…” she cut him off, before biting her lip. It was quite an adorable sight, even knowing what she would grow up to become. “It’s fine, it’s just weird.”

“Okay,” Nova nodded. “Is everything ready to leave? I don’t think I have many more preparations to make.”

“Our supplies have been prepared, and an escort party is waiting outside of the castle,” the other changeling nodded toward the castle’s main entrance. “Unicorn guards will escort us to the San Palomino, but from there, I shall guide us home.”

Nova returned to his food, but paused when he noticed the changeling was giving him a strange look.

“What?”

“You volunteered to journey with us, I am told.”

“Yeah,” Nova nodded, idly pushing his food around his plate. “Someone has to protect you from a potential retaliation by Sombra, and the princess will still need regular infusions of love energy to heal.”

The changeling didn’t say anything to that, so Nova continued to eat, wanting to get as much food into his stomach before he had to rely on rations as he could.

“You are… truly an odd pony, Nova Shine.” He sounded quite emotional for some reason. Nova wanted to ask, but he figured there would be time for that on the road.

“I hear that quite a bit,” Nova replied, before shoving a piece of toast into his mouth.

“You know what we are, yet you did not hesitate to defend my princess with your life, and to freely give her the energy she needed to survive. I have never met another pony who would treat us this way, without a hint of fear.”

Nova swallowed and wiped his mouth. “I like to believe we’re not as different as others of our kind would like us to believe.”

The changeling stared at him for a long moment as he continued to scarf down some food.

“I would tell you my name.”

Nova glanced over at the changeling.

“O…kay?”

“I want you to understand,” the changeling clarified, giving a rather furtive glance around. “To changelings, our names are very personal, very intimate things. To know who we are underneath any disguise is an honor we grant a select few. The princess shared hers with you out of necessity. I would willingly share mine with you out of respect.”

“Oh,” Nova replied, suddenly understanding what the changeling was saying. The changeling was giving him a strange sort of power over him. He was placing his very self in Nova’s hooves as a sign of his trust.

“The name that I have chosen is Scheherazade,” the changeling stated in a low voice, trying to make sure none else could hear it but Nova and the princess, who was simply waiting patiently from her spot on the ground. “It is an honor to entrust you with it.”

“The honor is mine,” Nova replied as sincerely as he could, hoping it didn’t seem like he was simply trying to out-humble Scheherazade.

“How much longer do you think you will need to prepare?” Scheherazade asked, turning to head back out into the castle’s main concourse. “I will go and make any final preparations before we leave.”

“I think as soon as I’m done eating, I’ll be ready to go,” Nova gestured at his half-eaten food. “Gotta fill back up after all of yesterday’s excitement.”

Scheherazade nodded, before gesturing at the princess. Chrysalis sprang to her hooves and followed after him, leaving Nova alone to finish up his breakfast.

In truth, he didn’t need to take so long to eat. He was simply stalling for time. Like Scheherazade had said, everything was prepared. All that was left now was to set out. But…

He wanted to see Clover one more time.

He was no doubt going to be seeing plenty of her form over the next several days with Chrysalis, but he wanted to see her. The mare who had smiled in the hospital room yesterday. Not to mention, he definitely wanted to clear anything up before he left so that things wouldn’t be awkward when he got back.

He didn’t have to wait long, fortunately.

As he was just about finished, Clover trotted into the Great Hall, looking around rather hastily and starting to retreat before she noticed he was there. They locked eyes, and he saw her tense up. She had simply left her mane completely alone this morning outside of straightening it, but it made her look identical to Twilight in all but cutie mark, which caused a familiar ache in his insides.

For a long moment, they stared at each other, but finally, Clover approached him with short jerky steps.

“Lady Clover,” he stood up as she approached.

However, she had no time for pleasantries.

“You were in my bed this morning.”

Huh. Direct.

“Yeah,” he rubbed at the back of his head sheepishly. Oh dear, it really was going to be an awkward morning. “You, uhh… you kinda wouldn’t let me go.”

She let out an annoyed huff, her nostrils flaring as she gave him her usual frown. Nova, meanwhile, knew that it was merely for her own peace of mind that she continue to be as closed off as usual, considering what had happened the previous night. So he simply allowed her to glare while he made to step away.

He didn’t really want to leave the conversation, but he knew she would follow.

“Night Apprentice Nova Shine.”

“Hm?” he glanced back at her. She was still glaring at him, but there was a strange softness to her eyes that wasn’t normally there.

“I will be journeying to Everfree after you depart,” her gaze flicked away for a short moment. “I have given some thought to your suggestion yesterday, and I have volunteered to become Unicornia’s ambassador to the principality. I… would hope to see you on your return.”

Nova nodded. “You will. But it won’t be for a few days, just so you know.”

“I will wait,” she promised, bowing her head. “You still owe me an explanation for why the nymph transformed into me. And…”

She trailed off, and Nova’s eyes widened as the unflappable Clover the Clever actually blushed. Nova didn’t say anything, he didn’t move, he stood rooted to the spot as Clover seemed to tense up more and more, furiously clenching her jaw as she processed something. But after a long moment, she stepped forward and gave him a tiny kiss on the cheek, before retreating instantly as though she were afraid of someone seeing.

Nova almost laughed, but something else inside of him overshadowed his amusement, the same jittery feeling he once had been oh so afraid of. There were entire worlds’ worth of differences between Clover the Clever and Twilight Sparkle. But those parts that were the same were the parts that mattered.

Nova reached up and touched the spot she had kissed, before giving her a soft smile.

“I promise,” he said quietly. “You’ll see me again, Clover. But right now, there’s a young changeling that needs to return to her home.”

“I wish you nothing short of the best of luck,” she nodded. “And I shall be waiting for you upon your return.”

{T} {A} {T} {S} {A} {T} {C}

The San Palomino Desert was harsh and unforgiving, just as it would be in his own time. The winds brought strength-sapping heat and storms of sand, surrounding them, swallowing them whole, and suffocating them. Nova more than once had to shield the trio of trekkers from these powerful windstorms, just so they could make it to the next checkpoint, where they could rest until such storms passed them by.

At night, the winds brought a freezing gale, forcing them to take shelter in caves or someplace else to trap heat, all the better to keep themselves alive. Also at night, the predators of the desert were on the prowl. They had to be wary of antlions beneath them, of sandworms burrowing nearby and following their movements, of all manner of dangerous creatures. Even with a guide, this trek was arduous and taxing in the extreme.

Nova Shine found himself sustained by sheer willpower alone. Food had to be rationed, which meant he wasn’t quite as filled as he would have liked to be, and water had to be measured in precise mouthfuls. Chrysalis and Scheherazade would be safely escorted back to the Changeling Kingdom on his life. Though, considering he did eventually return to the future, perhaps it wasn’t quite a gamble.

What he wouldn’t give for chitin like theirs right now…

Day four was the day they were meant to arrive, but according to Scheherazade, it was unlikely they would be there until well after high noon.

“With our delays in getting this far,” the changeling explained as they crested another dune and began to trot down it, “odds are, we won’t be in safe areas until past lunchtime.”

“But we will get there today?” Nova asked, glancing past Scheherazade toward Chrysalis, who was skipping along next to them, not the least bit exhausted like her two escorts were. Nova had to wonder if the love he had for Twilight was just that strong, or if it was the thought of finally being home that was sustaining her.

“We will,” Scheherazade dipped his head. “I know the desert looks the same in every direction, but I would not have been selected for this mission if my liege had no confidence in my ability to navigate the wastes. The sun of your diarch guides me, as do your other diarch’s moon and stars. They do not lead us astray.”

“I believe you,” Nova nodded, before reaching back and taking a swig from his waterskin. “Nearly out of water.”

“Your reserves shall be restored on arrival,” Scheherazade assured him. “And on your way out, we will escort you most of the way to your home, but we dare not stray too far away. There will be a portion of the journey that you must make alone.”

Nova let the implications sink in. This meant there would be a significant portion of his return trip where he would be in No Pony’s Land, and Sombra could very well come and take his vengeance for upending his plans. Perhaps a letter to his princesses would help?

“We’re here! We’re here!”

Nova looked up to see Princess Chrysalis jumping at the top of another dune, pointing excitedly ahead of her and motioning to come and look.

“We are?” Scheherazade tilted his head. “If we were within our borders, the Sentinels would have met us by now.”

“Who’s to say they haven’t?” Nova asked, wiping his brow and cresting the dune. It was in the distance, but he could see twisting white spires off in the far distance.

“Ah,” Scheherazade shook his head. “Not there yet, I’m afraid, your highness. The mirages of the desert make it look closer than it is. We’ve still got several hours of trotting.”

“Lovely,” Nova sighed, wiping sweat off of his forehead and flicking it away. Chrysalis scrunched her nose at this, her wings buzzing for a split-second. “Any chance of an escort once these Sentinels find us? Preferably one that lets us take a break?”

“Ask, and ye shall receive.”

Before Nova could even jump at the unexpected voice, the air around them shimmered, and no less than six heavily-armored changelings wielding rather brutal-looking spears faded into existence around them. Under normal circumstances, Nova would have probably treated these six guards with a blasé attitude, unless they decided to attack. However, with the last several days of desert trekking, especially since his energy-sensing had been significantly dulled by his exhaustion, he didn’t want any trouble.

“Ahh, Captain Killik,” Scheherazade grinned, not at all surprised by this sudden appearance. “I see you finally got the cloaking armor working.”

One of the changelings stepped forward, though he simply stared at Scheherazade with an unreadable expression. “With some help from His Majesty, yes. We were preparing to be sent to Unicornia to assist you in your mission when we received word that it had been successful.”

Captain Killik glanced at Princess Chrysalis, who had flitted up to sit on Nova’s back.

“His Majesty will be glad to see his daughter safe and whole. Please follow us. Molossus, Brutus,” he added, glancing at two of the larger Changelings, “take up defensive positions at our rear. See we are not followed.”

Without so much as a short delay, Killik and his followers turned right around and began to march toward the city in the distance, not even waiting for the trio to catch up. Nova let out a tired sigh and cantered after them, the sand beneath his hooves making that difficult.

“Is he always like that?” Nova asked Scheherazade as they fell in.

“Pretty much,” Scheherazade grinned wryly. “You’d have better luck getting water from the sand than you would getting Captain Killik to emote.”

“Doesn’t the desert have oases?”

“I didn’t say it was impossible,” Scheherazade noted, giving Nova a sideways glance. “Stay with the group, the Hive is a labyrinth to those who do not know where everything is. All the better to trap those who wish us harm.”

Nova complied, staying with the guards as they began the home stretch. On his back, Chrysalis’ wings buzzed impatiently as their trotting seemed to take them no closer than they were before. They were still quite some way away, but perhaps that was simply the desert’s images confusing them. Or maybe the Changelings intended it this way.

After several minutes of trotting, the fuzzy twisting shapes of the Changeling Hive came into sharper focus. It looked soimewhat similar to Canterlot Castle, in a strange way, albeit made of white chitinous material. There were twisting towers and ramparts, with a particularly tall spire standing proudly in the middle. It was eerie, to see a monolithic structure like this so far out in the desert, but Nova supposed this was to the changelings’ benefit.

As they continued their approach, Nova started to see formations of guards flying around the many towers, occasionally landing on the battlements, or flying into its entries, to be replaced by other guards.

“We have been on high alert since we returned,” Captain Killik explained as they grew close enough to actually see the building’s shadow on the dunes. The ground beneath their hooves started to harden and solidify as they got closer, turning into ore of a rocky island in the midst of this sea of sand, which did wonders for any traction under him. “We will likely remain so until we can be sure we will suffer no retaliation from Sombra. Nevertheless, you need fear no harm so long as you are here.”

“Thanks,” Nova dipped his head.

At long last, they entered the hive through a massive opening in its side, a main entryway no doubt, and all of the white chitin was now black instead, no doubt to maximize coolness within. The sweet relief of shade and a crisp colder temperature felt like it penetrated him right to the bones, and Nova couldn’t help but let out a relieved moan as the punishing heat of the desert was dispelled.

Scheherazade chuckled at him. Chrysalis, meanwhile, gave his back a tiny squeeze, her wings still buzzing with excitement and impatience.

“I can feel Papa,” she beamed from behind him.

