With Great Power...
The Apprentice, the Student, and the Charlatan
Chapter 19 - With Great Power...
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For the third time in three days, Twilight watched the landscape of Equestria zoom by outside the train window. It was only a few minutes outside of Ponyville, not even enough time for the town to vanish from view, but she still enjoyed the surroundings.
Nova didn’t care about the surroundings, though. At this particular.point in time, his thoughts were on the mare currently laying her head on his shoulder. He still half-couldn’t believe that he was finally back. It had seemed a lot longer than it actually was that he was separated from her, but he didn’t care about that anymore. All that mattered was that he was back, and that he now had one thing separating Twilight from him: Envy.
“So,” began Twilight, keeping her head on his shoulder, “what happened after you got back?”
“Quite frankly? Almost nothing,” Nova answered, which drew a bit of an annoyed groan from his marefriend. “But I’ll indulge you on the parts that actually had some semblance of importance, which basically boils down to my first day back and yesterday walking over to Ponyville.”
At the mention of his walk, Twilight raised her head and glanced at the bandage around his middle. During the night, the previous bandage had been bled through, so she replaced it. The wound would still take some time to heal, but at what point would it close?
“So, it felt like as soon as I stepped on that tile…”
{T} {A} {T} {S} {A} {T} {C}
As soon as the magic started, it stopped. Despite the short work of the spell, Nova immediately knew it had worked. The air had become thicker and mustier, and the walls around him showed signs of decay that had not been there when he had entered the vault.
He looked around in time to see that Princess Celestia was not there to pull him out, and he grinned. He was back! Now it was only a matter of time before he could see Twilight again!
He bolted out of the vault, ascended the long ramp at top speed, and burst out into the Everfree Forest.
At first, he had forgotten to not expect a city beyond the walls of the Vaults. He had been quite startled to find a jungle outside, but he quickly enough got over it and started to make his way toward the trail back to Trottingham, but stopped.
I wonder how the Old Castle looks, he thought, so he decided to go see it. Having only seen it in its constructed state, he found it disheartening to find that though the whole castle was still standing, the main portion was crumbling.. Still, he continued forward and set to looking around the Chapel Tower, which still looked to be in good enough shape to explore.
Before, it had been nothing but a place where weddings and the like could be held, so Nova was not surprised to see a barren room atop the stairs. Before, he and Clover had duelled before the princesses in this very chamber, a duel which he won almost by a landslide.
He returned outside, noting that the Elements of Harmony had been removed from their little pedestal, which he found to be quite encouraging. At the very least, he was within three years of his younger self’s departure.
When he had looked over the Old Castle long enough, he set off along the trail away from Ponyville, toward Trottingham. Just in case it was the wrong date, he didn’t want to go to the place where he was most likely to run into his past self. Trottingham was still a risk, but not nearly as big of one.
He arrived at the village within the hour and noted that the village was in the middle of spring, nearing summertime. It was hard to tell seasons in the thick jungle where it was nearly always hot.
Upon entering the town, he made his way over toward a nearby stand selling copies of the Equestria Daily, and snatched one up to look at.
May 16th, 1003ANM
Seven months early, he thought. Well at least I’ll be exactly two years older when I get back.
But before he could do anything else, he had a pony to pay a visit to.
He had come out in the early morning, at about seven o’clock. The train to Canterlot got him there in another few hours, right around lunchtime, where he bolted toward the Castle. As expected, the guards barred his entrance.
“Nopony enters without proper clearance! State your name and business!” the stern guardspony curtly said to him.
“My name is Nova Shine, Her Majesty Princess Luna’s Night Apprentice. I need to speak to both Princess Celestia and Princess Luna as soon as I can.”
“Night Apprentice, eh?” asked the guard. “Then what have you to say about that?”
The idea was Princess Luna’s that he would have a password with the guards to show his authenticity, particularly after the wedding in Canterlot only a month and a half before.
“Trotterdam,” he replied, at which the guards stepped aside.
“You may pass,” he said, but Nova was already cantering down the hall toward the throne room, passing several ponies on his way.
A second set of guards barred the door to the throne room, which Nova knew meant extra security, but why? Something had to have happened that prompted that, even after the wedding. Nevertheless, he repeated his name and business to the guard, before adding the personal touch of his cloak to make sure Princess Celestia knew he was the older one.
“Princess Celestia! Night Apprentice Nova Shine to see you, ma’am!” the guard called inside.
“Send him in,” he heard her say.
The guard motioned with his head for him to continue, and Nova strode inside the familiar Unicornia Palace throne room. Celestia was seated on what was once Princess Platinum’s throne, and she looked rather tense.
“Ah, Nova Shine!” she said with a slight start, followed by a smile. “To what do I owe the… pleasure…”
She trailed off, and her smile faded as she recognized him.
“Oh,” she said, looking very surprised, “oh my, it’s you, isn’t it? The one I fought alongside?”
Nova nodded and bowed. Princess Celestia’s eyes widened, and she lifted a hoof to her mouth in shock.
“You’re early,” she said, standing up and starting to walk down to where she could inspect him.
“Better than being late, I suppose,” he noted. “Where’s Princess Luna?"
“I’m here,” came a voice from behind Nova. “It’s not like you to come to Canterlot, Nova. It must be…”
She too trailed off. When Nova turned his head to look behind his tail and see what she was doing, she was frozen there with a dumbfounded look on her face. He smiled at her.
“It’s been a while, Princess Luna,” he said, turning himself around and walking up to her.
“Yes, it… it has,” replied Luna breathlessly, still gazing at Nova in shock. “But… but you weren’t supposed to come back for… what, seven months? Something like that?"
“Oh, you remembered the date?” asked Nova, turning to Princess Celestia with a raised eyebrow. Princess Celestia smiled and waved a dismissive hoof.
“Not exactly,” she said. “I wrote the date on the last page of my diary, and every year when I hit the end, I would buy a new diary to write in and add the date to the end of it as a reminder.”
“How many diaries do you have?”
“Only about one thousand two hundred eighty” she replied. “I started having to store them in my personal Canterlot Bank vault, which had robberies attempted on it more than once."
She smirked.
“The thieves expected items of value inside, possibly even financial records to modify, and instead, they found diaries.”
