Semblance of Normalcy
The Apprentice, the Student, and the Charlatan
Chapter 20 - Semblance of Normalcy
“So, what did you want to talk to the princesses about?” asked Twilight, sitting on Nova’s bed as he fell back against it with an audible groan.
“Well, I wanted to ask her why you weren’t promoted like I was,” Twilight felt a small rush of affection for her coltfriend, “and it ended up with me learning a lot I’m not supposed to tell you, culminating with a near-row between Princess Celestia and I.”
“You two had a row!?” Twilight asked incredulously.
“Just about,” said Nova, rubbing his eyes. “Princess Luna took my side a couple of times, but mostly she just stood off to the side helplessly. Yeah, I’m not happy with your teacher right now, but she’s still a princess, so I have no choice but to do as she asks.”
He felt the weight of the bed shift a little and he opened his eyes to find Twilight lying beside him, staring up at the glowing-star-riddled ceiling.
“Did they revoke your promotion?” she asked, but Nova sighed and shook his head.
“No, they didn’t. I’m still the Night Master. But I wish it didn’t have to result in this fighting. They’re supposed to be paragons of harmony, and I just ended up causing a rift between them, simply by disagreeing with Princess Celestia.”
“Hey, if it makes you feel any better, I wasn’t exactly the happiest pony with Princess Celestia today, either.”
“Does this have anything to do with my promotion and your lack thereof?”
“I’d be a liar if I said it wasn’t,” she admitted. “On the bright side, you earned your way out of basement banishment when we get back to Ponyville.”
“Again, I wish I didn’t have to earn it by arguing with your teacher,” he responded, giving her hoof a little squeeze. “I respect her too much after all my time in the past to enjoy arguing with her.”
“Aww, now you’re just saying these things on purpose,” she said, pecking him on the cheek.
“So, how did you know this was my room?” Nova asked. “Having not been here in over twelve years, it took some finding.“
“Well, that’s something I wanted to thank you for, actually,” Twilight stated matter-of-factly. “Your father told me I could go ahead and explore the house while I waited for you, so I did. I was looking through all the rooms for yours, and I noticed a funny, familiar feeling coming from this one. I know my energy-sensing’s not the strongest, but I could still tell that you enchanted those stars.”
“Oh yeah! I forgot about that. Just felt like making them glow in the dark, so I did one night. If I remember correctly, it wasn’t that long before I took my test at Princess Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns.”
“Hey!” called a Neigh Zealand accent from outside Nova’s room, and Sharp Eye poked his head in, “Mister Novus wants to know if you want to invite your parents over, Miss Sparkle.”
“Please just call me Twilight,” corrected Twilight.
“If you say so, Twilight,” said Sharp Eye with a bow.
“And yes, tell him I don’t mind.”
Sharp Eye bowed again and exited.
“You know,” said Nova, looking around at his near-barren room, “I forgot just how much I brought with me when I ran away.”
“So, is Sharp Eye your dad’s butler now, or something?” Twilight asked.
“I think he’s probably just helping him out in exchange for good pay, while not necessarily being a butler. Dad never liked butlers. Always preferred doing things on his own. Case in point, the plants outside,” he added, gesturing out the window toward the veritable jungle of flora in the courtyard outside.
“How does that work, anyway?” Twilight asked curiously, getting up and going to look out the window. “I mean, it looks self-sufficient. Does he ever need to adjust it?”
Nova shrugged.
“Never bothered to ask.”
Twilight continued studying the watering mechanism for some more time, during which Nova looked at his new badge.
So she wants me to create chaos in the government, eh?
“Say Twilight,” Nova started, struck by a sudden thought, “have you explored the Arcanology Lab yet?”
“No,” she said. “I was going to wait until after dinner, when I have more time.” She turned to Nova, her eyes sparkling and a great smile on her face. “I can’t wait! There’s so much your dad was telling me he has in there!”
“Having not been in there myself, I’ll have to take your word for it,” Nova said, falling back down on the bed again.
“Really!? You’ve never been inside!?” Twilight asked incredulously. This was his house! How could he not have been inside an entire section of his own residence?
“Dad never let me in,” he responded, shrugging. “After studying magic for half my life, can’t say I blame him for not letting a colt near volatile magic tools. That and the place is shielded. Only the Lord of the Novus Clan can remove the shield, courtesy of some spellwork laid into the foundation by the stallion who commissioned the manor.”
“Why?” asked Twilight.