Killik and the guards led Nova and Scheherazade through twisting hallways, up ramps or flights of stairs, down long corridors, and so forth. Nova was extremely grateful for his guides, because there was no doubt that anyone who had to explore this place on their own would likely be lost unless they had help, or other ways of ensuring they kept track of what had been explored and what hadn’t.

Finally, they stood in front of two massive doors that seemed to be cut from a black stone, but which slid open easily as Killik pushed upon them.

The Throne Room was massive, made of more of the glossy chitinous material, with proud black and green silken banners hanging from the ceiling, drapes adorning the walls, mighty pillars propping the room up, and a magnificent black throne situated at the far end of the hall, on which was seated a changeling that had to be the size of Celestia and Luna, who was watching him with interest as he was escorted in.

He looked like Chrysalis in the future, but where Chrysalis’ chitin from his own time was greying from the lack of love, the Grey Monarch’s chitin was pitch-black and had none of the holes that the changelings from his own time would have. He wore no finery, his mane was well-kept, his muzzle was clearly masculine and his chin was strong, and Nova had to wonder in that brief moment why his name was “the Grey Monarch” when he didn’t seem to be grey in the slightest.

The moment, however, that she laid eyes on him, Chrysalis leaped off of Nova’s back and sprinted down the hall.

“Papaaaa!” she shouted.

At once, the large changeling jumped forward himself, cantering down the hall with no regard for decorum, meeting his daughter halfway and sweeping her up into a great hug.

Beside him, Scheherazade reached over and gave Nova a friendly pat on the back, before stepping forward and moving toward the king, who remained in his embrace with his lost daughter. Nova watched the two of them, feeling a strange sensation deep inside.

He had actually gotten kinda fond of Chrysalis over the last few days, and he’d always liked kids. But… maybe if he and Twilight got married, having one wouldn’t be so bad?

He started to smile a small sappy smile as he thought about it. He had no idea what this child would look like, but just the idea of him and Twilight, the two most powerful unicorns in the world, living together, studying magic together, and raising foals together… it didn’t seem unwelcome.

I’ve changed, he thought, thinking back to how he was not even six months ago, as far as his personal timeline was concerned. It’s amazing what a little bit of love’ll do, eh?

Something jabbed him and he jumped, returning his attention to the room he was in. Killik had given him a firm bump with his hoof to get his attention, and was giving him an insistent gesture toward the Grey Monarch, who was approaching him with Chrysalis riding on his own back now.

The changeling guards all knelt as he approached, but Nova, unsure of what to do, just looked over at Scheherazade helplessly. Scheherazade gave him a quick motion to kneel as well, but before he could, the changeling king lifted a hoof.

“You kneel to no one here, Rescuer.”

His voice was deep, simultaneously thunderous as a storm yet gentle as a breeze. It carried power, it commanded the attention of everyone in the room, yet it fell upon his ears no louder than Luna’s voice did on nights they spent together studying the stars, than Twilight’s voice when they were cuddled together reading a book. It was everything that Nova knew the voice of Celestia would become in his own time. The voice of someone who wore their crown well, but never let it rule them.

“You have my eternal gratitude for returning my daughter to me safe and sound,” he continued, with a warm smile on his face. “For all you have done, by my right as King, I hereby name you Friend of the Changelings. So long as you live, you may count Changelingkind among your allies, and we shall do you no harm so long as you do no harm to us in return.”

Nova didn’t know the significance of these boons, but propriety still demanded he respond, so he bowed his head. “You honor me, your grace.”

The king smiled down at him in that same way Celestia would in his own time. A gentle half-smile that conveyed so much and yet so little, before turning around and motioning with a hoof for Scheherazade.

“Chryssie,” he muttered, just loud enough for them to hear, “I need to speak with him alone, and you also need to be properly fed. Can you allow Scheherazade to take you to the Healers’ Den and give us a few moments?”

Princess Chrysalis pouted from upon her father’s back, but slid herself off all the same. Instead of going over to Scheherazade, however, she instead dashed toward Nova Shine and gave him one last little hug.

“Thank you, Mr. Nova Shine!”

Nova smiled down at her, reaching down and tousling her mane. “Any time, little one. You’re safe now.”

She smiled bashfully but started to step away from him half-heartedly, before eventually following Scheherazade as they made their way back out into the hive once more. Nova had one last look at the both of them, with Scheherazade giving one last thankful bow, before they turned a corner and disappeared.

“Please follow me. That will be all, Captain Killik,” the king added to the guards, who all saluted and walked off. With that, the king turned around and walked through an opening behind his throne, with Nova trotting after him.

The room behind was more akin to a lounge, with an opening to a balcony directly opposite, with a stunning vista of the desert that lay beyond. With the winds blowing sand every which way, it was like watching an ever-shifting landscape as dunes appeared and disappeared with each gust.

The vista constantly changed, aside from the stunning view of the Hive, and Nova couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like to wake up to a view like this every day.

…even though this wasn’t a bedroom. Or was it? How did changelings sleep now that they were in their hive?

The King strode out to his balcony, gazing out over the shifting sands of his desert kingdom with a watchful eye. Nova could see ranks of changelings flying around, guard formations patrolling, civilians going about their business, nymphs struggling to take off or hold a steady flight…

This must be what Cloudsdale is like, he thought to himself. Only, you know, actually in the clouds.

“There is much to discuss, but oh-so-little time in which to do it,” the King said gravely, still staring out over the lands of his domain. “I know you have come a long way, but you have much further to go, and there will be time for rest, so we must get right to it.”

“Yeah,” Nova nodded. “Figured as much.”

“In addition,” the king glanced back at him, “I would greatly appreciate it if you kept all knowledge of what is to come to yourself.”

“What do you mean, all knowledge of what is to come?” Nova asked, feeling the cold spike of dread in him. Was he found out? The king couldn’t possibly know, could he?

The king smiled.

“Oh, Savior, you hide it well, but you don’t hide it well enough,” the king laughed, before fixing him with a critical gaze. “Particularly not from me, and not from other powerful spellcasters.” At the look on Nova Shine’s face, he laughed again but patted him on the shoulder placatingly. “In truth, I did not know you were a pony out of his own time until I saw you face-to-face, but I have been following your path since your arrival. A correspondent of mine mentioned that if you were as powerful as you were saying, he would have felt the backlash from his own home, yet he felt nothing. Now here you stand before me, tempered and worthy of respect, yet still nowhere near the level of power you would need to teleport yourself all the way to Unicornia from Canterlot.”

“To be fair,” Nova smiled sheepishly, “I never once said I teleported myself.”

“You simply let rumors do as they were wont, and allowed other ponies to spread your legend for you. Clever,” the king nodded approvingly, before trotting over to a small ebony table that had a pair of chitinous goblets and a glass bottle of a substance that looked like wine. However, Nova could detect the supernatural properties within it and knew it most certainly wasn’t fermented fruit. “Here, drink a glassful of this. It shall begin the process of rejuvenation so that you will be ready to begin your long voyage tomorrow.”

“What is it?” Nova asked, following the king and allowing him to pour Nova a measure of liquid.

“The name in our tongue is unpronounceable in yours, but you may think of it as crystalized and liquid love in its purest form. To a changeling, even a few drops can sustain us for days at a time. It will not have the same effect on you, but you will still find it satisfactory.”

Nova smelled the liquid, and much to his surprise and pain, it smelled strongly of lavender, of a mown lawn, of the hops he would find in beer, and so many other smells that awoke a palpable nostalgia and longing in him.

“Its smell is different from pony to pony, specifically carrying aromas of things they love,” the king continued. “It is not enough to sustain you, but it will rejuvenate you in a time of dire need.”

Nova tipped the goblet back and swallowed the entire serving in one gulp. The taste, was quite literally indescribable, so many blends of flavor, so many layers, and more importantly, so many mental images of those that he cared about. Most prominent among them, naturally, was none other than the mare waiting for him in his own time, but there were mental images of Luna and Celestia, of Spike, of Trixie and Aegis, Sharp Eye, his parents…

And Summer and Clover.

As he finished off the goblet, he placed it back on the table, and he could already start feeling energy return to his limbs. He wasn’t anywhere close to ragged, but he was already feeling as though he hadn’t trekked across the desert.

“Now we may discuss the important things,” the king replied, now taking on a more stern bearing. “Let’s begin with the most pressing. Do you understand the significance of rescuing my daughter and giving freely of your own love that she may survive?”

“I mean, other than stopping a member of my own kind to save one of yours?”

“So you do not know,” the king continued. “That is good. We have taken great pains to hide this from the other species, lest it becomes common knowledge and thus exploited.”

The king paused for a moment. Nova took the time to look around the little lounge, though it contained nothing already described. It was rather bare, though he supposed it was more a place for him to take short breaks away from whatever business awaited him in the Throne Room.

“My daughter is now bonded to you for life, Nova Shine.”

Had Nova been drinking some of the liquid love, he would have spat it out.

“I’m sorry, what?” Nova asked, feeling like it was probably best to hightail it out of here on the pronto.

“No no no,” the king couldn’t help an amused smile at the look on his face. “Not in the way you are no doubt picturing. To explain, we changelings have what we call a life bond. To those who save our lives from certain doom and give freely of their own love to help nurse us back to health, we become bonded to them. So long as they live and so long as the changeling lives, the changeling can bring you no harm, be it physical, mental, or emotional. In addition, they will seek to protect you in any way they can. To do otherwise is dangerous for us, for we owe that pony our lives.”

Nova Shine’s memory triggered, and he remembered being dragged before Queen Chrysalis in the chapel of Canterlot, with a hypnotized Shining Armor standing behind her, Celestia cocooned above, Cadenza trying to break Shining free of the spell, and the Elements nowhere to be seen. He remembered that the queen had been shocked to see him, before simply ordering that he be kept away from everyone else in another room, rather than having him hurt or something else.

I suppose that’s why, he thought to himself grimly.

“If you return to your own time and my daughter is still alive and well,” the king continued, “she will protect you should she know it is you, and not simply someone who looks like you.”

“What do you mean, if your daughter is still alive?”

The king smiled humorlessly.

“Your actions have only delayed the inevitable, Nova Shine,” he answered softly, looking sorrowfully over the desert. “Before your arrival, my subjects demanded your arrest and for you to be held responsible for your own kind’s actions. I named you Friend to the Changelings as a decisive action to quell that, to protect you. Yet the damage wrought by King Sombra has been done, and I fear conflict between our civilizations is inevitable. Delayed for a time, but inevitable.”

Nova knew the king was right. It would take over a century, but war would break out, and in the fires of conflict, the king would not live past it and his daughter would carry a burning hatred for ponykind ever after.

Sombra would get what he wanted, but Celestia and Luna would ensure that he wouldn’t be in a position to profit from it.

“Nevertheless, your individual actions will be praised. The Grey Monarch is my title, one I inherited from my father. However, as Scheherazade no doubt told you, for a changeling to give you their name is a sign of the utmost trust. Thus, for all you have done for me personally, Nova Shine, my name is Metamorphosis, and as a father, from the bottom of my heart, you have my thanks for saving my daughter’s life.”

And with that, the mighty Grey Monarch, King Metamorphosis of the changelings, bowed his head to Nova Shine.

Nova stood there feeling awkward, not really sure how to react to a changeling king prostrating himself, but before he could dwell on it, the king righted himself.

“You will have a long night of rest,” the king promised, “and we will begin your preparations to escort you on your return to the lands of ponykind, but only as far as we dare within the desert.”

“Thank you, your majesty,” Nova bowed his own head this time. “I won’t forget your kindness.”

The sooner he was back on the trail, the better. He was ready to be safe and sound within the walls of Everfree Castle.

And he was ready to see Clover and Summer again.

{T} {A} {T} {S} {A} {T} {C}

Journeying alone was the worst. He had no one to talk to, no way to distract himself from the harsh conditions around him, nothing at all to take his mind off of every step he took, nothing to lure his mind away from the punishing heat, of the smothering heat around him that pressed in from all sides, invaded him with every breath he took.

Step by step, Nova Shine trekked back across the great desert, and he could only now truly see why the unicorns called it a Sandsea. From horizon to horizon, dunes and billows covered the ground, and with the heat radiation added to the mix, everything appeared wavy and watery.

Sweat trickled down the nape of his neck, and he swept his mane back and readjusted the strip of cloth keeping it out of his face. It was murder to travel in the desert during the day, but had he traveled during the night, he risked being unable to see anything about where he was going.

What he wouldn’t give for chitin right about now…

Step by step, he walked.