The trio shared a collective laugh for a moment, though Luna’s was little more than two or three forced “ha’s.” She was still apparently in blatant shock. Perhaps she didn’t remember he was from this time, until he appeared right before her eyes? After all, she had lost her power as a result of Nightmare Moon, and had to work to reattain it. Perhaps her memory was tied to this?
“Princess Celestia?” Nova asked, turning back around toward the older sister, “does she remember me?”
“Of course I do!” she snapped. “I just… I…”
When Nova cast his gaze back to her, she had her head turned to the side to avoid meeting his eyes.
“I didn’t,” she said apologetically. “I mean, I remembered who you were, I remembered the name Nova Shine, but I forgot it was… well, you. If I had remembered you were coming back, I might not have taken on another Night-- wait.”
Nova snickered as Luna put two and two together and her jaw dropped again. Took her long enough.
“You’re the same pony as my current student!”
“Aaaand Princess Luna just won a million bits!” exclaimed Nova, clapping his hooves together. Princess Celestia turned her head away and covered her muzzle with a hoof to avoid Luna’s annoyed glare.
“You didn’t help me remember him?” Luna asked softly.
Nova felt all the warmth that had been in the room drain almost instantly. Celestia’s eyes widened suddenly, and Princess Luna strode past Nova to confront her.
“You didn’t tell me that my favorite pupil, a pony I barely remembered, was the exact same one that I was educating, at your request!? You didn’t see the need to tell me!?”
Celestia opened her mouth to answer, but she stopped suddenly.
“She’s here,” she stated sharply to Luna, who frowned.
“We are not done with this discussion, sister,” she said coldly. “I will pursue it as soon as you have finished explaining the situation to Twilight Sparkle.”
“Wait, Twilight’s here?” Nova asked.
“Yes,” said Celestia. “I have summoned her. You see, after a thousand years, the Empire to the North has resurfaced, though Sombra now openly calls it the Crystal Empire, but of course you know that. Twilight Sparkle has been summoned because I believe she would be the perfect pony to travel north to it and ensure Sombra’s influence is permanently dealt with.”
“Then I probably need to make myself scarce,” Nova said. “She’s only met me once before today, and that was Trading Day those years ago.”
“Wait,” called Luna.
Nova, who was already on his way back out, turned and raised an eyebrow.
“Give us your cloak.”
Wordlessly and immediately, Nova took off his cloak and levitated it over to Princess Luna. One it was within her control, it shimmered. Nova noted from the energy coming from that nexus of spells that she was fixing his cloak, upgrading some of the spells woven into it, and adding a few more.
After a few moments, the light-blue magic that had covered the cloak vanished, leaving it to flutter down to Princess Luna’s waiting hoof. She inspected it for a moment before proffering it back to Nova.
“I have added several enchantments to the cloaks over the years,” she explained as Nova took the cloak and started inspecting it. “Naturally, I brought it up to the standards as they were when Comet was the Night Apprentice, and then I enhanced it further. I also took the liberty of repairing the spellshield woven into the fabric. I’ll need to teach you how to do all of this by yourself so that I don’t have to constantly repower your cloak every time you run its enchantments dry.”
Nova swung the cloak on around him again, noting that it felt slightly lighter than before, somehow.
“Thank-you, Princess,” he said gratefully.
“One more thing,” added Luna.
“Two more,” said Celestia quickly, which did not do her any favors in making Luna any less annoyed. “The day after you arrive where you were sent back, I will be expecting you here.”
“Yes, Princess,” Nova said.
“Finally,” continued Princess Luna as if Celestia had not interrupted her, “I have little left to teach you, so whenever I do approach you about teaching you anything, it will be at my discretion and when I am not currently teaching your younger self. Just giving you, as ponies say, a ‘head’s-up.’”
“I have to go,” said Nova, bowing to both of them. “Thank-you both for this meeting.”
“Oh, and Nova, do you have anything to live on until you’re back where you left off?” asked Celestia, just as Nova had reached out a hoof to push open the door.
“Yeah,” he answered. “I had something in mind. I just have to get into and out of Neighton without me seeing myself.”
With that, he pushed open the throne room door and trotted back out toward the entrance. However, as he was so preoccupied thinking about where he would live for the next seven months and such, he didn’t pay too much attention to the surroundings, narrowly missing several ponies and culminating in a collision.
“Ugh!” grunted Nova as he landed on his rump.
“Oh my goodness, I am so sorry!”
Nova froze. That voice...
It’s her…
Nova looked up to see Twilight Sparkle, wearing her usual saddlebags laden with books, quills, parchment and the like looking down at him with concern.
“Are you okay?” she asked, offering a hoof, which he took and she pulled him to his hooves.
“Yeah,” he answered, “I’m fine.”
“Are you sure?” she asked, tilting her head. “I mean, I did hit you pretty hard, and with me carrying all of these books, all that momentum--”
“Yes, Twilight, I’m fine,” he repeated a little more forcefully. “I just have something important I was thinking about, and I really need to go take care of it.”
“Well, if you say so,” she said. She paused and looked into his eyes. “Sir, are you… crying?”
“Wha-- no!” said Nova, hastily wiping his eyes. “It’s just allergies. Somethin’ in the air.”
“Well, okay then. It was nice talking to you. Sorry I ran into you.”
“No, no, it’s fine,” he said. “You’d better get going. Don’t you have something important you need to do that needs all those books and stuff?”
“Oh!” she exclaimed. “Yes, I need to go and see Princess Celestia as fast as I can.”
“Well, might want to get on that,” Nova said, waving with a hoof up the hallway toward the throne room. “Well, I’ll see you around, Twilight Sparkle.”
With that, he turned and trotted off, leaving Twilight to stare after him in confusion.
How did he know my name? she thought.
However he did, it still probably wasn’t as important as the test Princess Celestia wanted her to take. That being said, she galloped up the hall to the throne room door, which stood ajar, and she could hear Princess Luna and Princess Celestia speaking inside. Not wanting to disturb their discussion, she stood in the entry as they both spoke to each other while looking up at Cadance and Shining Armor’s new stained glass.
“...and when she does,” said Princess Celestia to her sister, “we’ll know that she is that much closer to being ready.”
Twilight cleared her throat. Celestia and Luna glanced at her for a moment.