“Didn’t want ponies stealing research that wasn’t meant for them, and this was back when the Princesses had my clan doing a lot of spell research. My grandfather’s the one who made the lab open to the public, and this was only after M.I.M. opened up. We still get a lot of their professors, though. Like Professor Hoofman, for example.”
“Isn’t he a doctor now? Or headmaster?”
“He’ll always be a professor to me,” Nova said. “But still, we’ve been associated with several of the biggest names in the study of magic, not the least of which are mine, yours, and Trixie’s ancestors. Even magitech companies call on us for help. Appleture Science and Black Haysa, for example. Two rival companies, two completely different lines of work, contracting us to help them with their research. It’s one reason why my family’s so damn rich. They pay us in stuff, and that stuff proves to help us do our work, and it just snowballs.”
“So, only the Lord of the Novus Clan can open or close the enchantments around the Arcanology Lab, right?” she asked, making sure she got it. Nova nodded. “Okay, and with that being said, does that mean you’ll end up owning this house when you inherit the title?”
Nova opened his mouth to reply, but he stopped. Obviously, the answer was yes, but he had never really given it any thought. He had always planned on living in the Ponyville-Neighton area, especially after he and Twilight had really gotten together. What if Twilight ended up moving back to Canterlot when her studies were done-- no, she wouldn’t. She loved her friends too much.
“Haven’t really thought about it,” he answered honestly. “I mean, sure, I’ve always known I would inherit the house and title eventually,” he clarified, “but never really let it sink in, I suppose. Never thought about exactly what I was gonna do about it. Especially considering my current living arrangement,” he inclined his head in Twilight’s direction. “Plus, there’s also the future to consider.”
“What about the future?”
“What if we end up getting married?” he asked. Twilight blinked and started considering the possibilities, even as Nova continued. “You’ll want to stay in Ponyville, so what would I do with this place? For that matter, what if we ended up having a family? I don’t think the library’s the best place to raise foals, but like I said, you don’t want to leave Ponyville.”
“Uh-huh,” said Twilight vaguely, still thinking of what life would be like if they were married. Ever since her brother and her foalsitter ended up married, she had often wondered about what it was like. What would it be like to have children of her own? Where would they live, like he had asked? What would the sex be like--
Twilight blushed furiously as that particular thought entered her head, but Nova didn’t seem to notice. He was relaxing leisurely on his bed, taking slow, measured breaths. Twilight thought he might be trying to calm himself down after his argument with her teacher.
However, she had to wonder. It wasn’t unheard of for couples in Ponyville to have active intimate lives, and yet Nova didn’t seem to adhere to that particular view. Hay, she knew for a fact Rainbow Dash had been one of the most sexually active mares in the history of the Junior Speedsters (no thanks to Gilda’s constant teasing). The thing is, nopony had a problem with it. Nova, however, never seemed to touch on the subject.
“Nova, do you mind if I ask a personal question?” she asked.
Nova cracked open an eye and glanced at her for a moment before nodding.
“Go ahead.”
“Why haven’t you and I… well, you know…” she trailed off. Nova opened his other eye and stared at her curiously.
“Why haven’t we… what, Twi?”
“Umm… you know…”
Goodness, why was this so embarrassing? She had faced down Nightmare Moon, Queen Chrysalis, Discord, and Sombra without flinching, and she could even talk about it just fine with her friends, even more confidently in a purely scientific context, too. And yet when she wanted to bring it up with the one stallion she was closest to, her confidence escaped her!
“C-copulated,” she stammered out.
Nova gave her a funny look for a moment.
“Pardon?” he asked.
“Copulated,” she repeated more clearly.
Nova blinked stupidly, suddenly at a loss for words.
“I mean had sex!” said Twilight in exasperation, taking his silence as him still not getting it. “Engaged in coitus! Done the deed! Taken our relationship to the next level--”
A bit of magic clamped over her mouth gently, stopping her. When Twilight looked up at Nova, she could see he was blushing almost as much as she felt like. After a moment, he released her muzzle and started laughing.
“What?” asked Twilight indignantly. “What’s so funny!?”
“N-nothing,” said Nova, before losing himself in a couple more chuckles before he could successfully end his laughing fit. “Sorry. It’s just, I didn’t expect you to ask about that. I thought I would be the one to ask about it first.”
He stuffed a hoof in his mouth and bit down for a moment as he struggled not to smile again.