Step by step, the sand sank beneath his hooves.

Step by step he stumbled.

Step by step, he sweat.

Second by second. Minute by minute. Hour by hour.

The first day passed with no incident. Rejuvenated from his time at the Empire, Nova Shine had set out fresh and had made good progress. He had successfully managed to ration his water and even saved some for the next day.

The second day felt like a year. The sand had become his least favorite thing in the world at this point. It was coarse, it was rough, it was irritating, and it was getting everywhere. He couldn’t even sleep comfortably with how deep it was becoming lodged in his coat.

And now the third day…

If he was fortunate, he would reach the edge of the desert sometime after nightfall, and hopefully, Equestrian pegasi would be waiting for him. Hopefully, he’d be home by tomorrow night and he could sleep in a bathtub to get all of this damned sand out of his coat. Hopefully, they’d have a chariot or something because he did not want to walk anymore for weeks if he could help it.

Maybe he could make his own wheelchair…

Suddenly, Nova Shine heard something.

It was so silent out here that oftentimes all he could ever hear was his own breathing or heartbeat, but there was a sudden skittering noise somewhere in the distance. As he looked around for the source of the sound, he beheld a large dark thing on the horizon, a cloud of black and brown and tan, stretching wide from horizon to horizon and slowly moving towards him.

Under normal circumstances, Nova Shine would have immediately known what was happening, but having been addled by the heat and the lack of water, it took Nova a few seconds to puzzle it out. He squinted, before realizing his eyesight was blurred. Some eye-rubbing later, he beheld a massive wall of sand.

Headed right for him.

“Sandstorm,” he growled bitterly with a tired shake of his head. “Just my luck.”

He would have to conserve magic, there was no doubt about that, but he was going to need the strongest shields he could, and it didn’t seem there was any getting around it.

As the storm approached, he did notice that the temperature dropped as the wind blew in his direction and the sand started to provide some shade, but he knew it was a false reprieve given the punishment he was about to endure. Nearly fifteen minutes passed before the storm seemed close enough to be a concern, and another ten still before Nova began to contemplate raising his shield.

Only a few short minutes later, Nova knew it was time. The wall of sand flying toward him was only a few yards away. He took his last deep breath of clean air, lit his horn, and blasted a shield outward to provide him with safety for at least a few inches in every direction.

Within mere instants, the storm overtook him. The wind was a roar in his ears, the sand skittered every which way, colliding with his shield and other grains as the wind tossed it around. The way forward was impossible to see, the ground itself was shrouded in darkness. Nova Shine had no choice but to simply soldier forward.

But no sooner had he entered the storm than the shield had started to take a beating. One grain of sand hitting his shield was trivial. A hundred too. Even a thousand. But tens of thousands each second were taxing, and after several minutes, Nova knew he had made a serious and potentially costly mistake.

He couldn’t turn back, he couldn’t simply head somewhere off to the side. The only way out was to either go through this mess, or to wait it out. But waiting it out wasn’t an option. He was hungry, he was thirsty, he was tired, and he was lost.

The magic began to slip from his grasp.

N-no… he thought, trying desperately to cling on to the last dregs of energy. I can’t… not like this…

But finally, the magic slipped away entirely. The shield dissipated. And the sand converged at once.

Nova tried to duck down to protect his face on pure instinct, but it was futile. The moment his shield had collapsed, he could no longer see. Sand was everywhere. In his mane, in his coat, in his ears, invading his mouth and nostrils, trying to get into his eyes. He couldn’t see. He could barely breathe.

He coughed as he inhaled sand, sputtering as he tried to expel it. His mouth tasted of dust and rock, his eyes stung as the wind and the sand irritated them as well. The roaring of the wind deafened him.

He was going to die. He was going to suffocate and die here in the desert.

I’m sorry, Twi… he thought, nearly vomiting as he swallowed sand by accident. The problem was, he had nothing left to vomit.

Suddenly, everything around him stopped completely. Taste, sound, pain, all of it was gone in an instant.

Nova cautiously opened his eyes. Was this… was he dead?

The sandscape around him was… calm. Everything had just completely stopped, and he was now sitting in a bubble of peace while the cacophony of sound and sand raged outside. Something in this space was keeping things held at bay, but… who? Why?

Nova looked around, and his eyes fell on a lone figure, standing in the center.

He wore a fur-trimmed red cape, his mane was black and shaggy. Nova beheld metal armor and barding glinting in what little light managed to make it down here, but it was all illuminated by the sickly green and purple glow of energy that was issuing from his horn.

No, Nova wasn’t dead. But he was pretty sure he was about to wish he was.

Sombra turned, apparently satisfied with his work on the sandstorm, to find Nova Shine already making a mad dash toward the edge. Between a battle with Sombra and this storm, he would take his chances.

A wall of sand erupted in front of him, causing him to stumble and fall backward, whereupon the wall flung him back toward Sombra at a high speed. Nova flew through the air, landing with a surprisingly-gentle spray of grains as he fell right at the king’s hooves.

“And here I thought you’d never bow to me,” the king observed dryly, looking him over from head to tail as he groaned and lay on the ground.

“Are you here to kill me?” Nova asked weakly, reaching up and wiping his mane out of his face.

“Now why on earth would I want you to die?” Sombra asked, the faintest hint of amusement in his voice. “In case you haven’t seen, I’ve saved your life. It seems a waste to kill you after that.”

“After what happened in… in Unicornia…” Nova breathed, before pushing himself into a sitting position.

Sombra was staring down at him, his cold red eyes trailing with shadowy energy as he stared down at him, his expression unreadable. What was his game?

“A minor setback, true, but no great loss,” the king replied with the faintest shrug. “It served a greater purpose than you know. The spell that you endured from Silverblood?”

Nova suddenly felt no shortage of unease well up inside him at the mention of the Dark Magic that had been used against him.

“That spell shall serve its purpose in due time. But that was not the only gain I made,” Sombra smiled. “Your triumph sowed the seeds of fear and hate.” Nova knew that the king had sensed as much. Even when he lost, Sombra had won. Yet the king’s smile deepened even further. “It also brought me face to face... with you.”

Nova felt a slight chill go up his spine at these words, despite the heat.

With… me? Why am I so important? What does he want with me?

“I know the truth: this time is not your own,” the king continued, and now Nova could see the ghost of a smile as the king sneered down at him. The chill wracking him grew more intense. “I’ve seen the fate that lies in store for us. I know I die within the course of time…”

He knelt down beside Nova, his sneer now quite apparent.

“My death, I will not let my ending be. In time, to life shall I return once more. When all, you think, is safe, then shall I come. When three are sealed in stone, then shall I come. When Harm’ny reigns again, then shall I come.”

He leaned down right next to Nova’s ear.

“The future carries hope in one bright gleam.”

He leaned back. Nova struggled to process his words. It all sounded so poetic, so… familiar. Why did it seem like he should have known what the king was saying…?

“Fret not, you shan’t remember this at all.” Sombra returned to his hooves. “But worry not, my friend, I’m here to help. After all...”

The poetic intonations of his voice vanished, and his horn began to glow with energy once more. The last thing Nova Shine heard before a beam of light struck him once more…

“I’m invested in your future, Nova Shine.”

{T} {A} {T} {S} {A} {T} {C}

Summer Blossom was having a day to forget up until this point.

First, there was just the usual antagonization that Silverbitch felt was appropriate as she sauntered her way into Summer’s line of sight at every opportunity on this completely unremarkable day. Summer was still not entirely sure what she even did to make Silverbitch this mad at her aside from stand up to her back in Unicornia.

But that alone didn’t make the day awful. That was something she was just used to at this point.

There was, of course, her constant worry over the still unconscious Nova Shine currently sleeping away in his home.

While she would have loved nothing more than to stay at his side until he woke up, unfortunately, she needed to eat, and for that, she needed bits, and for that, she needed to work. Fortunately, however, Clover had recently arrived, and Summer found it perhaps a bit too easy to convince Clover to keep an eye on him whenever she had to work.

So for the last few days, that had been on her mind.

She had also learned that one of her exes had decided to show up in the city as well, and had the utter gall to come and try to worm his way back into her good graces. “I’m different!” he had pleaded with her. “I’ll never do it again, I swear!” he had promised. Of course, back then he had claimed she was the one for him before he had a different one a few months later, and the “it” in question was going behind her back.

He had also not taken no for an answer, which got him a black eye and got her a stern reprimand from one of the Peacekeepers.

Summer didn’t normally keep up with her exes. She tried to keep them as far away from her mind as possible, lest old feelings and pain be brought back to the surface. Frankly, blacking Silky Smooth’s eye was a tame reaction compared to what she would have done.

All of this stacked helping after helping of negative emotion onto her psyche as she stomped her way toward Nova Shine’s house to swap places with Lady Clover once more.

Lady Clover…

When last she had been around Clover before her arrival here, Clover had tried to defend her to Platinum over Silverbitch’s demands she be fired. She had also been there with her when Nova Shine first blasted himself into existence on the mountainside, and their relationship had been none too friendly.

So why was she now so interested in making sure he was okay? It very obviously had something to do with Nova’s recent journey up to Unicornia and whatever had gone on up there, but what had caused such a turnaround that even Clover the Cloistered could be tempted to come out of her hovel?

With an annoyed growl, she shoved open the door to Nova’s house, startling the mare herself as she stomped in. Nova’s house was extremely simple, to say the least. One would have expected Princess Luna’s personal student to have a wealth of books, or perhaps tools for study, but Nova’s house had merely some of the most basic amenities. No doubt everything else he needed could be found up at the Castle.

No, this house featured a bed, a few chairs, a desk, a firepit with a cooking pot positioned above it, cabinets, and a small stone tub for bathing. No books, no pantry or larder, none of the amenities one would expect from someone in his position. He lived modestly.

“Was the force truly necessary?” asked Clover, giving her one of her usual omnipresent frowns.

“Yes,” Summer replied bitterly, plopping herself in one of the wooden chairs around the small shack of a home and looking over at the bed, where Nova Shine lay dead to the world, tucked into his blankets, the only indication that he were even alive being his slowly rising chest. “Had a hell of a day.”

Clover gave her a small nod, before turning her attention back to the slumbering stallion.

“How’s he been?” Summer asked.

“There has been no change,” Clover answered, her frown deepening. “I can detect no spells on him and his vitals are stable. As best I can tell, he is merely asleep.”

“Greeeeeeeat,” Summer slouched in her seat.

“You never told me how he came to be like this,” Clover added, giving her another glance before returning to her studying of the sleeping Night Apprentice. “He left Unicornia with a changeling and the nymph Princess Chrysalis and he was in good health, yet now he seems to be completely unconscious.”

“I don’t know,” Summer shrugged. “Medics were carrying him in the castle, said some pegasi had found him completely unconscious on the edge of the Sandsea like that. I brought him back to keep an eye on him, but had to go to work, so I found you.”

“Curious,” Clover frowned again. “If Sombra had done something to him, then he would likely be dead, but he returned the Changeling Princess. I would also posit that perhaps he simply passed out, but that does not seem likely either.”

“What do you mean, ‘if Sombra had done something?’” Summer asked, curiosity piqued. “And what’s this stuff about changelings?”

“I shall have to regale you another time, it is rather complicated.”

“We have a lot of time on our hooves,” Summer pointed out, giving her an annoyed look. “Look, if you can’t or don’t want to talk about it, just tell me.”

Clover met her annoyance with her usual stone face. Summer would never bet against this mare in a game of cards.

“Very well,” Clover said, her tone containing the thinnest of icy tones behind it. “I do not wish to talk about it.”

“See, there you go,” Summer grinned. “That’s all you had to say.”

Clover did not share in her enthusiasm. Instead, she simply ended all conversation entirely, turning instead to continue monitoring Nova Shine, though she removed a book from a small pack at his bedside that Summer had failed to notice, and started reading it between moments spent looking over their bedpatient. Summer was about to resign herself to hours spent in silence with the two of them pretending to ignore each other when there came a soft groan. At once, Clover snapped the book shut at once and turned her gaze toward Nova, just as Summer bolted over.

“His eyes are moving,” Clover said, reaching out and feeling his head, which had started to sweat. “He also has a fever. Summer, please go and soak rags in water as cold as you can. I fear he may be quite sick.”