“Trust me, little sister,” Celestia whispered to Luna, who started walking out.
“You wanted to see me? To give me a test?” asked Twilight as Princess Luna strode past and gave her the merest of glances. “I brought my own quills, and plenty of paper to show my work,” she added, levitating her saddlebags off of her, causing a roll of parchment to unfurl itself from Twilight all fifty or so yards to Princess Celestia’s hooves.
“Sorry, sorry!” cried Twilight apologetically, trying desperately to roll up the parchment, but Princess Celestia levitated it before her and simply rolled it up in a trice.
“This is a different kind of test,” she said somewhat sharply, replacing everything that had fallen out back to their places in Twilight’s saddlebags. “The Crystal Empire has returned.”
{T} {A} {T} {S} {A} {T} {C}
“So, that pretty much sums up almost everything that happened my first day back,” said Nova. “Well, that’s not counting what happened when I was trotting down Canterlot Mountain later that day.”
“What happened then?” asked Twilight.
“Nearly got run over,” he said. “Twisted my ankle on a bad step, fell over just as a wagon came up the path, and out of reflex, I hit a wheel with magic and knocked it loose. Caused some pretty extensive damage to the wagon, but nothing a few bits couldn’t replace, and given that wagon was going to Canterlot, I was banking on the pony inside to have a few to spare."
“You do realize that this means you’re the one who trashed Trixie’s wagon and contributed to her coming after me a few weeks after that day, don’t you?” asked Twilight.
“You ended up winning that duel,” Nova pointed out. “I see your point, but I won’t lose any sleep over it. And speaking of Trixie, I have to start covering some of the stuff that happened in between that day and yesterday now.”
He leaned back in his seat and put his hooves behind his head in a relaxed pose.
“So first off, I rented an apartment in Manehattan again. It had been a while, so I just lived there up until a couple of days ago. Now, remember when all the nightmares first started happening? You know, the ones that got me to come stay over at Golden Oaks to do research?”
“Yeah, why?”
“Well, it was me, Twilight.”
Twilight gave him a confused look. “What do you mean it was you?”
"It was me, Twilight,” he repeated firmly. "I'm the one who gave us all nightmares."
“What are you talking about? Envy cast those spells on us,” she said.
“As a matter of fact,” explained Nova, “she did not. The only nightmare she induced was the one you suffered in Trottingham. I induced all of the others.”
Twilight stared at him. Nova couldn’t really tell if she was angry at him or not. He had figured that, since the nightmares were past, there wouldn’t be any problems, but it appeared as though she was inching toward a magical explosion the likes of which Nova had only seen in himself in The Cloak and Dagger when his father had made him so angry, he had let loose that burst of magic.
“You mean to say,” Twilight said in a voice that spoke volumes of her efforts to keep control, “that those hours of sleep I lost, those nightmares we had, everything that led up to us going to Trottingham, those nightmares that made it easier for Trixie to be possessed, and even that last one in Trottingham, all of that was you!?”
“Not all of that.” replied Nova, not even slightly perturbed by Twilight’s furious look. “I’m not responsible for Envy possessing Trixie and neither are you,” he said quickly, because he had a correct feeling Twilight was about to snap at him about it being her fault instead. “It’s not really Trixie’s fault either. None of us could have predicted this with Envy’s curse on herself. It just happened, we have to live with it, and we’ve got to do everything in our power to save her."
Twilight glowered at him, but he continued.
"As for the one in Trottingham, well," Nova shrugged, "looking back on that time, seeing you panicked was what really spurred me to defend you, so I did what I had to do to save both of our skins. Frankly, the reason why I induced those nightmares to begin with was because I realized one evening that the reason why the pony who cast those nightmares on us knew us so well so they could cast those nightmares on us... well," he smiled wryly, "it's because it was me all along."
Twilight stared at him for a moment, still far from at peace. After all, she had just found out it was her own coltfriend who had shown her those visions of the Everfree Vaults, ruined her sleep schedule, and generally made those couple of months miserable. But then again, it had led to them getting together...
“You’re mad at me, aren’t you?” he asked, his tone making it perfectly clear the question was rhetorical.
“No, you think?”
“It was just a question,” Nova said, his tone sounding long-suffering, but Twilight wanted to call BS on it. He was probably doing his absolute best to placate her in any way. And yet, if that was true, then why wasn’t he making hasty explanations or something like that? Why wasn't he trying to excuse himself, and owning up?
“Yes,” she sighed. “Would you be mad if you found out your marefriend made you dream things that cost you sleeping hours when you’re not used to and generally making life for those days a living Tartarus?”
“No,” said Nova immediately, and calmly enough to annoy her even more. “Because I’d remember that if it hadn’t ever happened, other things would have happened and I wouldn’t have gotten such an amazing marefriend.”
“Who isn’t egotistical in the slightest,” teased Twilight.
“Or vain,” replied Nova, brushing a few bangs of his mane out of his face.
“Or…” she trailed off, “darn you, Nova. I didn’t expect you to start insulting yourself like that.”
“Wait, who said anything about insulting me? I thought I complimented you, and I thought… oh dear, I think we both just got the wrong impression of each other.”
He smiled.
"Oh, and I did start to influence things that led to the both of us finding Envy," he continued. "Well, only one thing, really. I had gone to my house because I wanted reading material, and I had completely forgotten that that day in particular was the day I came over and found the mention of the Vaults. It was too late to get out of the house, so I just hid myself as best i could with my cloak. Then, when he was about to leave, I knocked the book down to the page in question."
Twilight grunted. She had always thought of it as being entirely too coincidental that Nova's account had mentioned that the book fell to exactly the right page. It just went to show that she was right in the end.
Her eyes fell to the floor, and instantly, they narrowed. There was a certain something there, or rather a certain lack of someone, that tipped Twilight off to the fact that there was something wrong with this.
“Nova, where’s Spike?” she asked.
“We left him at Rarity’s, remember?” he reminded her, but she didn’t take the bait.
“No we didn’t. He came onto the train with us, and he slept in his little basket. Nova Shine you tell me this instant, where is Spike!?”
Nova simply returned her furious stare with a little poker face, but after a moment, he grinned.
“Very perceptive, Twilight,” he said. “Guess that means it’s time to wake up.”