“So, why haven’t we er… ‘done it,’ yet?” he asked. “Well, to me at least, several reasons. First off, haven’t we only been, you know, together together for only about four days now?”
Twilight opened her mouth, but closed it again. She had forgotten. Nova had only realized the depths of his feelings for her a few days ago. Sure, she had known for some weeks now about her feelings toward him, but they had only really gotten this close recently.
“But that issue aside, I don’t think it’d be a good idea to go too much farther into it,” he continued.
“Why not?” asked Twilight. She honestly didn’t want it to sound like she was being too forward or wanting to rush this. Apparently Rainbow Dash had tried to take things too fast even for her once, and it had been nothing short of a catastrophe, and as a result, she and that particular stallion couldn’t even make eye contact anymore. She would be damned before that were to happen to her and Nova.
“Couple of reasons, I suppose. Some of them I think have to do with why I think we haven’t broached the topic until now.”
“Like what?” she asked.
“The fact that we were raised in Canterlot, Twilight,” he said. “You lived here almost seven years longer than I did, so you must have known about some of the upper class and their scandals with foals born out of wedlock. Just knowing my rotten luck, even outside of your heat season, I‘d still find a way to get you pregnant if we took it further, which means we would suffer the same blows to our reputations as they did, and I’ll be damned if I ever let that happen to you when I could have prevented it.”
Twilight felt a faint smile tug at the corners of her lips, but she resisted it. How was it that he was able to say all the right things today?
“Then there’s the fact that you’re the Element of Magic,” he continued, “and I’m the Night Appren-- sorry, Night Master, now. Like it or not, we are kind of famous. Plus, you’re a national hero four times over and there are colts and fillies that look up to you as their hero.”
“Fillies look up to me?” she asked, surprised. Why would fillies look up to her? She was just a librarian from Ponyville.
“I can think of one off the top of my head,” said Nova, remembering an incident where he had trotted past Dinky Hooves playing with her friends, where Dinky pretended to be Twilight because of how good she was at magic. “Even if we kept it on the down low, somehow I have a feeling Rarity and Rainbow Dash would find a way to get the information out of you, and knowing Rainbow Dash’s big mouth and Rarity’s penchant for gossip…” he trailed off meaningfully.
“The first reason applies,” she finished.
“Exactly. It’s not like I don’t want to-- good gracious, you have no idea the things I’d do to those marvelous flanks of yours--”
No sooner had the words tumbled out of his mouth than he clapped his hooves over them, but Twilight giggled.
“Don’t be sorry. You have no idea the ideas I have for if we get married,” she said in an awfully husky voice.
Alarm bells were already ringing in Nova’s head, warning him that they were venturing into dangerous territory, but thankfully, after a moment’s rather awkward silence, Nova was saved by the timely arrival of Aegis, whom it would seem had been invited to dinner as well. Having not seen Aegis in over two years, Nova had to resist the urge to leap up and embrace his old friend.
“Your mane and tail are longer,” Aegis noted immediately upon seeing Nova.
“Hello to you too, Aegis,” Nova responded. Aegis grinned and they did indeed embrace.
“I have it from none other than Princess Celestia herself, that you have engaged in a bit of time travel since the last time I saw you,” Aegis said as they separated. “She told me in the strictest of confidence, and even then she revealed only that. May I ask, when did you go, and what did you do?”
“Eh, nothing much,” said Nova. “Went back to old Equestria, defeated a rogue Lord, fell in love with the first Faithful Student, normal weekend for me stuff.”
“You’re going to have to tell me the whole story when you have the time,” Aegis said, smirking. “But right now, it’s time for dinner. Your father’s sent me to come up and get the two of you. Also, your parents are on their way, Miss Sparkle,” he added.
“Call me Twilight,” replied Twilight almost automatically.
“Also, your father wants a word before dinner, since he’ll probably be showing Twilight around the arcanology labs after,” Aegis said to Nova.
“Where is he?” Nova asked.
“In his office.”
Nova nodded and headed on over to his dad’s working office. His dad sat behind the desk in his chintz chair, tapping away on the keys that input information into the computer of his.
“You’ve been time travelling,” Ray said the moment he shut the door.
“I have,” said Nova, nodded.
Ray looked up at him, a very stern look on his face. “Do I even need to tell you what you’ve risked by doing that?”
“Well,” said Nova shrugging, “we’re all still here.”
Ray stared at Nova. “Point taken. But even so, why did you time travel?”