“On it,” Summer nodded, before grabbing some rags that Clover had left out a couple of days ago in case of emergency and dashing outside toward the nearest well. With a quick apology to the stallion who was about to use it, Summer snatched the bucket from him, practically tossed it down with her magic, scooped up whatever water she could, and pulled it back up, whereupon she magically brought the water near freezing and dunked the rags in it.

With that, she rushed back inside, where Clover was scanning him with her magic. Nova was starting to shift and turn, which didn’t bode well.

“Got the rags,” Summer announced, practically hurling one at Clover, who caught it expertly and began to drag it around Nova’s face to mop up the sweat and cool him down.

“He isn’t sick as far as I can tell, but something is wreaking havoc on him all the same,” Clover muttered just loudly enough for Summer to hear. “Nevertheless, if we keep him stable, he should awaken in due t–”

“GAH!”

Nova Shine’s eyes flew open, and he practically threw himself out of bed, accidentally knocking poor Clover to the ground. Summer watched, half-horrified and half-fascinated, as Nova looked wildly around the room, horn blazing with blue light.

“Nova Shine!” Summer cried out, darting forward and grabbing hold of him in an attempt to hold him tight before he hurt anyone.

“What… where…?” Nova gasped. He was extremely tense underneath Summer’s grasp. Clover crawled out from under him looking none the worse for wear, but looking startled.

“Peace, sir Nova Shine,” Clover said. “You are in your home in Everfree. Summer and I are here.”

Nova slowly started to untense his muscles, and as he did so, Summer slowly started to let go of him.

“Please, return to your bed,” Clover advised, trying to guide him there, which Summer was only too eager to help. “You are unwell.”

“Where’s Sombra?” Nova asked, still looking around warily and keeping his horn lit as though he expected someone to jump at him from anywhere..

“There is no one else here, Nova Shine,” Clover replied gently, now trying to ease him into the bed. “Please, get back into bed”

Nova complied, albeit most unwillingly. Nevertheless, as Clover and Summer tucked him in, he did at least seem to be calming down from whatever had caused his outburst. Had he been having a nightmare?

“How long was I out?” Nova asked, his voice a croak.

“I do not know,” Clover answered, her usual frown deepening, “but you were brought back to Everfree four days ago.”

“What day is it?”

“Tuesday the 17th,” said Summer.

Nova fell back against his mattress with a sigh. “So I was out for five days.”

Summer felt something grab behind her neck, and she let out a small “Eep!” Beside her, Clover as well seemed to flinch as a small blue aura of magic took hold between her shoulderblades. Both of them seemed to fall into Nova’s bed, and he promptly gave them both a quick hug.

“Thank you,” he said softly. “Both of you. Taking care of me couldn’t have been easy.”

Summer tried to banish the warm and fuzzy feeling she was getting in her belly. Clover seemed to be blushing as well next to him, and she quickly extricated herself from the hug.

“Yes, well…” she backed up several paces as Nova let Summer up. “I shall come by to check up on you over the next few days, as will Summer. In the meantime, I will go and alert the princesses that you are alright once again.”

Without even waiting for a response, she shoved open the door and bolted out. Summer watched her go, feeling odd. Did Clover seriously show emotion and then do anything other than make a dignified exit?

What was the world coming to?

There was a soft fwump! from behind her, and Summer turned back to see that Nova had fallen back against the bed, though he had grabbed Clover’s fallen book from the ground and had started reading it.

“She… forgot her pack,” Summer noted, fighting back a tiny chuckle. "That’s the first time I’ve ever seen her act like this.”

“Second,” Nova grunted, leafing through the pages, before he just let them all dangle in his face for a moment before shutting the book. “You should see her when she’s drunk.”

“When she’s what?”

“Drunk, yes,” Nova stashed the book in Clover’s pack, bundled it up neatly, and magically floated it over to a table. “I’ll get this to her tomorrow.”

“There’s no way in hell I’m letting you get back to work so soon after waking up from being unconscious for several days,” Summer trotted over and gave him the sternest look she could muster. “You need rest, you need time to heal, and you definitely do not need stress right now.”

“I’ve got you two,” Nova replied, giving her a fond smile. “What sort of stress are you talking about?”

Summer opened her mouth to respond, but closed it when nothing suitable sprang to mind.

“Besides, I’m sure the princesses will be here sooner or later to check up on me anyway,” Nova closed his eyes as he made himself comfortable on the bed. “I’m getting tired of spending time laying around for hours. Just want to get back to learning about magic.”

“Oh yeah, that reminds me,” Summer frowned as she recalled the news that she had seen posted on various billboards around the city. “Princess Celestia’s looking for her own student now. Probably gonna be working closely with you, I’d imagine.”

Nova didn’t react. Truthfully, Summer didn’t know how to react herself. On the one hoof, she probably should have known that this would happen. But considering some of the gossip and mutterings she’d heard in the bars around town, she had a feeling there were gonna be all sorts of mares chasing after Nova now.

Maybe she had a chance…?

“Well, I guess I have that to look forward to now,” Nova muttered just loudly enough for her to hear. “Any word on when she’s going to announce her choice?”

“No idea,” she shrugged, before sighing. “This has been a long several days.”

“Well, it’s over now. Mostly, anyway.”

Yeah,” she smiled tiredly as she scooted her chair toward his bed. “It is. I’m glad you’re okay.”

“Why wouldn’t I be?” he grinned, before wincing slightly. “...I suppose running off and doing dangerous work can be hazardous to my health, but hey, I suppose there are worse things out there than waking up to two of my favorite ponies making sure I’m okay.”

If she had been paying attention, she would have seen the distant, pained look on his face moments later as his mind drifted back once more to the ponies that awaited him in his own time.

{T} {A} {T} {S} {A} {T} {C}

“You want me to what?”

Princess Celestia grinned cattily from her throne while Princess Luna shifted uncomfortably beside her. Nova, meanwhile, stood tall and proud at the foot of Celestia’s dais, Night Apprentice Cloak drawn up and brooch puffed out as an unmistakable show of his station. It had been only three days since he had woken up and although he was still a little achy, he wasn’t going to let that get in the way of a royal summons.

He knew the day was coming, but he didn’t expect to be involved.

“We want you to interview potential candidates for the position of Faithful Student,” Princess Celestia replied, giving him an amused look. “After all, the two of you are likely going to be working together, learning together, living together, ravishing Luna together--”

“TIA!”

“--and most importantly--”

“Don’t say it,” said Nova.

“--helping Us learn how to be a better teacher together,” finished Celestia, her eyes rather quickly darting over to Luna, who was red-faced and sputtering.

“Do you really have to tease her that much?” Nova asked, giving her a flat look. “I’m as big a fan of messing with ponies as anyone, but it just becomes bullying if you keep doing it when they keep asking you to stop.”

“Oh, believe Us, if We crossed a line, Our sister would let us know immediately,” Celestia replied casually. Nova did not miss the strange expression that crossed Luna’s face as she said this. It wasn’t quite resentment, but it wasn’t quite a warm look either.

“And you are absolutely sure she would?” Nova arched an eyebrow. At this, Luna looked over and gave him a shake of her head, a silent request not to press this any further.

“Of course she would!” Celestia replied with a whimsical roll of her eyes. “Our sister trusts Us as much as We trust her. If ever We truly said something that offended her, she would tell Us in confidence and We would rectify it.”

Nova looked between them for a few moments, but decided to honor Luna’s wishes, even as she gave him a pleading look. “Alright then. Interview your Faithful Student candidates.”

Celestia nodded, before giving him a grateful smile. “While the final choice does end up being in Our hooves, trust Us Nova Shine, thine opinions are important to Us. Please, keep an open mind, but if thou dost not believe a candidate is a good fit, be honest.”

He already knew how this was going to go. There was only ever one candidate in mind, wasn’t there? But was it because history said so? Or would it be because she proved herself better than the others?

Or… perhaps another reason?

“Thou should already find them convened within the Western Conference Room. Happy interviewing!” Princess Celestia gave him a wave. Nova bowed his head and backed out of the room at this dismissal, before immediately turning and heading off toward the room Celestia had mentioned.

It was rather short notice, but he was already formulating a plan. At the end of the day, he knew it was going to be Clover, but there had to be a logical reason to make it happen. There had to be a legitimate case. She had to earn it. So… why not structure it in a way to play directly to what he knew about her?

Three questions was all he would need. Three questions, and… Nova grinned. Oh yeah, it’s all coming together.

As he continued on his way toward the Western Conference Room, however, he found himself passing by Summer Blossom moving in the opposite direction. No sooner had he turned a corner than had the two of them nearly collided, only to jump backward, before both blushing a bit and laughing awkwardly.

“Off to interview the new candidates?” she asked, glancing back the way she’d come. “The princess said you’d be involved.”

“I only just found out about it,” Nova replied with a shrug. “Haven’t even set up shop. What about you? Where are you off to?”

“I…” She trailed off, biting her lip, and giving him a nervous look. “I… have decided not to try out for it.”

“What? Why?” Nova asked, surprised. “You’d have a fair shot. You’re not really any slouch magically speaking, I’m sure you’d have as good a shot as anyone.”

“Because of her,” Summer replied with a scowl. “Silverbitch is in there.”

Understanding flooded through him immediately. He reached out a hoof and placed it on her shoulder in hopefully what was a reassuring gesture. “Summer, I’m the one doing the interviewing. I already have something in mind that will make sure you get a fair chance.”

Summer bit her lip for a half-second and looked away, but eventually just shook her head. “Thank you Nova, but I’m… happy as it is, and it’s been a long time since I’ve gotten to say that. I already get to spend time with you, and spellcasting’s not really something I want to spend all my days doing. Just not really my thing.”

“Fair enough,” Nova gave her a warm smile. “And hey, if you reconsider, I’ll make time.”

Summer smiled, and before Nova could react, she learned forward and gave him a soft kiss on the cheek. “I appreciate it, Nova. Really, I do. But you’ve already given me so much. I’ll be content with this.”

With that, she trotted off, humming something to herself. Nova watched her go, feeling his warm smile grow slightly wider as he reached up and felt the spot she’d kissed. Was Celestia sure it was Clover he’d fall for…?

He cleared his thoughts with a shake of his head. He had more important matters to attend to. So with that, he continued on his way to the Conference Room, and even as he approached it, he could already hear the talking inside and feel each candidate.

Why the hell were there so many!?

He pushed his way into the room, and the doors swung open, hitting the walls with a rather satisfying thud! There were tens of ponies in here, of every color, of every size, all unicorns naturally, but Nova knew a tough task lay ahead of them to narrow the crowd down to size.

With deliberate steps, he strode toward a door off to the side of the conference room, waiting for the babble to die down and for everyone in the room to give him their full undivided attention. As he turned around, however, a pair of leering red eyes caught his attention, but he ignored them completely. Instead, he cleared his throat to clear what was left of the room’s ruckus.

“Thank you all for coming,” he said loudly, letting his voice carry. “Princess Celestia has asked me to interview each and every one of you to see if you would be a good fit for the position of her personal apprentice. I have decided that a little bit of honesty wouldn’t be amiss, so I will be creating a Zone of Truth within this room here,” he knocked on the door, “to make sure each and every one of you’s motives are true.”

It was almost hysterical how many expressions from the many different faces in the room blanched at that. Oddly enough, Shimmer Silvermane’s wasn’t one of them. No, she was simply giving him a cold smile every second, even though he wasn’t looking at her. She knew he knew she was there.

He pushed the door open. “So, give me a moment to set it up, and we’ll get this ball a-rollin’. When I ask for whoever’s next, step right in.”

With that, he stepped inside. It was a simple round chamber for private discussions, and it would serve his purposes here today. No tables, just a pair of chairs, and no decor. Rather bland, but the decoration would come once the castle was finished. A few spell tags here, some magic there, and about five minutes after entering, he had himself a functioning Zone of Truth there to ward off the liars and the ones trying ti hide their real intentions.

He had tested his spell by trying to say aloud that he was a die-hard fan of Trottenham Hotspur. It had taken his entire willpower not to vomit at the thought, but fortunately, the spell prevented him from saying it, and instead he felt compelled to say “I hope Trottenham lose every game for the rest of time.” Satisfied that his work was complete, he thrust the door back open and called for the first interviewee, and away they went.

He started each one off with “Why do you want to be Princess Celestia’s personal student?” It turned out that both that question and the Zone of Truth he had created were wise decisions..

“Because I want to woo Princess Celestia.“

“Because I want more influence for myself.”