{T} {A} {T} {S} {A} {T} {C}
Twilight’s eyes bolted open. She was still in the compartment; she had been sleeping that entire time, her head on Nova’s shoulder as he peacefully slumbered on the wall next to the window. On the floor, Spike still slept in his basket, curled up and softly snoring.
She sat up, yawned, and cast her gaze out the window. Canterlot was within thirty minutes. They had all been sleeping to make up for the few hours lost the night before, when Nova was still telling his story. But if she had been dreaming the entire time, did that mean his story he had told her was wrong?
Well, duh.
“You couldn’t wait a couple more minutes, could you, Twi?” came Nova’s irritated mumbling from her right. When she looked, she saw that he was content to keep lying there, curled up in his Night Apprentice cloak.
“Were you awake the entire time?” she asked.
“Nope,” he replied, sitting up and stretching. “I was talking to you that entire time.”
“What are you talking about? I was asleep just now.
“I mean, I was dreamwalking inside your mind,” he said casually. “You were dreaming, I paid a visit and changed it all, and I went ahead and told you what happened after I got back. I was starting to wonder when you were going to notice Spike’s absence.”
“Wait, I-- you-- but-- ...huh?”
“I changed your dream, Twi,” Nova explained. “I changed the dreamscape to the train compartment we were in, except I removed Spike from it. This way, we could catch up on the sleep we lost last night and I could explain everything that happened. Except not exactly everything, since you woke up before I could tell you about how I killed all that time, but a good chunk of it.”
“You… dreamwalked?”
“Yep,” said Nova cheerfully. “Princess Luna taught me how, during the seven months I was back. Pretty nifty spell, if I do say so myself. Useful for everything from relaxation to interrogation. I can change the dream to whatever I want, whenever I want as long as I’m the one that initiated the dreamwalking.”
“Does that mean you can dreamwalk into your own dreams?” Twilight asked curiously.
“Good question,” said Nova, nodding. “And the answer is yes, you can. It’s implored, even, because dreamwalking is the first step toward entering another pony’s mind. When you’ve entered their subconsciousness, that makes it easier to enter their consciousness. So, imagine you were entering your own consciousness. It would give you a completely truthful understanding of yourself, with no way to hide your flaws.”
“Have you done it before?”
The question startled Nova. Sure, he had thought about doing it, but there was this niggling feeling at the back of his mind that was telling him that ignorance was bliss enough as is.
“No,” he answered, “but I have thought about it. I just don’t feel like ruining my ego yet.”
Twilight snorted, but lay her head on his shoulder again.
“What did you do until you got back?” she asked.
“Honestly? Not much,” Nova responded. “I basically spent seven months living in Manehattan, learning some advanced stuff from Princess Luna, and going to watch Arsenal whenever I felt like it. That honestly does about sum it up.”
“Really?”
“Yeah,” admitted Nova. “Pretty boring. I did, however, go and watch myself fall in love with you, though.”
Twilight blinked.
“I’m sorry?”
“I went to Brayton,” Nova elaborated. “I went to Trottingham that day we all did. I was so desperate to see you again, I was willing to risk being seen by myself just to see you once a month and a half before I was supposed to, but my cloak came in handy, since it could make me invisible. I saw us during the lights festival, I followed both of us as we made our way to the giant Hearth’s Warming tree, and I watched as my younger self fell head over hooves with you, even if it would take him a few weeks to realize it.”
Twilight stared at him.
“Let me guess, you think that sounded quite creepy, didn’t you?”
“A bit,” admitted Twilight. “You sound like that vampire pony.”
“I take offense to that!” protested Nova. “I did not watch you while you slept!”
“Hey, can you two please keep it down?” grumbled Spike from his basket on the floor, rolling over and stuffing a claw in each ear. “Some of us are trying to sleep!”
“Sorry Spike,” said Twilight.
Spike continued shifting around to find a comfortable position, mumbling darkly under his breath all the while. Nova made a mental note to drop him off at the Sparkles’ on the way up.
“Now, about what happened yesterday morning,” Twilight said.
“Yesterday morning. Well…”
{T} {A} {T} {S} {A} {T} {C}
Nova was practically bouncing down the path to Ponyville from Neighton. This was it. This was the day! As soon as he was sure his younger self had left for Ponyville from the Cloak and Dagger the day before yesterday, he had gone back to his house to spend the next day. And now it was time for him to be reunited with Twilight.
Nothing could tarnish his mood today! It was a perfect day, even beside the circumstances. The weather was slightly chilly, but he loved cold weather, so he left his cloak stored in his Source, eager to enjoy winter.
“Somepony’s in a good mood today,” came a dry remark from his right.
Purely out of reflex, he whirled around to see a large tree, with a pony sitting up on one of its thicker branches, laying back in classic Rainbow Dash pose. A pony with a blue coat and a pale blue mane…
“Trixie!” Nova shouted reflexively. If that was Trixie, then that meant…
“Oh, I think we both know that’s not true, Nova Shine,” said Trixie-- no, Envy--, sliding over and jumping down, where she landed with a graceful roll into a standing position, mere meters from him. Light glinted off of a darkened steel amulet right on her chest, which highlighted a diamond-shaped ruby set into the center.
Nova gaped at it.
“Is that the Alicorn Amulet!?”
It had been hard to ignore the goings-on in Ponyville when it was under Trixie’s iron hoof some five months previously. Nova had heard the name before, and he had made sure to inquire about it to Princess Luna shortly after the incident. They had been working on a place to keep it away from common ponies, but the process was taking a long time, so they had let Zecora continue to keep an eye on it.
“What have you done with Zecora!?” Nova thundered. He considered Zecora a friend, based on the few times they had spoken, and he would be damned before he saw a friend suffer.
“Oh relax, would you?” Envy sighed, shaking her head at him. “The zebra lady’s fine. She doesn’t even know I took it. I just popped into her mind for a brief look-through, then walked off with it in my possession a few minutes later. All she did was stick it in an enchanted tree. Besides, if I went and killed somepony, I’d just have hundreds of guards on me and as good as I am, I don’t think I’d be able to handle all of them at once, including probably you, that mare in the town, and the princesses.”
She paused for a moment, then glared suspiciously at Nova.