“Because of the diary I took from the vault in the Canterlot Underground,” said Nova.
“Why would Clover’s diary--”
“It wasn’t Clover’s diary, Dad. It was Nova Shine’s.”
Ray snorted. “What, you’re telling me you deciphered a code nopony has been able to pierce in over one thousand and a quarter years? Nova, look, I know you’re smart, but I don’t think you’re that good.”
Nova smiled.
“I didn’t break the code; I invented it.”
The tapping of keys paused. Ray didn’t appear to have reacted at all. He was staring at the screen, and were it not for his quivering eyes, Nova would think he were staring at a spot on the glass screen. But whenever his eyes quivered like that, it was because he had just been hit with a bombshell that had rocked him to the core, and Nova knew it.
“You… invented… the code?” he asked weakly. When Nova nodded, he seemed to blanch. “Then that makes you and Nova Shine I the same pony!”
“Sort of,” said Nova. “I’m not the Nova Shine that’s the patriarch of our clan, or anything. He’s Clover’s son.”
“B-but how did you--”
“Invent the code?” asked Nova. “Easy. Aegis and I used the exact same code to write letters to each other in case you intercepted and learned where I was. I recognized the code as soon as I opened what was to become my diary. Hundreds of Equestrian cryptanalysts couldn’t solve the code because it wasn’t based on anything. It was just dots, dashes, and small triangles that were used to take the place of letters and spaces, further encrypted with a Playfair cipher.”
For a time, Ray Novus stared at the screen before him, comprehending all of this. His son-- his own son, Nova Shine!-- was a figure that had shaped Equestrian history. Had he known his son would live to accomplish great deeds such as this, things would have turned out far different.
A gentle knock sounded at the door, and Nova moved to open it. Out in the hallway stood two stallions.
“Tantalus! Professor!” Nova exclaimed.
“Nova? What are you doing here?” asked Professor Hoofman.
“I could ask you the same thing,” Nova responded, pushing past Tantalus to give his old mentor a hug.
“You’re older than you were two days ago,” Tantalus observed. “The effects of time travel, am I correct?”
“Completely,” said Nova, nodding. “Remind me to tell you all the story when I have the time. It took all day yesterday just to tell Twi.”
“If the three of you will all step inside, we can begin our little meeting,” said Ray, conjuring two more chairs to join Nova’s.
“Wait, you’re part of this, too?” asked Professor Hoofman.
“Nova Shine was promoted by Princess Luna to the rank of Night Master only a couple of hours ago, Thomas,” explained Ray. “As such, he is now considered a member of the House of Nobles, and this meeting of ours is now relevant to him as well.”
“Really?” asked Professor Hoofman, turning to Nova with a smile. “Well, it seems that now we take the step to ‘obstructive bureaucrat’ together now, eh?”
“You’re a High Noble, too?” asked Nova.
“Comes with the Headmastership of Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns,” he said. “The old Headmaster, Nocturnal Glow, retired simply because he hated dealing with all the ponies trying to worm their way into his good graces. He still teaches, though. Never met a unicorn who loved passing on knowledge more than him.”
Nova returned to his seat as Tantalus and the Professor took theirs. As soon as they did, Ray leaned forward, touching his hooves together seriously.
“Thomas, Nova, as the two of you are now High Nobles, Tantalus and I decided to bring you up to speed on what the current goings-on in the House of Nobles are. Believe me, if you’re like the two of us were when we first entered the House, and jump right in, you’re going to flounder.”
“I don’t really need to know what’s going on,” said Nova. “I was given a rather specific mission from the Princesses about what I’m to do in the House.”
“Yes, that I’m aware of,” said Ray. “I was told of their intent for you this morning, but yes, you do need to know what is going on.”
“If I may ask,” interrupted Tantalus, “what do the Princesses want you to do? Serve as, for want of better term, a spy in the ranks?”
“No, actually,” said Nova. “Apparently, something big is about to happen involving Twilight. More than that I can’t say, but because of this, they want me to cause chaos in the House of Nobles. Apparently, many of the ponies in the House will want to influence Twilight the moment whatever will happen does, so it’s my job to protect her from all of that by keeping them focused on shutting me down in the House.”
Tantalus stared at Nova for a moment, before an evil smile appeared on his face.
“Oh, I have no doubt you’ll excel at that,” he said.
“Indeed,” said Ray. “Knowing some of the ponies in the House, the moment Nova enters, they’re going to be against him. They’ll likely think he’s there to influence the vote in Princess Celestia’s favor and do everything to oppose him.”