“Because I’m bored.”

“Because I wanna learn how to call down meteors from the sky!”

Most of them had the sense to withdraw after that. Only three candidates had made it to Question 2 out of his first twenty. Things were going about as well as he expected them to. The second question, however, weeded out several more.

“What are you hoping to learn from Princess Celestia?” he would ask.

“How to take down my enemies!”

“How to get rich with magic!”

“How to seduce mares.”

“How to seduce stallions.”

“How to seduce you.”

“And we’re done here,” Nova replied to all six ponies who said that last one. Two of them were stallions. His barn door didn’t swing that way in the slightest and it left him feeling extremely uncomfortable, truth be told, though a quiet suggestion to the second stallion to chase after the first hopefully allowed them to find someone more their orientation.

The third and final question, however, saw a lot more fruit, considering almost everyone else had been eliminated by this point. But unfortunately, none of the answers were quite what Novas was looking for.

“If you are selected for this position, and you graduate, what do you wish to do with what you have learned?”

“I want to join the military, so I can use what I’ve learned to protect others,” said a stallion, whom Nova had learned was an orphan. A very noble goal. However, Nova recommended he join the military directly instead, as a lot of what he would learn would be academic, rather than combative. Academics could be used to protect, but the burgeoning Equestrian peacekeeping force needed battlemages and had a few experts already on hoof for training.

“I want to live in communities of pegasi or earth ponies who don’t have a spellcaster there to help, so I can help them as they need,” said a mare. Nova also felt this was noble, not to mention a nostalgic reminder of his time in Neighton, but he pointed out that nothing was stopping her from doing this now, and that most of what non-magical communities would need would be basic spellwork, things she was already capable of.

“I want to use it to impress you!” proclaimed the last young mare, before promptly shoving a hoof into her mouth as she realized she’d stumbled at the last moment. Nova let out a protracted sigh at this, shutting his eyes and pinching his nose. He had to give her props, though. She’d gotten past the first two questions. That had to count for something.

Lather, rinse, repeat, pony after pony, failed question after failed question, and he still hadn’t yet found someone who just wanted to be a student of magic through all three questions. He was going to need to practice his Zone of Truth, since it was letting too many ponies speak half-truths to get through these questions, but it was also doing a good job of weeding them out as they came.

“Next,” Nova Shine called once more, crossing out the application of yet another mare who was chasing after him and not the position, before returning to his seat. Thirty-six down, eleven to go. To his horror and relief, however, Shimmer Silvermane was next, deciding to strut into the room and give him a malevolent yet sultry half-lidded smile. He could finally get this one out of the way.

“Oh, it’s about time you and I got some one-on-one time together,” she purred, before practically throwing herself into the interviewee’s seat and sprawling across it. “I’ve been looking forward to this for a few days now. I wanted to thank you for the work you did on my father.”

Thank me?

“After all, I hated that stallion with every fiber of my being and eagerly awaited the day he finally got what he deserved. You have no idea how very thrilled I was to hear what you did to him,” she added, giving him a toothy grin that made the fur on the nape of his neck prickle. Why was she so happy about the defeat of her own father?

“I just beat him,” he replied evenly. “He was the one who used a spell that shattered his own horn.”

“You humiliated him,” Shimmer corrected, shifting so that now she was laying back against the throne. It had to have been murder on her spine, but she didn’t seem to care as she stretched and flaunted her svelte physique. Unfortunately for her, with no Seduction Scent, and with Nova having decided some time ago that he didn’t like her, it wasn’t having any effect. “That’s good enough for me. I was even more pleased to hear of his death.”

His death?

“Wait, he died?” Nova did a double-take. “I thought he was in secure custody.”

“He was,” Shimmer replied simply, with a grin.

“You know something about it, don’t you,” he fired back, suddenly becoming acutely aware of the fact that he was now alone in a room with the daughter of a stallion who’d tried to murder him. She’d said she hated her father, and within the Zone of Truth, she clearly wasn’t lying, but the way she had said that short phrase…

“Maybe I do, maybe I don’t,” her grin widened. “One thing I can promise you, though, Nova Shine. You have my undying gratitude for making it happen.”

This was starting to go down a dangerous road. He needed to get her back on the real topic he was here to cover and away from this one. So with that, he slid a blank page in front of him from the stack.

“Alright then, Shimmer. Three questions, three truthful answers. After that, you wait like everyone else.”

“Of course,” she replied dryly.

“First question. Why do you want to be Princess Celestia’s personal student?”

“I don’t,” she smirked.

Nova blinked. He supposed he should have expected this. She was clearly here to gloat and attempt to charm him some more, not try to actually go for the position. While he had, at least, figured that this might be a possibility, he hadn’t expected her to be quite so brazen about it.

Still… this gave him an idea.

“Oh come now,” he scoffed, rolling his eyes. “You could have come gloat to me anywhere. It’s not like you have any respect for my privacy or desires. You could have picked literally any time and any place to come and rub it in my face that I had given you what you wanted. But you came here. There’s more to this visit than that, isn’t there?”

“Oooh, he’s learning,” Shimmer muttered, intentionally just loud enough for him to hear. With an overly dramatic sigh, she pulled her torso forward and sat in the chair normally, though not without a bored slouch as she leaned a little on one of its arms. “The truth is, Nova Shine, I came here not just to gloat, but to size up my competition.”

Nova stared at her blankly.

“Size up your competition for a position you didn’t even want?”

Shimmer actually laughed at that one. Somehow it almost made her sound more pleasant.

“Oh not even close!” she guffawed, before giving a small shake of her head. “Unfortunately, my competition isn’t here. I wonder if she even wants this position herself. She can be oh so proper and formal about things, she must have figured it was imprudent to try out for this given her own responsibilities.”

“You’re here to size up Clover,” Nova finally realized.

“Now you’re getting it,” she smiled sweetly at him. It gave him an extremely uneasy feeling. She was being too nice.

“You must have been around her all the time back in Unicornia,” Nova poked back. “Surely you know enough about her already.”

“Oh no, you misunderstand,” Shimmer shook her head again, her dancing mane sparkling in the torchlight. “You’re right, I have spoken with her plenty of times. A consummate professional, never talking about anything other than what needs to be done, all so she can retreat back to her little hovel and pore over her books. And yet– and yet–, somehow you managed to worm your way into Clover the Cloistered’s heart. No point in denying it,” she added, before he could say something in response to this, “I still keep in contact with friends in Unicornia, friends who were rather gossipy about the two of you stumbling back up to the castle together following a night of drinking.”

“I can neither confirm nor deny–”

“Oh save it,” Shimmer rolled her eyes. “Your non-answers don’t contradict what I’ve heard. In any case, I’m honestly rather disappointed that she isn’t here right now. I was really hoping she would make an appearance, but alas…” She gave an overly-dramatic sigh and ran the side of her hoof down her forehead. “She must have sequestered herself so much she forgot about even this.”

“She may surprise you,” Nova replied evenly.

“What happens if none of the ponies here answer your three questions correctly, sweet Nova Shine?”

Now that was something he hadn’t considered. Yes, Clover was probably off doing her own thing, but what if she never turned up? History said she got the position, but was she simply given it or did she earn it?

“I guess we’ll move on to the second question then,” Nova scribbled some blather on his page.

“I guess we will.”

“What are you hoping to learn from Celestia?” he asked.

“Everything she knows,” Shimmer replied bluntly.

Nova blinked. Now if that wasn’t a double-meaning, he didn’t know what was. But… was there any proof?

You’re imagining things, he thought. She says she hated her father in a Zone of Truth. There’s no way she was spying or something… is there?

“Question 3–”

“What, no interrogation about that answer?” Shimmer asked, cocking her head at him, that damnable smile still too innocent for his liking.

“Question 3,” he repeated, much more harshly. “If you are selected for this position, and you graduate, what do you wish to do with what you have learned?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know,” Shimmer replied.

“Yes, I rather would,” Nova replied, a tiny bit unnerved that, not only was she actively fighting against his Zone of Truth, she was actually beating its compulsion to answer.

“Welp, wouldn’t we all,” she shrugged before slinking off her seat and starting to trot toward the door.

“That’s it?” Nova asked, surprised. “That’s all you came to do?”

“That’s all I came to do,” Shimmer replied, still standing within his zone. “Gloat, thank you, waste your time, size up Clover only to find that she isn’t here, and leave. Not a bad use of my afternoon, in my opinion,” she added, her omnipresent smile really starting to get under his skin. “Be seeing you, Nova Shine.”

And with that, she left the zone, and Nova made absolutely no effort to chase after her as she made for the exit. As she exited the room, he let out a long breath that he didn’t know he had been holding. That was probably the most delicate part of this series of interviews. There were so many things she could have done, but that was ultimately rather harmless.

She was just trying to put me on edge, he reasoned, taking a couple of deep breaths to steady himself. Just relax, and let’s finish what we’re here to do.

He returned to the list, stuck his head out into the conference room, called out the next name, and the cycle renewed.

There were only a few more names on the list, none of them made it past the second question. So when the time finally came that Nova arrived at the end and sent the last applicant, a teenage filly who seemed eager at first but still only wanted the position to impress her friends, he was ready to turn in his list of recommendations to Celestia.

All zero of them.

Maybe Clover was getting the position by default as a compromise…?

As Nova began to dispel the Zone of Truth in the interrogation interview room, however, he detected a familiar presence making its way toward the conference chamber. Nova blinked, and let out a sigh that was half-relieved, half-annoyed.

So she would try out after all.

Sure enough, the door to the conference room banged open outside, followed swiftly by a few quick knocks at the door to the room he was in.

“Sir Nova Shine, are you in here?” Clover’s voice asked from the other side of the door.

“Yeah, I am,” he answered, answering the door to find a rather disheveled Clover standing there, tall and proud despite an unkempt and wind-tossed mane and the light sheen of sweat on her brow.

“Did you… did you sprint here?” he asked, wrinkling his nose at the slight smell.

“I was only just convinced to try out for the position,” Clover admitted, still remaining as impassive as she could despite her short breaths, messy mane, and general bearing of someone who had just finished exercising when they were not used to it. “I apologize for my lack of decorum.”

“No no, none of that now,” he waved a hoof dismissively. “I don’t mind you being a little less formal than you usually are. However, I just finished interviewing everyone.”

“Yes, I apologize for my lateness,” Clover gave a quick bow. “I did not believe it proper to put my name forth for the position given my current role as ambassador, but was only convinced to do so by Princess Platinum seven minutes ago. Princess Luna then informed me you were holding the interviews here.”

“Well, you’re just in time then,” Nova said, stepping back and gesturing inside. “I was about to finish dispelling my Zone of Truth, but it’s still currently up. Just a few questions, and I’ll let you be on your way.”

“No… practical test?” Clover tilted her head. “Not even a written exam?”

Nova snorted. “Clover, this position is for ponies who want to learn, not ponies who already know.”

Clover opened her mouth to respond, but closed it and bowed again. “I see. I apologize for–”

“Stop that,” Nova replied, sharply cutting her off to prevent her from continuing. “No more apologies. Just have a seat and let’s get to it so I can finish up and get on with my evening.”

“How many potential applicants were there?” she asked, stepping past him toward her seat.

“Forty-seven.”

“How many of them are you considering?”

“None.”

Clover blinked. Then– Nova did a double-take– she almost seemed to smile to herself.

This mare was happy everyone else failed, he realized, fighting the urge to snicker. A little bit devious from such a straight-laced goody-four-shoes.

“Alright then,” Nova got back in his seat, pulled out a blank sheet of paper, and prepared.

“Question 1. Why do you want to be Princess Celestia’s personal student?”

Clover’s answer was everything he was looking for, that no one else had given him.

“Because my magical tutelage under Lord Star Swirl is unfinished, and the opportunity to learn from one of his own graduate students is one I do not wish to pass up.”

“Good answer,” Nova dipped his head, writing her response down. “You’ve already done better than 75% of the other applicants.”

Clover’s ghost of a smile returned.

“Question 2. What are you hoping to learn from Celestia?”

“Everything she learned from Lord Star Swirl,” Clover answered. “Everything she knows that I do not. Everything he taught her that he did not teach me.”

“Welp, by virtue of giving me two good answers, you’ve already got my recommendation by default,” he admitted, which made that ghost of a smile turn into even less of a ghost. Nova could sense that she was immensely pleased with herself. “But for the sake of formality, I have one more question for you.”