“And out of curiosity, how do you know about the Alicorn Amulet and the fact that the zebra lady had it? When I was poking around through her mind, her memories indicated she’d told nopony about it, and this host’s memories indicate she only met you that day she returned seeking Twilight Sparkle’s help. Dear dear, is our Nova Shine doing things he shouldn’t behind the princesses’ backs?”
“Nothing of the sort,” denied Nova flatly. “Surely you must have seen Twilight and I on a date over the last few days. Not even a week ago, if I remember correctly, you tried to trash it.”
“Tried?” scoffed Envy, “I had her knocking you-- wait a minute.”
Her eyes bulged as yet another revelation regarding him came to her.
“That was you!? That same little stallion was you!?”
“That’s right,” said Nova, nodding. “You’re the reason I went back to the past and turned you into… this. Finding out more about you and how to beat you, that is.”
“I thought you were just him reincarnated, at first,” she admitted, seeming to shake off the revelation quite easily Nova supposed after all the other things she had learned about him, this one had to have been pretty soft. “I mean, I knew that other mare wasn’t her, even if she looked the same, so I thought the same about you in the Vaults. So that was the younger you, eh? I suppose it’s a good thing I didn’t kill you when I had the chance.”
“I guess,” said Nova, shrugging. “Wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey and all that."
“You know,” Envy said with a small smile, “it’s a good thing I wasn’t using a host body back then, when we fought each other while Luna was rampaging.”
“Why not?”
“Because you never saw that I can operate my host body like a puppet, even when I’m right behind you.”
Nova whirled around, catching the briefest glimpse of a green coat before there was a sharp, stabbing pain in his back.
Nova cried out in pain and shock, but before he could even fall over, he was lifted off the ground and tossed into a nearby tree by magic. By the purest luck, he hit on his side, which only jostled whatever was in his back instead of driving it further in.
He reached around, desperately trying to reach whatever it was, and felt the hilt of a knife. He tried to stand up, but his hooves gave way. Both Envy and Trixie trotted up to him and leered down.
“The game is up, Nova Shine,” Envy said in triumph. “All I have to do is pull this dagger out and you’ll bleed to death right here. No one will find you, and you’ll never see your precious Twilight Sparkle ever again.”
Nova’s vision started fading. He desperately tapped into his magic, but he could do nothing. He was going to die here, before he even got a chance to see Twilight again!
Suddenly, Envy vanished and Trixie whirled around, before galloping off somewhere he couldn’t see. Nova had a brief blurry view of a yellow pony with a pink mane entering his view, heard screams of panic that sounded strangely distant, and he felt hooves prodding him faintly while he tried to communicate with her.
He felt hooves press hard against the stab in his back. The wound ignited and he groaned, but the hooves pressed all the harder.
Finally, when it all became too much for him, he blacked out.
{T} {A} {T} {S} {A} {T} {C}
“And the next thing I remember,” continued Nova, “I was lying in your loft bed.”
He paused.
“Normally whenever I fantasize about waking up in your bed, it typically involves a romantic scenario, but a stallion takes what he--”
He bit off the end of that statement because Twilight punched him in the shoulder, but that didn’t stop him from laughing.
“And here I thought you had changed,” said Twilight, “but after a thousand years, you’re still the same Nova Shine as you were when you left.”
“Is that… relief I hear?” asked Nova, raising an eyebrow at her.
“”W-well, yeah,” she said, suddenly going slightly pink, “I just thought, with last night and all, that you might have gotten a lot, well, broodier.”
“Well, not sorry to disappoint,” responded Nova, looping a foreleg around Twilight’s shoulders and drawing her close. “Princess Luna made it sound like I changed into some kind of hard, merciless stallion when she told me about it before I left.”
He glanced out the window. Canterlot was fast approaching. They had to only be a few more minutes out.
“We’d better start getting our stuff together,” Twilight said, having peeked over his shoulder.
“Yeah,” agreed Nova, and they started to prepare to disembark.
{T} {A} {T} {S} {A} {T} {C}
After dropping Spike off at the Sparkles’, the two of them started making their way up Mane Street toward the road that led to Canterlot Castle. The Sparkles had seemed quite puzzled at Nova’s sudden growth spurt and longer mane, but that didn’t stop Night Light from giving him a good old-fashioned bear hug on arrival. After spending a few moments catching up and dropping off their baggage, the two of them departed.
“You know,” said Nova, “I think we dropped the bags off at the wrong place.”
“What do you mean?” asked Twilight.
“I mean, I think it’s time you stayed at my parents’ house.”
Twilight stared at him for a moment.
“Would they mind?”
“Not at all,” said Nova. “At least, I don’t think they would. Dad’s always loved having guests, and seeing as how I’m sure Mom would love to meet you and our parents are bound to meet together some time, we might as well do it today when we’re done with the princesses.”
They passed through the front gate of the castle and made their way toward the Throne Room.
“I wonder if Aegis is here,” muttered Nova to himself, though Twilight heard. “Probably guarding the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.”
“At least you’ll see him tonight,” Twilight said. “If we’re going to your parents’ house, I’m sure they’ll invite him along.”
They stopped before the two guards watching the Throne Room door. After explaining their business, and after the guards poked their heads in and confirmed that they were expected, they allowed the two of them to pass.
The first thing Nova noticed was that both Luna and Celestia were there. Normally, it was only the older sister. This meant that this had to be pretty important if it involved both of them. There was that, and there was the fact that both of them were standing several meters in front of the throne.
The second thing he noticed was that there were three small circles drawn with magical powder on the floor. Nova recognized the powder instantly when it shimmered different colors on its own, despite the angle of light. Magic powder was simply a solid substance used in many magitech inventions that allowed technology to work flawlessly with the arcane, as it was an excellent generator of magical energy given a small spark.
“Night Apprentice Nova Shine, Faithful Student Twilight Sparkle, welcome,” said Princess Celestia in an oddly-formal voice. “I would ask, Nova, that you stand in the center of those three circles, and that you, Twilight, would join Luna and I up here,” she added, patting a spot to her right.
Nova and Twilight did as they were told, giving each other puzzled looks as they did so.
“Now, to explain,” said Luna, “this was a public ceremony back in the Old Times, even if there aren’t any other ponies to watch it today. So we couldn’t just advertise to your past self that your future self would go through this.”