“The fun part will be when I start playing with them,” said Nova with a smile just as evil as Tantalus’. “Just wait. They’ll wise up, and then I’ll vote for something one alliance is vying for, and they’ll suddenly start over-analyzing their own bill in an attempt to find exactly what could be used against them, and they’ll pull their support from it.”
“In short, your job is to be a troll worthy of our dear Princess of the Sun herself,” said Professor Hoofman. “Other than Princess Celestia herself, I don’t think I’ve ever met a pony so well-equipped for that particular line of work.”
“And know this, Nova,” added Ray. “If you ever need help shutting something down, you have three allies here to help. We can approach our colleagues and let them know the situation and we have no doubt they’ll side with us. And if you see something in our group that could go wrong, don’t hesitate to go against it. Or, if you’re feeling especially daring, vote for it so everypony else votes against it.”
“Out of curiosity, when is the next Convening?” Nova asked.
“Only the Prince of the House can convene it, and right now, Prince Blueblood sees no need to convene the House of Nobles just yet.”
“Wait, Blueblood?” Nova gaped. “Prince Blueblood is the one in charge?”
“I know what you think of him,” said Tantalus. “He’s really not that bad. I’ve only met a few ponies so loyal to Princess Celestia.”
“Are we still talking about the same Prince Blueblood?” Nova asked. “Because I think you might have him confused with somepony else.”
Tantalus and Ray met each other’s eyes, and they both started laughing. Professor Hoofman and Nova just glanced at each other, utterly bemused.
“Oh, that stallion, he’s done his job too well,” chortled Ray. “No- Nova,” he said, failing to stifle another laugh, “Prince Blueblood isn’t a total ass like you probably think he is.”
“Oh really?” asked Nova skeptically.
“In the few meetings I’ve had with the stallion,” interjected Professor Hoofman, “he hasn’t really said anything that gave me any liking or disliking for him, so you’re going to have to take your father’s word for it, Nova.”
“How should I put this?” Ray wondered aloud as he and Tantalus continued to struggle not to smile too broadly.
“Blueblood is very much concerned with Equestria as a nation, Nova,” explained Tantalus. “Not because he has anything to profit from it. He has his own methods of legitimately earning bits. You probably are looking at him through a jade-colored eyepiece, because he does have a rather snobby reputation.”
“Which is partly his fault,” admitted Ray. “But I think the bit you’ve probably judged him by the most is the show he puts on at the Grand Galloping Gala every year.”
“Show?” Nova asked in a deadpan. Having met with Prince Blueballs before, Nova knew firsthand exactly how pompous the stallion could be.
“See, he was one of the officials in charge of the Royal Treasury back before he was made the Prince of the House,” said Ray. “Since many of the bits from the Grand Galloping Gala would be directly stored in the Treasury, it was his job to finagle as many bits as possible from the Upper Class, since they were the main crowd being pandered to.”
“He had this idea back a few years ago,” continued Tantalus, “to stop looking at the Gala as just another public event and to start looking at it as a two-way investment. As the Treasury was always the group who put the Gala on each year, they would invest in the Gala to get as many rich ponies as they could to pay what they were willing. The Upper Class, at the same time, used the Gala to further their own statuses. As long as the Gala could boast being the most muzzle-in-the-air event in Equestria, both sides would win.”
“The Gala has never before been so profitable. Helped, I might add, by the Prince’s own antics. You already know how notorious he is for being one of the most snooty, snobbish ponies there, but trust me, it is all an act to squeeze as many bits out as he can.”
“Yes, I seem to recall one incident where he insinuated something along those lines,” said Professor Hoodman, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. “Some ponies who were invited along as VIPs, special favor for helping out some of the Wonderbolts, were used by the Prince to insinuate that with more money, they could raise ticket prices to prevent such common ponies from coming.”
Nova, his father, Tantalus, and the Professor continued to talk about politics for the next half-hour. At the end of their discussion, Tantalus and Professor Hoofman both bid farewell to Nova and his father and left, having business to take care of, which left Nova and his father to make their way toward the manor’s dining room.
Novus Manor had two dining rooms. One, the ceremonial room, as Ray Novus called it. The larger, grander, mahogany table in the room that contained all of the fine art and crafts. Then there was the actual dining room, where Ray and his wife would eat meals with just the two of them. A table that could seat ten was set up, and currently seven of those seats were occupied. Nova took his seat next to Twilight, but Ray remained standing.