“Very well,” she nodded. “One more.”

“If you are selected for this position, and you graduate, what do you wish to do with what you have learned?”

“I wish for nothing less than to become the most powerful spellcaster in the world, as I have told you. Even more powerful than my master.” There was a certain steel to her gaze, a fire in her eyes that Nova admired. She knew what she wanted and was going to jump at the chance to make it happen. “While I feel it would be impossible to ever truly match or surpass Celestia and Luna, I shall settle for becoming the most powerful unicorn in the world.”

Nova nodded to himself, and began to write things down.

“And…” she continued softly, “I wish to be able to spend more time with you.”

Nova’s quill froze.

For several seconds, neither of them said anything. Nova could sense she was staring at him, waiting for some reaction, but he resolutely stared at the page in front of him.

So it begins, he finally thought, letting air out through his nose and finishing his observations.

“Thank you, Clover,” he finally said quietly, putting his quill down. “That will be all.”

She stood up, she bowed, and she left, and Nova was left alone to sort out the conflicting feelings bubbling away inside of him.

{T} {A} {T} {S} {A} {T} {C}

Clover had never had a teacher such as Princess Celestia before. That is not to say that Princess Celestia was more powerful than Lord Star Swirl, or wiser, or some such. But rather, Princess Celestia was not in any way what she expected from a teacher.

Princess Celestia, it turned out to Clover’s severe annoyance, did not seem to take her job seriously and chose instead to focus on her own amusement.

For instance, today’s magic lesson.

She had gotten the idea from Princess Luna’s own curriculum with Nova Shine about a way to teach fine control over magic To this end, she had commissioned an infernal musical instrument that set her curiosities alight the very moment she set eyes upon it.

According to this tinkerer, a unicorn musician she had met a few times by the name of Andante Heartstrings, this instrument was called a “pianoforte” and was something similar to pipe organs or other instruments that involved an array of keys such as this. The working theorem would be that Clover would have to press and release the keys precisely with magic alone, while also keeping the strength of her press in mind, as well as the three pedals at the base of this intriguing yet torturous machine.

She had come here to learn magic, not music!

Princess Celestia had taught her the basics of music theory, which “notes” corresponded to which “keys”, and then gave her a simple sheet t begin practicing, using only her magic to play.

At first, she had protested, until Princess Celestia brought her into the chapel where they had placed the piano, for her to watch as Nova Shine played a piece that Andante Heartstrings had composed at Night Apprentice Nova Shine’s own request that was supposedly a sonata written specifically for Princess Luna and to be played on this pianoforte.

As she watched Nova Shine’s blue magic dance across the keys to the keyboard as he played the third movement from this “Moonlight Sonata”, an intricate and uptempo piece of music, she began to see the merits in this approach.

Unfortunately, however, Princess Celestia asked her to play a piece titled “Vexations”, which had a most infuriating stipulation attached to it: the composer demanded that it be repeated 840 times! Princess Celestia had then wished her luck and then trotted out of the chapel to go about her business, leaving Clover alone with her music.

She had thought that Princess Celestia must have had a good reason for giving her this specific piece. She had decided around the 147th time repeating it that this piece had to have been about repetition, about keeping her mind sharp despite the sheer dreadfulness of this task. She would not have given this specific piece to her if it were not important, after all. This was one of Lord Star Swirl’s first students! It had to have a purpose!

It turned out, however, that Princess Celestia had done it for her own amusement. She came in somewhere around the 330th iteration, and then spent the next several minutes laughing after realizing that Clover had actually followed the instructions to the letter. This damnable mare had wasted Clover’s own valuable time, time that could have been much better spent doing more productive things, just so she could enjoy a few moments of laughter!

And then, as if it weren’t already enraging enough, after Clover had indignantly protested her case, Princess Celesta had oh-so-infuriatingly informed her that it wasn’t about following the instructions, it was about the practice and the fine control! As Clover was left to stew in her embarrassment, Princess Celestia moved Clover over to that same “Moonlight Sonata” as Nova Shine shortly thereafter.

Though despite her frustrations with days past, Celestia’s tutelage was having an effect. While her understanding and interest in music was negligible at best, the benefits gained from practicing the lightest touch of her magic on this pianoforte had increased her fine control quite dramatically, and thus she was leaving the Castle of the Two Sisters in good spirits, feeling quite satisfied with today’s work.

Perhaps she could now spend time with the Night Apprentice, and perhaps he would like to hear about her recent accomplishments…

Clover frowned as she scanned the buildings within the forest, searching for any sign of the Night Apprentice. She had not seen him all day, which was most irregular, as the Night Apprentice usually spent time with Luna during her lessons, which meant he was usually somewhere in the castle.

“Something the matter, my lady?”

Clover’s frown deepened as Captain Steelshod and her other bodyguard trotted up behind her. The Captain’s presence was expected, but it had become quite troublesome as of late. It was not that the Captain’s presence was unwelcome, but rather that she sought someone else entirely at the moment.

“Do you know where the Night Apprentice has gone?” she asked, turning to glance past both unicorn guards and back into the castle, where a few ponies were coming and going about their business. However, the Night Apprentice was not among them, despite this usually being the time he was released form his lessons with Luna.

“No idea, ma’am,” the other guard, Lieutenant Bulwark, replied. “I am not familiar with his schedule.”

“If he is not leaving at this time, then odds are he is somewhere in the Castle still. Should we return to your quarters, my lady?” asked Captain Steelshod.

As she weighed the suggestion, something got her attention. Or rather, a lack of something that should be there. Among the crowd of ponies coming and going was an energy nexus that did not seem to be tied to any of the bodies she saw. However, considering her foray into the crystal caves beneath Canterlot had featured the Night Apprentice using his cloak to become invisible, and considering she could recognize his resonance anywhere, there was no doubt in her mind who the phantom energy belonged to.

“Captain, Lieutenant,” she returned her attention to her loyal bodyguards, who promptly snapped to attention.

“Yes ma’am!” Lieutenant Bulwark barked.

“You may take the rest of the afternoon off. I wish to spend the remainder of the day alone.”

“Thank you, ma’am,” Lieutenant Bulwark saluted, but held his position. Captain Steelshod, however, gave her an odd look.

“Is that wise, my lady?”

“Whether it is or is not, that is my decision,” Clover rebutted, a cold edge to her voice. The captain had been perhaps far too suspicious of their locale as of late. She was in no danger here, protected by the princesses, and with Nova Shine nearby. “I would ask you not to question me like this in public again, are we clear, Captain?”

Captain Steelshod nearly flinched. Nearly. But like a dutiful soldier, he simply saluted, though Clover could see the miniscule amount of hurt in his eyes. No doubt he was just doing his job and wished to defend himself with his own counterargument, but that was exactly the problem.

It was, after all, rather conspicuous how often “just doing his job” oh so often seemed to involve moments when the Night Apprentice was around.

“Dismissed,” she added, putting no small amount of finality into it. This matter was over, no discussion.

The two guards shuffled off immediately, though Steelshod threw an uneasy glance back her way as he walked off. But with him now dismissed, she turned her attention back to the invisible source of energy that was now moving off into the city. Just when it was at the edge of her range of sensing, which was perhaps only a few meters at most, she started to tail him. His range of sensing wasn’t known to her, but she reasoned it had to be similar to her own. After all, she had been sensing energy for years and her range was rather considerable.

However, this was Nova Shine.

She could take all the precautions, but she was certain he would know. After all, she knew she had no practice when it came to stealth, as he did. No doubt he had picked up on her tailing him the moment he’d passed her by.

So… why the secrecy?

They passed building after building, Nova Shine wove his way around building and pony alike, all while Clover stayed behind him, past the Grand Market, past the Arboreal Gardens, through the current outskirts of the city, and not long after, beyond that into the forests along the road leading toward Earthponyville and Unicornia.

Where is he going? she wondered, still worrying that she had been noticed at this point, but considering they were now at a point where there were no other ponies to blend in with, there could be no doubt her presence was noticed.

Was he leading her out of the city because he wanted her to realize she had been duped?

However, as they neared the junction where the road split off toward Earthponyville away from this main road to Unicornia, he suddenly slipped off the main path and started trotting through the woods. Once again, her curiosity was piqued. What could be all the way out here that he was leading her toward?

After only a few minutes more of walking, during which she noticed that there were small cuts in the trees that must have served as guides, they finally emerged into something of a clearing.

The forest canopy still shaded them overhead, but they were now in agap between the trees, where a small wooden shack had been constructed, where archery targets had been set up on the trunks, and where apples were hanging from almost every branch of every tree.

As she stared all around this little pocket of quiet a few miles away from the city, she heard a rustle and a chuckle, and Nova Shine phased into view as the invisibility spell wore off and he removed his Night Apprentice cloak.

“You know, I’m surprised you didn’t give up before you got here,” he noted as she beheld the whole area. “I would have thought you’d have headed back into the city when you thought I was leading you on a wild goose chase.”

A what?

“I do not understand. Why would I believe you were leading me on a chase for a wild goose?”

“It’s…” he paused, and then sighed with a pinch of his muzzle. “It’s just an expression, forget it. Point is, I expected you not to follow me all the way out here.”

“And just what is ‘out here’?” she asked, gesturing at their surroundings. “You have a home in the city, you have the training yard in the castle. Why make this journey?”

Nova Shine gave her a quick grin, before trotting over to a nearby apple tree, planting his hooves, and striking the tree dead-center with a solid kick from his back leg. A single apple fell from the tree, right into a waiting forehoof, which he promptly tossed her way.

“Have a bite, you’ll love it.”

Clover caught the apple in her magic effortlessly, before pulling it in front of her and scrutinizing it with wary eyes. Were wild apples safe to eat in this untamed forest? They seemed to be, as Nova Shine took the opportunity to pick his own apple and begin eating. It smelled extremely sweet, and she could feel the hunger from her skipped meal earlier in the day.

So she tentatively took a bite.

At once, the apple’s juices flooded her mouth, nearly overwhelming her with the tart taste. she was hardly gulping down the apple pulp in her mouth before she was taking another bite. was it because of her hunger, or because she enjoyed it so? Perhaps both? Despite dining at Princess Platinum’s own table in Unicornia, and even eating with Princess Celestia these last few days, Clover had never tasted a more delicious fruit in her life.

“Hey now, I think she likes it,” Nova observed, before digging into his own apple.

As Clover wiped some of the dripping apple juices from her mouth, she scrutinized the fruit in her magic.

“Is this all you come out here for? Apples?”

Nova Shine shook his head. Instead, he made his way over to the door of the small shack, which he pushed open to reveal a bed pushed up against one wall and a small table built right into the wall, on which was a curious sheet of paper with a collection of dots, dashes, and triangles, as well as a book that contained the same dots, dashes, and triangles in place of letters. Quite literally, there was nothing else inside. No decorations, no floor other than stamped earth, not even a candle or anything.

“I come out here whenever I want to get away from things,” he answered, pulling the door shut. “I don’t know if you know this, but there’ve been some… incidents lately.”

Clover was aware. The ruckus of a musical instrument crashing through a window had been quite loud. She had been rather frustrated that her sleep was interrupted that night.

“Even before I set out for Unicornia, I had ponies that wouldn’t leave me alone, so I had this little number put together not too long before the trade agreement talks. Nice and quiet, away from the city, a lovely place to just spend time when I don’t want anyone else around. And an excellent place to practice magic without endangering anyone, too.”

He trotted over to one of the targets, surveyed it, and performed a little repairative spellwork on a brace that was starting to splinter. However, if it was true that this was meant as a place he could be alone, why show it to her?

“Yet you allowed me to tail you here.”

“Because I trust you,” he replied simply.

Clover felt a strange, warm feeling in her stomach. He was not lying. He truly did have a high degree of trust in her, to show her his little hideaway and let her follow him.

“Summer knows too,” he added, gesturing back toward the city with his head. “The princesses too, naturally. Now you and Captain Steelshod know. I think that’s about everyone I’m willing to trust with the location of this place.”

“The captain knows?” Clover cocked her head. “Have you already shown him?”

Now it was Nova’s turn to look confused.

“No,” he replied, glancing suspiciously at a spot behind her. “He’s been following you. Didn’t you know?”

Clover’s eyes bulged, and she whirled around.

“Captain, step out into the clearing, now.”