“What is ‘this?’” asked Nova.
“You’ll see,” said Luna with a wink and a smile.
After Twilight had taken her place, Princess Celestia drew herself up to her fullest height, as did Luna. Twilight did so hesitantly after a moment, watching him with some anxiety.
“Today the three of us bear witness to the graduation of Nova Shine from his apprenticeship to me,” announced Princess Luna to the otherwise-empty room.
“What?” said Nova and Twilight, but Princess Luna was continuing.
“By demonstration of his mastery of magic, namely the single-hoofed casting of Time Stasis, I, Princess Luna, have deemed the unicorn Nova Shine, erstwhile my Night Apprentice, to be worthy of graduation to the rank of Night Master.”
She turned to Princess Celestia, even as Nova and Twilight shared surprised looks.
“Do you agree with my decision, sister?”
“I, Princess Celestia, do agree with Princess Luna’s decision. Present with me as well is my Faithful Student, who can testify his magical abilities, having witnessed them herself.”
Twilight’s eyes fazed out of focus for a moment; Nova had a feeling Princess Celestia was telling her what to say through telepathy.
“I… can attribute that Nova Shine has demonstrated his mastery, despite not being present at the time?” she said, turning to Princess Luna and Princess Celestia to clarify that she had said that correctly. They both nodded, and Twilight visibly seemed to deflate out of relief that she had gotten that right.
“By the power vested in me, as your teacher,” announced Luna in a voice augmented with magic, “I, Princess Luna, do relieve you, Nova Shine, of the position of Night Apprentice and confer upon you the lauded position of Night Master.”
Her horn glowed, as did Princess Celestia’s. After a slight nudge from the elder sister, so did Twilight’s. The three circles of magic powder on the ground began glowing a different color, one for each caster.
Beams of white energy erupted from all three of them, meeting together at a point above Nova, who watched, transfixed.
At the nexus of the energy, a smaller beam shot straight down. Nova instinctively drew his head back, but it wormed around his head and collided with the brooch that held his cloak together.
Nova noticed that while Princess Celestia’s and Twilight’s horns had stopped glowing, Princess Luna’s had not, which meant that she was working the magic from the powder.
After a few moments, the beam of energy broke from the brooch and began to retreat back toward the nexus. Once the beam was gone, the nexus broke and all three beams of energy shrunk back down to their circles of powder until finally, Nova stood in the center of three magic powder circles alone once again.
Both Princess Celestia and Princess Luna smiled at him.
“Congratulations, Night Master Nova Shine,” said Princess Luna with the broadest smile Nova could ever imagine on her face.
Nova looked down at the brooch to see how the magic had affected it. The brooch was no longer just a black stone with a moon-shaped diamond and scroll on it. Now it was a brooch of clear sapphire, with a diamond crescent moon centered in it.
“How do you feel?” asked Princess Luna, still smiling widely down at him.
Nova shrugged.
“Not really any different,” he said. “I kinda expected at least the cloak to change colors, but the sapphire in the brooch is a nice touch.”
“I’ll make sure Spike doesn’t eat it,” Twilight assured him. “Diamonds and sapphires together would be almost irresistible.”
Princess Celestia and Princess Luna laughed.
“So, Night Master,” said Nova. “How exactly is this different from Night Apprentice, minus me not learning from Princess Luna?”
“Good question,” said Princess Celestia. “The Night Master and the Prime Magus, which will be your rank when you graduate, Twilight, are accorded all of the privileges of the high nobility, including the right to sit in on and have a say in any of their private meetings. In addition, you have the authoritative say over any pony not of equal or higher rank in politics, or over any military pony of rank colonel or higher.”
“So, he could even command my brother?” Twilight asked, looking thoroughly amused. “Oh, just wait till I’m the Prime Magus. He’ll never have another dignified moment.”
“Now Twilight,” admonished Princess Celestia, “he is the Prince of his own kingdom now, which means he ranks higher than you or Nova politically. However, you can order around Corporal Aegis, Nova,” she added with a twinkle in her eye to Nova.
“Okay, what’s the story behind this privilege?” Nova asked. “There’s no way it can be here simply because you thought we could embarrass our friends.”
“Another good question,” said Princess Luna. “In the Old Times, we only allowed military ponies to command other military ponies. During the Changeling War, however, the current Prime Magus and Night Master were sent to the battlefield, where they had to step in and command. We added that privilege specifically for that purpose.”
“A privilege that proved useful while Nightmare Moon rampaged,” added Princess Celestia. “Night Master Sanguine and Prime Magus Star Dancer were asked to coordinate the evacuation while the generals fought Nightmare Moon’s shadow forces.”
Following this, silence fell between all of them. Nova was still admiring his new brooch and letting his promotion really sink in, while the Princesses just watched him with smiles. Twilight, however, couldn’t help but feel a slight touch of jealousy toward Nova.
Here he was, a stallion that had been her inferior only months before, to her at least, given Nova’s time in the past, and now all of a sudden he gets promoted ahead of her? She had been studying under Princess Celestia for years longer than he had under Princess Luna! Why is he the one that got promoted!?
“Twilight? Are you okay?”
Twilight blinked. Nova was standing right in front of her, looking very concerned. She nodded quickly.
It’s his day, she reminded herself. He earned the position. This just means I’ll earn mine soon.
Nova watched her for a moment, and Twilight had a feeling he knew what she was thinking. He kept the eye contact between them for a few more seconds, before acknowledging her nod with one of his own.
“Twilight,” he said slowly, “do you mind going and waiting at my parents’ house until I get there? I need to talk to the princesses about something alone.”
Both princesses grins vanished instantly. Nova knew they had to be aware what he was going to ask about. Twilight stared at him, originally somewhat resentful of everypony in the room needing to keep something from her, but she decided to do as she was asked.
“Alright,” she finally said. “Novus Manor, right?”
“Yeah. Right off High Street.”
Twilight started to walk out. Nova and the princesses watched her go. When she reached the door, she hesitated, throwing one last glance back at them, before continuing out.
As soon as he no longer felt her energy, Nova got right to it.
“Why wasn’t she promoted?” he asked immediately, almost accusingly. This was not unnoticed by either of them.