“Sharp Eye, could you fetch me the champagne?” he asked.
Sharp Eye nodded, got off, and headed off toward the wine cellar quickly.
“I do believe there is a cause to drink to, tonight,” Ray said after Sharp Eye had trotted off. “Today, Nova graduated from his apprenticeship to Princess Luna, and now holds the rank of Night Master.”
The Sparkles, Shimmer, and Twilight all stomped their hooves, Spike clapped, and Nova smiled modestly, recalling the events after the ascension.
“Really, it’s nothing to break open hundred-year-old wine about,” he said, waving off the applause.
“Nonsense,” replied Night Light. “You were the first Night Apprentice in almost a thousand years.”
“No,” said Ray, frowning. “Nova’s right. It’s not a cause to break open hundred-year-old wine.”
Nove inclined his head towards his dad in thanks.
“Now, for two hundred-year-old wine, that’s a different story.”
Twilight giggled as Nova rolled his eyes.
Well, if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.
And so, being the professional drinker he was, Nova did his hosts the honor of drinking half of the bottle himself, and somehow managing to not be even slightly inebriated, much to the amusement of Aegis and Sharp Eye, but not so much for Twilight Velvet.
“Just think of the example you’re setting for Spike,” she hissed at him after chastising him about it.
Nova just looked down at Spike just in time to see him down an entire glass. As both of them went into mental panic mode, Spike gagged.
“This stuff’s nasty,” he said, sliding his glass back a good half-yard or so away. “Where’s the Pony Cola?”
Velvet and Nova looked at each other, then laughed nervously and wiped their brows in relief as Ray went to fetch the soft drink.
{T} {A} {T} {S} {A} {T} {C}
Three days later, Nova found himself thinking about the item he had received from Princess Luna. The date when he would give it to her was rapidly approaching, but he wasn’t totally sure how she would react. This was the same Twilight that had panicked when she had arrived hours early to Trading Day, all those years ago.
Suddenly, he was jolted out of his thoughts when a loud knock sounded at the Books and Branches front door.
“I’ll get it,” Nova called upstairs, where Twilight was currently lost in a book about alchemical magic she had borrowed from Nova's mother. A half-hearted grunt sounded from upstairs, which he took to mean “go ahead.”
He opened the door to see six stallions standing outside in the cold night. Nova instantly recognized Big Macintosh standing at the forefront, and he recognized Time Turner, the town clock maker. The other four, however, he didn’t recognize.
One was an earth pony, with a grey coat, blue eyes, and a black mane, who had a cutie mark of a clover. Nova couldn’t help the pang in his gut when he first saw it, but he ignored it. The second was also an earth pony, with an almost-golden coat, lighter-blue eyes, and a brown mane, who had a cutie mark of horseshoes. The third was a unicorn. He had a greyish-blue coat and a white and blue mane, with a cutie mark Nova couldn’t see. The fourth, Nova had to be honest, intimidated him. A dark coat, with a very light-green mohawk for a mane, golden eyes, and a thundercloud for a cutie mark.
“Evenin’, Nova,” said Big Macintosh with a bow of his head. “Me an’ the guys here were just about to head off fer a drink. Turner here figured you’d like to come with us.”
“Twilight?” Nova called upstairs. “Mind if I go out for a drink?”
“Sure,” he heard her respond distractedly from upstairs. “Be home before sundown,” she added, trailing off.
Big Mac arched an eyebrow at Nova when he turned back around, before Nova gestured to the night sky.
“Guess that means I’m staying out till tomorrow evening,” Nova remarked, summoning his Night Master cloak around him.
“We won’t be long,” Time Turner said in that Braytish accent Nova was so jealous of, already following Mac as he led the group. “We’re just heading over to the Poisoned Apple pub is all. The six of us do this regularly, but Thunderlane here noticed that you always seem to spend your nights cooped up in the library.”
“Not totally true,” Nova said. “Wait. How do you know?” he asked, eyeing all of them. To his horror, the intimidating one rubbed the back of his mane.
“Well, I’m a weatherpony. I’ve always been in charge of the southeast area of Ponyville, so I get used to seeing routine things ponies do.”
“Oh, and seeing as how you’ve probably not met them before,” Turner added, “these are Caramel,” the gold, “Lucky,“ the grey, “Pierce,” the other unicorn, “and you’ve just met Thunderlane.”