There was a moment of silence, and for a fleeting moment, Clover was wondering if Nova Shine was simply making a fool of her. But after several seconds, there was a rustle, and Captain Steelshod, divested of armor, stepped nervously into the clearing, looking as though he was rightfully preparing for the dressing down of a lifetime.

Clover marched right up to him and glared directly into his eyes, which he tried to avert.

“I gave you strict orders to leave me alone, Captain,” she hissed. “You disobeyed me.”

“With all due respect ma’am,” he defended, snapping to attention, “Princess Platinum’s orders to watch over and protect you supersede your own.”

“I was with Night Apprentice Nova Shine,” she countered, just barely keeping herself in control. It would not do to allow her emotions get the better of her. “There is no one more capable of protecting me except for Princess Celestia and Princess Luna.”

Captain Steelshod opened his mouth to fire off an angry retort, no doubt taking it quite personally that she had just elevated Nova Shine above him in terms of how safe they were to be around, but Nova Shine chose that moment to intervene.

Infuriatingly, he intervened on Steelshod’s side.

“Clover, why are you angry that he’s doing his job?”

“I am not angry that he is doing his job,” she growled, giving him a frosty look. “I am angry that he is blatantly disobeying my orders, and that he is not respecting any of my demands for privacy!”

“Clover,” Nova replied, his voice calm and patient despite her outburst. “Only a few weeks ago, Princess Platinum was abducted from her own bedroom in a moment in which it was believed she was alone. I do not blame Captain Steelshod for disobeying your orders in the name of ensuring your safety.”

Clover did not miss the grateful glance Captain Steelshod threw Nova’s way. Were they conspiring against her!? She grit her teeth, but Nova Shineheld up a hoof to forestall her.

“Captain,” he said, now looking directly at the guard, still dutifully standing at attention, “she is now in my care. I have shown you this place so that, in the event that she is alone or unaccounted for, you know of a likely place she may be to ensure her safety. But I believe it is best that you return to Everfree now.”

Clover felt it was best for him to return to Unicornia, personally.

“Off with you. We won’t be far behind.”

Nova gestured with a hoof. Steelshod nodded tensely, before turning tail and beginning the long trek back to the city. Clover watched him go, wanting nothing more than to scream after him.

But…

Nova Shine had a point. She was being rather flippant about her own safety in the aftermath of the foalnapping. Perhaps… perhaps the Captain was the one in the right, and she was reacting irrationally.

Clover let out a frustrated breath. Fie! Why was she so angry about this? It defied reason! She was a mare of logic and reason, not emotion and outbursts. She had worked very hard to master herself, per Lord Star Swirl’s instructions, and she would be damned if she let them overwhelm her now!

“Want to talk about it?”

Clover jumped as Nova Shine placed a hook on her shoulder.

“I… shall be fine,” she half-lied, before blowing a jet of air from her nostrils. “I just… I do not know why this bothers me so.”

“You thought you were spending time alone with me,” he replied. It wasn’t an accusation, it wasn’t mocking, it was simply a statement of fact., And… it felt correct.

“I suppose I was,“ Clover replied softly.

“And that moment was interrupted when it turned out someone else was here.”

Clover did not reply to that. Was it truly so easy to see for everyone but her? Was she truly blind to her own feelings, yet obvious to everyone else?

“We’re still having some alone time,” he observed, his tone suggesting he wanted to cheer her up. “You are getting what you wanted.”

“It is not the same,” she replied with a frustrated shake of her head. “It was a light moment before. And now I am angry and you are trying to cheer me up with a false levity.”

“Ouch,” Nova Shine winced. “You didn’t have to put it so bluntly.”

“And there is always the possibility that he will do it again,” she added, mind already abuzz with more potential instances of Steelshod invading private moments between them.

“Why is him doing his job such an issue for you?”

“Because it’s not just about him doing his job,” she growled, stamping her hoof into the ground. “I told you before, he desires me romantically, and although I have rejected him, he continues to pursue me.”

Nova Shine hmmed to himself for a moment, studying her. Clover met his gaze, trying to show whatever it was he was searching for. Resolve, perhaps? Determination?

“What about Summer Blossom?” she pressed.

“What about her?” Nova asked, cocking an eyebrow.

“You showed her this place as well.”

“So I did. What of it?”

Clover opened her mouth to say something as well, but… yes, what of it? He clearly showed this private place to his friends and those he cared about. Clover should feel honored to be counte among their number, not petulantly demanding more.

Maybe she was no different than the Captain in the end.

Though speaking of…

“You said we would be close behind the captain when you told him to leave.”

“I did,” Nova nodded, thankfully not chasing after her abandoned question.

“Why? We only just arrived.”

“Well, I thought you’d want to be back in the city to meet Lord Star Swirl when he arrived.”

Clover blinked.

“Arrived?”

“Princess Luna told me he’s arriving from Dream Valley today. Was she wrong?” he asked.

“I did not know he was coming here,” she replied, frowning once more. “When was he to arrive?”

“Within the hour, I believe, but–”

“WITHIN THE HOUR!?”

She could not afford to waste another moment out here.

“You must show me back to the city, now!” she ordered, already trying to find the path back to the city. Did he not mark the return path?

“Calm down,” Nova said, sounding amused. How could he be so amused at a time like this!? She was going to miss the arrival of her former master! “Follow me.”

{T} {A} {T} {S} {A} {T} {C}

Upon arriving at the Castle of the Two Sisters, Clover trotted right in at a brisk pace, leaving Nova ambling along after her far more leisurely instead. Truth be told, he had been looking forward to this meeting for some time, if it was going to happen. After all, it wasn’t every day you got to meet one of your idols!

Nova stepped into the castle, passed several construction workers on their way to the barracks, waved hello to Summer as he passed her by in the halls, and finally entered the princess’ private offices, where he assumed Clover had trotted off to, based on her magic. On the other side of the wall, he could detect three familiar auras, plus several unfamiliar ones belonging to guards and, he assumed, Lord Star Swirl as well, and before he entered, he took a moment to calm himself down.

As he stepped inside, he couldn’t help but chuckle a bit as he realized the room wasn’t yet furnished, so they were in a simple empty room at the moment. Clover was standing beside Celestia, who was busy chatting animatedly with a pegasus stallion wearing a rough traveling cloak, with his sky-blue wings folded along his back, hood pulled up and pack placed on the ground beside him.

“--were your travels?” asked Luna as he pushed his way in.

“Oh they were fine, Luna,” the stallion grunted, a thick trottish accent. “A few bumps along the road here, a storm on the ocean there, but we finally sailed into Vulcan a few weeks ago, and I got tae meet Rockhoof on my way in.”

“Ah, apprentice mine!” Luna exclaimed as he stepped into the room. “We have someone we would like thou to meet! This is our master, Star Swirl the Bearded.” She gestured at the cloaked pony. The pony turned to allow Nova to see his face, and…

“No beard.”

At this, the stallion chuckled, and he pulled his hood down to reveal that he was, in fact, entirely bald aside from his sky-blue coat, which seemed to match the shade of his eyes.

“Aye, lad. Ponies expect Star Swirl the Bearded to be bearded. It’s the perfect disguise, if I do say so m’self.”

“And, uhh…” Nova gestured at his back. “Star Swirl” chuckled again.

“Aye. Ponies are expecting the most prolific spellcaster of this day and age to be a unicorn. It’s the perfect disguise. No one would ever suspect Star Swirl the Bearded to be beardless, maneless, and a non-unicorn.”

With that, he pulled off his cloak entirely, and the effect was immediate. The wings seemed to fade into midair as they were pulled free, so to speak. As the cloak came off of him, his sky-blue coat faded to a grey color. His mane and beard, however, only seemed to grow a few short inches before they stopped, leaving him with a full beard, but not the magnificent drooping one Nova had been expecting, or that images of him depicted.

“I, uhh…” Nova gestured at the beard.

Star Swirl openly guffawed at that. “You were expecting it to be trailing on the ground with every step I took, is that it?” The Trottish accent had vanished with the cloak, it seemed, though Nova could still hear a faint Trottish note behind the voice.

“I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t,” Nova replied sheepishly.

Star Swirl seemed to laugh even harder at that. “Oh, the wild tales of my appearance have spread far and wide, it seems.”

“This is Night Apprentice Nova Shine, and he is very honored to meet you, master,” Clover cut in suddenly, giving Nova a harsh look. “You must forgive him for his lack of decorum.”

At this, Star Swirl let out a patient, but annoyed, sigh. “Clover, Clover, Clover…” He draped a hoof around his former apprentice’s shoulders. “He can speak for himself. I, for one, rather welcome how casual his attitude is about meeting me for the first time. It’s a nice change of pace from all the bowing and the blind praise everyone throws my way whenever I happen to be within a quarter-mile of them,” he grumbled.

Unsure of what to do or say, Nova glanced over at Celestia and Luna. Luna was simply watching the two of them, but Celestia caught his eye and gave him a tiny shrug.

“I can see what she likes about you, though,” Star Swirl added, turning his attention back to him. Nova, to his utter astonishment, noticed Clover’s eyes widen a fraction in the background, and a deep red blush started to spread.

“What do you mean?” Nova asked, already grinning devilishly. Ohhhh Clover was never going to hear the end of this.

“Why, she’s utterly fascinated by you, if her most recent letter is anything to go by,” Lord Star Swirl teased, giving Clover a tiny squeeze. Clover stiffened completely, unable to process that she was in for the ribbing for a lifetime. “It’s honestly about time she let herself be courted by someone.”

Nova’s smile fell off his face immediately. “Co– courted?”

Star Swirl’s smile fell a tiny bit as well. “That is the word she used, yes,” he added, now a little less certain than before.

Nova gave Clover a flat look. “That’s actually news to me.”

Star Swirl looked between Nova and Clover for a moment, before a look of disappointment crossed his face. “I see,” he finally said, which caused Clover to flinch ever so slightly. It may have been a wince for the tiniest of moments, but it spoke volumes to them all.

“He used to turn Us into a newt whenever We lied,” Luna cut in, clearly trying to make things light-hearted again.

“A newt?” Nova asked, giving her an odd look.

“We got better,” Luna shrugged. “At lying,” she added, giving Star Swirl a little smirk.

“Cheeky as ever, Luna,” Star Swirl observed with a grin. Well, you’ll forgive me for cutting this meeting short, but it’s been a long voyage, and I would very much like some rest.”

“Of course,” Celestia said, as both she and Luna both bowed their heads in acknowledgment. Clover gave a terse nod, and avoided Nova’s gaze.

“Nova Shine, if you wouldn’t mind, I require a small bit of help in carrying my luggage. Would you be so kind?”

Did he… did he really need help carrying his luggage? His aura didn’t flare up like liars’ auras did. Nova was so caught up in pondering this for a brief moment that he nearly forgot to stumble after the elderly unicorn, who leisurely strode his way out of the princesses’ office and out back into the castle, before making their way toward the northern exit.

Things were coming along nicely now, with the chapel almost completely finished up, the barracks now finishing up and being furnished as well, and a proper training yard was being erected, with dummies, trampled earth, rings for wrestling, archery targets, and so on. It had come a long way in the weeks since the trade agreement summit.

“Don’t be too hard on her,” Star Swirl said as they passed the barracks.

“On who?”

“I think you know exactly who.” Nova let out a tiny growl, but didn’t say anything. Lord Star Swirl let out a quiet sigh and continued. “Who was the first pony you fell in love with, Nova Shine?”

Images and memories of Twilight immediately sprang to his mind. The scent of lavender, the soft feeling of her coat, that night in Trottingham… Even more directly, he remembered feeling her, holding her, kissing her, the two of them whispering each others’ name as they held each other before bed for those few nights they could be together before this. It was enough to make him tear up, just a little.

As he refocused on the world around him, however, Lord Star Swirl had a gentle yet knowing smile on his face.

“She must be someone truly special, then.”

“You have no idea,” Nova muttered to himself, smiling warmly at the memories.

“Oh, I think I do,” Lord Star Swirl countered, giving Nova a nice pat on the shoulders. “Did you know I’ve been married twice, Nova Shine?”

No, actually. No he did not. Most books writing about Star Swirl only mentioned his magical ability and wisdom, and while he knew he’d had to have had someone special in order to produce the Lulamoon line, he’d never really given it some thought. Who was the mare who could attract the eye of the great Star Swirl the Bearded?

“I’d heard you were married, but I didn’t know she was your second wife,” he admitted. What else wasn’t in the history books?