“When we decide to promote our students is our decision, and nopony else’s,” responded Princess Celestia, turning and walking back toward the throne. “I have not seen what I am looking for in her, and thus, I believe that she is not yet ready.”
“She’s stronger than I am,” protested Nova, as he and Luna followed her. “How could she not have--”
“Let me stop you right there,” interrupted Princess Celestia, sitting down. “For starters, this has little to do with strength. This is all about proficiency. Your adventure in the past has given you experience she does not have in both combat situations and otherwise.”
“She battled Nightmare Moon,” Nova pointed out.
“She did not battle Nightmare Moon,” denied Celestia flatly. “She restored my sister, but she never engaged in a duel of magic against Nightmare Moon. She has only really done any kind of combat against Discord, Trixie, and the hordes of Changelings. You, however, have fought ponies in duels both for training and for an actual goal. She has almost no real combat experience, and so I deem her not ready.”
“So for her to be ready to be promoted, you just want to throw her headlong into a battle?” Nova asked before he could stop himself.
“How dare you?” asked Princess Celestia coldly. “You know well enough that we abhor combat. We want her to be ready for it, but we would rather not see her face it at all.”
“Think more on what you have to say before you say it, Nova,” warned Princess Luna, “or else it may get you into trouble.”
Nova bowed his head.
“That was stupid of me to say, and I beg your pardon. Forgive me for sounding too forward with this,” he said, “but do you know what I think?” said Nova, “I think you won’t promote her because of this change that’s going to center around her Princess Luna said was coming.”
The two sisters glanced at each other for a moment.
“It is… related to the reason, but it alone is not,” Celestia admitted. “She has yet to demonstrate that quality in her that we are looking for.”
“And I have?” Nova asked skeptically. “Look, Time Stasis is a hard spell to cast--”
“The hardest,” said Princess Luna.
“--but if I can do it, she can.”
“That’s not true, Nova,” said Princess Celestia. “We have already tested that theory. The week before your assessment, I sent Twilight a copy of the Time Stasis scroll Star Swirl the Bearded composed. She was unable to make head or tail of it. As I understand it, you had extraordinary spell-reading ability but lacked the focus required to cast anything beyond slight aging. You have shown so much improvement since those days, and thus you have shown us the signs we were watching for.”
“But she’s Twilight Sparkle!” Nova protested. “She’s the Element of Magic!”
“Really?” asked Princess Celestia. “I never knew that.”
Nova groaned. “She’s the most powerful unicorn in Equestria, and I’ll be damned if she isn’t! How is she not being promoted!?”
“Because there is still some for her to learn,” Princess Celestia responded. “Another part of the reason we promoted you and not her is because there is almost nothing more you can learn from either of us. But the last reason is probably the most important, and it is tied directly to your promotion.”
“It… is?”
“As the Night Master, you are now able to sit in and have a voice in the private meetings of the House of Nobles,” said Princess Celestia. “Those… well, put simply greedy bastards, have been trying to dig out the floor from under me, so to speak. I can handle them well enough alone, as can Princess Luna, but if all goes well, Twilight will be placed in a position of authority much like your own, and we need you there to prevent her from being used as a pawn in their schemes.”
Understanding flooded through Nova immediately.
“So, in other words, you want to throw Discord’s Apple into the lion’s den?”
Celestia smiled.
“Exactly. The nobles will be highly suspicious of you from the moment you step into that room. They may think you’re nothing more than my or Luna’s agent in their depths, or they may attempt to start to sway you to their side as well. There will probably be a mixture. The point is, your job is to create as much chaos in that house as you can.”
“How exactly can I go about doing that?” Nova inquired, genuinely curious. “If they want to keep me out, they may try to vote everything I introduce down, simply because they think it would benefit you and work against them.”
“I think you just came up with a good idea,” said Luna. “Use that knowledge to your advantage. When they figure out what you’re up to, and start voting for your bills, start mixing in those ideas that benefit them with the ones that don’t. They won’t even be able to tell which is which!”
“They will be so focused on trying to defeat you, Nova,” continued Celestia, “that they will be unable to do anything to affect Twilight when her time comes.”
“This would likely benefit you in the long run as well,” said Luna. “With you stirring up chaos in the midst of the House of Nobles, they may even be unable to do anything to affect you when your time comes.”
Nova’s train of thought came to a crashing halt.
“Wait-- my time?” he asked. “I’m going to go through the same change as Twilight?”
Princess Celestia gave a warning look to her sister, but Princess Luna appeared to pay it no heed.
“Yes, your time,” she affirmed. “For some time, now, we have been guiding you in the same direction as her, with some differences, though only after you returned. We have been preparing you to take your place at her side, as we told your younger self some nights ago.”
“What exactly are you guiding me to be?” Nova asked, an undeniable note of resentment in his voice. Princess Celestia noticed it, but yet again, Princess Luna, it would appear, did not.
“Sister, you are not at liberty to say,” Princess Celestia said sharply, cutting off Princess Luna before she could continue.
Princess Luna looked quite surprised at Princess Celestia’s interruption.
“Why not?” she asked. “If we are to guide him into becoming something, he has a right to know what we are guiding him towards.”
Nova felt a rush of gratitude at his teacher. He had a feeling she knew he would probably have said much the same, and he was thankful it was addressed equal-to-equal, as opposed to subordinate-to-superior.
“The last time I attempted to guide a pony towards this change, her pride in the knowledge got the better of her,” Celestia said. “When I had no choice but to tell her that she had failed, she vanished into the Crystal Mirror, Luna. I thought Sunset Shimmer would have made an excellent--”
She stopped and glanced at Nova, who only felt his resentment at all of this increase.
“I’m not Sunset Shimmer, Princess,” Nova said. “I would still like to know just what it is you want be to be.”
Another thought struck him suddenly.
“Does Twilight even know that you’re leading her into something?” he asked.
“Of course she does,” responded Princess Celestia. “She is well-aware that I am leading her towards becoming the Prime Magus.”
“That doesn’t sound like what you’ve described, Princess Celestia,” said Nova, calling the bluff he knew the Princess had sent his way. “If that were the case, why did Luna say she was continuing to guide me in a position to where I would stand beside Twilight, and not over her? Clearly there’s still something you’re leading us to that is above these positions.”
Princess Celestia sighed heavily.
“Nova Shine, you have no right to ask for our thoughts,” she said. “Luna and I have no obligation to reveal our plans to you, simply because you want to know. This is not the first time this kind of change has happened, even recently, so trust me when I say, ‘I know what I’m doing.’”
Nova’s eyes narrowed.
“You know what you’re doing? That I have no doubt. I was not questioning whether or not you knew what you were doing. What I am questioning is whether the ponies you are manipulating have a choice in the matter!”
“You don’t even know whether it will be good or bad for you!” Princess Celestia responded. “How can you hope to judge something when you don’t even know what you’re in the process of becoming?”
“I know what it won’t involve,” Nova said harshly, “and that’s me getting a say in whether or not I want to go through with this. I would have been perfectly happy to live a normal life with Twilight as I was. Hell, I would have been content to stay Night Apprentice for my entire life. Don’t get me wrong, Princess Luna, I’m thankful that you thought so highly of me to promote me. I’ll still do what you ask of me, and I will not tell Twilight what we’ve spoken about here, because she’s still your student, but you know my position on the matter now.”
Nova turned to leave, but paused.
“Did you get my letter, Princess Luna?” he asked.
“I did,” Luna said, her voice sounding weak after what she had just witnessed. She had known Nova always had a selfish view of destiny, but never did she even think it would come ahead of Princess Celestia’s theoretical plans!
“May I have it?” Nova asked, holding out a hoof.
Princess Luna’s horn flashed, and a small package appeared, which Nova took in his own aura and stored in his Source. With that, he turned, his cloak billowing around him, and strode quickly down the carpet.
“Good day, Princesses,” he said, not even glancing behind them, and left the room, the great doors closing behind him with a soft boom.
When the echoes died, an almost-tangible silence filled the room, and with it, tension between the two sisters.
“We were wrong,” said Princess Celestia after a while, and she sounded very let down, a feeling Princess Luna shared.
“I didn’t… He…” Luna tried to speak, but she kept fumbling over her words. She had been so convinced he had been worthy, and in the end, he had failed. She wanted to withdraw to her room and just keep to herself. She had put all this time and energy into guiding Nova on this path, and now all that time had been wasted.
“Any pony who does not sacrifice his or her own desires to serve a greater good does not deserve to be made an alicorn,” Princess Celestia said in a hard voice. “It has been proven in the past, but also has it been proven that there are those who can change and be counted worthy, despite having failed before.”
Princess Celestia got up and strode over to Princess Luna, who looked downcast, and drew a wing around her in comfort.
“Take heart, sister,” she whispered into her younger sister’s ear, “because he might prove us right, in the end.”
With a short, comforting hug, Princess Celestia drew her sister close, and then let her go. She still had much to do for the day, and in terms of her plans for Nova and Twilight, all she could do was wait for the right time. With any luck, Nova would soon prove their original assumptions and take his place beside both of them, and hopefully Twilight too, as a Prince of Equestria.
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eh Celestia's a bitch
3353936
I disagree. She's doing what's best for Equestria, and that involves tough choices and sometimes a negative approval rate.
3354032
I know, It's just my personal decision I haven't really liked Celestia since the start of the show, plus I think my views have been put Celestia in a negative light thanks to certain fics.
3354032 I agree with you on you statement about Celestia having to make the tough choices, but I personalty think that she could of handled the conversation with a little more tact.
It's interesting, seeing so many people leap to Nova's defense. Maybe it's because so many people dislike Celestia, they'd rather stick to the side of an OC. That or I may have actually designed a good character with relatable flaws. Eh, probably the former.
3354592
It was wording, Nova's personality, a bit of a test, Nova's personality, and Celestia's eye on the future. And Nova's personality. He's got some minor entitlement issues that surfaced at just the wrong time, and his own little issue with ponies controlling his destiny that's been around since Chapter 1. A recipe for disaster that Celestia inadvertently mixed.
3354745 I am not defending the way that Nova acted towards the princesses. I just think that the way that his parents were in his colthood would make him want to forge his own path in life and to find out that somepony is trying to for lack of a better term, force a path on him without telling him were the path was going to end up, would prompt the hostility that was shown by Nova.
This is how i know that i would act if someone was making plans for my life without consulting me
Crap I miss read you comment so none of the above was needed
Sorry about that
3359161
Related.
3378003
Well, I'm in the process of editing, so it may or may not end up happening that way. I'm doing what I can to take my story and make it as good as possible, with my goal being getting this thing on EqD. But let's face it, I'm still a long way from that.
3378009>>3354745
I agree with Nova here. Nobody likes being a pawn, especially when they find out the chess master was a trusted friend.
i understand both sides of the story, i don't hate celestia, she can be related too as well. just think if you had certain foresight to events as well as having experiences like sunset, she would be hesitant to let them know. she is a diety, but she is not perfect, nor should she be expected to be. she probably hates hiding anything from twilight and nova, just like nova had to hide the fact about envy and nightmare moon from her until it was time and she got angry, but i think that experience affected her views of destiny and sacrifice for the greater good, which made her hide a lot, so as to not mess with what was to be, and if she can actually see into the future past what nova told her, this makes her actions, much more understandable. luna is still my fav princess, but celestia can be liked as well:)
Looks like this one's gotten a pile of comments already.
Celestia's position is totally understandable. I mean, when you're raising someone to near equality with you, you can't have them going around questioning your judgement. Or making their own choices. Or insisting on having all the facts. What kind of leader does any of that?
“Any pony who does not sacrifice his or her own desires to serve a greater good does not deserve to be made an alicorn,”
It's not a sacrifice when one gives up a lesser value for a greater one.
9160477
You're starting to see why I chose to rewrite earlier chapters. That phrase could be worded better, like "Anyone who isnt willing to put aside his own desires to push the greater good" or such.
Anyway, enjoying all the comments so far.
Why do I half expect for Nova to go back in time again and somehow become King Sombra, hence his supposed ability to see the future?
And it’s been revealed the appearance change like with Summer begins when a pony is filled with hatred and I could totally see that happening to Nova somehow someway.
And he liked Sombra’s design the most, Sombra knew exactly where to find him, and Sombra basically trapped the Crystal Empire in a really big Time Statis spell.