“My first wife was everything I could ever have hoped for in a mare,” Star Swirl said, his eyes misting over as his memories took him a thousand miles away. “She was everything I was not, softened my harder aspects, made me a better stallion. She’s gone now,” he added, a faint note of pain behind the words, “but I know I will see her again one day. My second wife, however, could never have replaced her, but I still loved her dearly. In a lot of ways, she was quite the opposite of my first wife. Spirited, fiery, a little bit full of herself, but she was one of the few ponies who saw me for me, and not me for the wizard that I am.”

Star Swirl’s gaze returned to him, and Nova could feel a strange significance behind his words, as though he wanted Nova to learn something, or at least see what he was trying to get across.

Damn old ponies and their cryptic double-meanings…

“Clover knows you, Nova Shine,” Star Swirl continued when he didn’t respond. “She doesn’t see you as a pathway to Princess Celestia or Luna, for she is already Princess Celestia’s apprentice. She doesn’t see you as a meal ticket, for she is already in a rather cozy position. She doesn’t see you as a status symbol by virtue of your magical talent, for she herself is a prodigy. You could certainly do far worse.”

“Oh believe me,” Nova sighed, “I’m having to deal with worse.”

“All the more reason why you should choose someone you know is interested in you, and not something about you,” Star Swirl said quietly. They were heading toward the northern outskirts of the city. There had been a large tower that was being built here over the last several weeks, though Nova’d never looked into why.

They continued in silence, as Nova didn’t particularly want to continue this thread of conversation, but Star Swirl, it seemed, had other plans. As they made their way out of the city, he gave a quick glance in each direction to make sure no one was around them– no one was within Nova’s energy-sensing range, so he was certain of this– and then took a deep breath.

“Are you, perhaps, waiting to return to your own time and to the mare you are clearly so fond of?”

Nova clenched his eyes shut and let out an annoyed sigh.

“You didn’t think I wouldn’t figure it out?” Star Swirl asked, sounding amused. Nova gave Star Swirl a rather furtive glance to see what his reaction was, and discovered that Star Swirl looked quite entertained by Nova’s attempts at keeping this under wraps. “Meta and I have been pen pals since I first met him. That, and with a spell blowback that large, it’s clear you must have come to this time from somewhen quite a ways out.”

“Figures,” Nova muttered to himself. It was starting to feel like it was only a matter of when, not if, everyone found out.

“Oh, you needn’t worry about other ponies finding out,” Star Swirl warmly patted him on the shoulder. “Forgive me for being boastful, but I am rather cleverer than most ponies, and I’m one of the select few who could possibly have sensed that ripple left upon the world, much less been able to piece together that it was clearly the result of temporal traversal.”

“Is it really boasting if it’s true though?”

Star Swirl grinned. “Ah, perhaps not. It is why my tower is situated all the way out here, though,” he added as they passed beyond the last few buildings on the outskirts of the city. “I need a nice, isolated aerie where I can properly keep an eye on things up north. Sombra has gotten remarkably active lately, and I intend to serve as a deterrent should he ever get any funny ideas.”

Nova frowned at that. The King’s words were sticking with him despite the knowledge of his own time of his destruction. When all you think is safe, then shall I come. When three are sealed in stone, then shall I come. When Harm’ny reigns again, then shall I come.

“I wouldn’t worry about him,” Star Swirl advised, giving him another friendly pat. “I am more than a match for Sombra, and between you and me,” he lowered his voice rather conspiratorially, “I’ve never had to unleash all of my magical ability before, so whatever he believes about me is false.”

“Not even against Lord Tirek?” Nova asked, surprised. Star Swirl hadn’t lied, and he wasn’t preventing Nova from reading his energy.

“Not even against Lord Tirek. Ah, here we are,” Star Swirl pushed past some untamed brush to reveal a simple tower standing here, hidden from sight by the trees and shrubbery. As Nova glanced at the surrounding plant life, Star Swirl chuckled again.

“After construction was finished, I used magic to accelerate the regrowth, all the better to hide this tower away. Don’t need ponies clamoring outside my home now, do I?” Nova grumbled at that one, recalling the angry reactions when Clover the Clever had been selected as the Faithful Student. It had cost him several bits to repair his windows after some mares had thrown heavy things through them.

Where had they even gotten a glockenspiel?

Star Swirl approached the door and pushed it open, revealing a spiral staircase that led toward the upper floors. With a welcoming gesture, he let Nova pass while he stayed below to lock the door behind him. Nova trotted up the stairs to emerge into a… wait.

This room was larger than the outside of the tower! The tower was only about thirty meters across, but this room looked about seventy in diameter, easily! There was an entire bedroom, a kitchen, an office, even a room that appeared to be intended for magical study! All of this fitting into a tower that had absolutely no room for it! Of course, almost none of it was furnished just yet, but there were still a few odds and ends scattered around.

“Ah, I see you have stumbled upon my little remodeling project,” Star Swirl observed from behind him. “Yes, I personally find enclosed and hastily-constructed towers to be a bit… ah, restricting.”

“How did you…” Nova looked every which way. Not even his energy-sensing could figure out how he did it! Everything seemed perfectly normal!

“A little bit of space manipulation here, an extremely efficient and undetectable shrinking spell there, and…” he trotted forward and tapped his nose, “a good showpony never reveals their secrets.”

“Impressive,” Nova grinned, looking it all over. Space manipulation was probably way out of his league and he couldn’t sense any obvious spell auras, but that didn’t stop him from trying to piece together how it was possible.

“Do keep your eyes out, won’t you?” Star Swirl asked, his own eyes narrowing as a deep frown replaced his easygoing smile. “I have an… uninvited roommate that I’m looking to evict.”

“So you brought me here to help you kick him out?” Nova asked, fighting back a snort. “I thought I was here to help you carry luggage.”

“And I do. Here, hold this,” he replied, his horn glowing white for a split-second before a plain glass jar appeared in his hooves, which he promptly gave to Nova. Nova took the glass jar, eyeing it closely. What was this all about?

Star Swirl's horn glowed again, and the jar glowed white for a few seconds before it faded. “There,” he said, now looking around the tower’s many rooms. “When I give the signal, open the lid.”

“The signal for what?”

Star Swirl didn’t answer. Instead, a wave of light blasted outward from his horn, and after a moment, Nova caught sight of something this wave of light had revealed.

A strange, head-shaped creature was floating up in the rafters of this tower, with beady red eyes that were looking around the room. White tendrils hung from its base, languidly waving in the lack of wind. As soon as the creature noticed it was discovered, it let out a shrill screech, causing Nova to clamp his hooves over his ears, dropping the jar onto the ground.

“Open it!” Star Swirl shouted, throwing up a shield just as the creature opened its mouth wide and launched a fireball at them. The ball hit the shield with a loud ping! but was instantly snuffed out rather than bouncing outward. Nova fumbled on the ground for the jar, before picking it up and yanking the lid off.

The creature let out another shriek, but it was powerless to fight as an unseen force seemed to suck the creature right out of the air and into the jar, which Nova capped as soon as it was entirely inside. The jar began to glow with an eerie and familiar orange light, and Nova felt a prickle at the back of his neck. Star Swirl had just used a Soul Jar to capture… whatever this was.

“Something the matter?” Star Swirl asked, giving him a concerned glance. “Never seen a ghast before?”

“A what?”

“A ghast,” Star Swirl repeated, tapping the jar. “Nasty creature. Not native to this plane, somehow found its way in, but got imprisoned in Tartarus. Normally it’s invisible and intangible, but when my spell made him become solid and visible to us, it was prepared to spit fire when it became distressed, as you saw. I’ll take that.” He lifted the jar out of Nova’s hooves. “Needs to be put under some extra security so this little nuisance can’t break its way out of its prison again.”

He trotted over to a shelf in the office area and slid it into some strange receptacle that had been hidden from Nova’s view earlier. Nova took the time to have a bit more of a look around, and when he strode over to Star Swirl's desk, he got a peek at some pages scattered around the top. Most of it seemed to be written in runes and the language of magic, but there was one page written in plain equish.

“From one to another, another to one, a mark of one’s destiny singled out alone, fulfilled...”

Nova stared at the page, trying to puzzle it out. Was it… was it bad poetry? No, it was kept among the magical documentation, so maybe it was a new spell he was working on?

“Aaah, I see you’ve happened upon my latest project,” Star Swirl observed, stepping up next to him to look down at the pages on the desk. “A half-finished spell of mine that I’ve been working on.”

“What will it do?”

“Test the caster,” he replied cryptically. “The spell is half-finished on purpose Nova Shine. When the day comes that ponykind is able to complete this spell, then I’ll know that ponykind is ready.”

“Ready?” Nova asked, giving him a suspicious look. “Ready for what?”

Star Swirl simply gave him an impassive smile and tapped his nose again, but offered nothing else. With that, he turned around and, with a flash of white magic and a pop!, conjured a traveling pack, which landed on the ground with a loud thump!, a much heavier thump than its size would indicate.

“Now, a little bit of magical unpacking and… Higitus Figitus!” Star Swirl’s horn flashed white once more. The pack opened up, and different pieces of furniture began to fly up out of it, extremely tiny in size, but growing little by little into their proper dimensions as they flew toward their dedicated spots. These pieces of furniture formed a neat, orderly line as they filed out of the pack and floated toward their destinations.

A loud clattering got Nova’s attention, and he noticed that a tea set was seemingly fighting itself as it tried to fit itself into its new place. “Oh for the love of…” Star Swirl groaned, the spell stopping in its tracks as he dashed over to his tea set and arranged it manually. Nova, meanwhile, noticed that several of the books were arranging themselves out of order and decided to properly arrange them–

---

“Alphabetically?” Twilight asked.

“Alphabetically.”

“Alphabetically what?” Spike asked, looking between them.

Nova replied by rearranging Twilight’s copies of The Thunderlight Chronicles out of its previously-numerical order and into alphabetical order instead. As usual, Twilight had to suppress a groan. Spike looked even more confused than before.

“Sorry, just one of those petty acts I do to annoy her from time to time,” he shrugged. Spike just rolled his eyes. No doubt he was going to be the unfortunate soul to correct this later. “Anyway…”

---

“Oh, thank you,” Star Swirl said, preparing to resume the spell now that he had finished sorting out the little spat between the different pieces of his tea set.

“Why the magic words?” Nova asked, arching an eyebrow. “You and I both know that spells don’t require incantations unless they’re spells invoked by the Ancient Language.”

“Ancient Language?” Star Swirl tilted his head. “My dear stallion, that ‘ancient language’ that can invoke magic is called Low Alicornian. How do you know of its existence? I have taken great pains to ensure that precious few know about it.”

Nova shrugged. “Something from my own time. I only know one word from it, anyway. My teacher put me to sleep with it.”

“Aaah,” Lord Star Swirl nodded. “Slytha. The word itself cannot invoke magic on its own, just as magic itself cannot be invoked by anything other than willpower. Nevertheless,” he gave Nova a severe frown, “this language is not to be trifled with. I use magic words as something of a showpony’s tell, you see. An indication that I’m about to do something particularly grand. Though for what it’s worth, I may retire the habit. Ponies these days don’t like a little bit of wordplay anymore.”

Nova snorted. Star Swirl, however, simply flashed his horn white and the furniture and other objects continued levitating their way out and arranging themselves around the tower. A few minutes later, and the tower looked as though it had been lived in for years, a roaring fire was crackling merrily in a nearby hearth, and the warmth it emitted filled the room with a cozy and comfortable heat.

“Many thanks for helping me out today,” Lord Star Swirl said, shaking Nova’s hoof. “While I could have done it myself, I appreciate you taking the time to help me all the same, especially since it gave me an opportunity to meet you alone.”

“No problem at all. Pleasure was all mine,” Nova replied sincerely. Oh he was so going to lord this over Twilight…

“If there’s anything I can do for you, any spells or insights I can provide, do not hesitate to ask.”

The wave of light washing over the room, forcing the ghast to become visible to their eyes and tangible to their hooves… would that work on a certain intangible enemy from his own time?

“Any spells you can provide?” he asked, already thinking of this spell’s utility in his own time.

“Within reason,” Star Swirl clarified, giving him a friendly pat on the shoulder. “No dropping meteors out of the sky.”

“How about that wave of light you cast earlier? The one that solidified the ghast?”

Star Swirl grinned.