“Nice to finally meet you up close,” said Caramel, offering a hoof, which Nova bumped. “Been meaning to talk to you for some time.”
“Really? About what?”
“Well,” said Caramel, smiling in an embarrassed way, “h-how did you do it?”
Nova blinked. “How did I do… what?”
“Get her! How is it that you got Miss Twilight?" Nova was alarmed at how he suddenly seemed very frantic. "I’ve been trying to ask her out for almost three years and never once did she even seem to notice I existed! You show up, sweep her off her hooves, and within a few months, the two of you are practically married!”
Simultaneous thoughts hit Nova. One, him standing in front of Princess Celestia, dressed in his most formal clothing, while Twilight walked down the aisle with her father. The second, was a young unicorn guard captain, talking with Nova as they made their way in the bowels of the caves beneath Canterlot.
“You come along, sweep her off her hooves, and make her realize romance isn’t so bad after all.”
Nova inwardly cringed as the latter thought hit him. “Irresistible charm,” he responded.
As one, all six of the stallions groaned.
“...what?” asked Nova after a moment.
“Sorry,” explained Time Turner, “but, you really just sounded a lot like a certain somepony in this town that most of us are a little too familiar with.”
“Really? Which one?”
“‘Sup boys?” came an excited voice from above them.
“Cloud Kicker,” groaned Thunderlane.
Nova looked up in time to see a purplish pegasus mare with a yellow mane flutter down and land in their midst. Upon touchdown, she immediately sidled up to Nova.
“Oh, the new guy this time?” she queried, looking in Mac’s direction, even as she got uncomfortably close to Nova’s flanks.
Mac avoided her gaze, but responded, “Eeyup.”
“Cool! What’s your name?” she asked Nova eagerly.
“I’m Nova Shine,” he responded hesitantly.
“Oh? THE Nova Shine? Interesting, interesting,” she said, with an absolutely predatory grin on her face. “That mean you’re related to the Novuses up in Canterlot?”
“Yeah, I’m their son,” he said as their group resumed its trek to the pub.
“Really? I’m from the Kicker clan, personally." It was just so casual how she said that, a far cry from most ponies bragging about their family ties. "I know you’ve got a nice house and all, but we have an entire compound, so, you know, spirit of friendly competition?”
“Yes, well,” said Nova, sliding away from Cloud Kicker ever so slightly, “shouldn’t be a competition. No need to debate on family superiority when all I’m out here for is a little fun.”
“Fun, huh?” asked Cloud Kicker with a grin. Everypony else facehoofed after he said this. “If you want, we can go have a little fun when you’re done tonight.”
Nova’s cheeks went so red, they almost rivaled Macintosh’s, but he managed to reply, “S-sorry, n-not really, uhh… no thank-you.”
“Why not?” asked Cloud Kicker with a sly grin.
“Kicker, could you leave the poor chap alone?” asked Lucky irritably. “Not everyone wants to just be another name on your ‘To Bang’ list.”
“How can you say that after those nights in Manehattan, Lucky?” asked Cloud in mock hurt. “I thought we were supposed to go places after that!”
“I said ‘dinner,’” replied Lucky coolly, “not ‘my place with the deed on your mind.’”
“Still doesn’t explain why he wouldn’t want a night of banging with the Amazing Cloud Kicker,” she replied, slipping a forehoof around Nova’s shoulders.
“I’m kinda seeing Twilight right now,” Nova mumbled, slipping out of it.
“Aww, oh well,” she said, “I suppose I can’t have all the cute ponies. That aside, how is she in the sack? I’ve always thought about how that cute librarian would be, but I’d rather not endanger my relationship with the Boss--”
“Cloud, where’s Blossomforth?” Turner asked curiously. “Did she run off from you again?”
“From me? Well, sorta, but she’ll come back. Always does. After all, I got my irresistible charm.”
Nova suddenly knew why they all groaned when he said that earlier. Now he felt dirty for using that particular phrase and vowed never to let those words come out of his mouth in that context ever again.
“Kicker, please, do you mind letting us go have our drink?” pleaded Lucky exasperatedly. “Also, don’t your rules have something against ruining other ponies’ relationships, anyway?”
Kicker rubbed her chin thoughtfully.
“Well, only if they regret it, but that’s always something I make sure of before it happens.”
“He’s in a serious relationship with Miss Sparkle,” Turner replied before Lucky could snap at her. “Considering how Rainbow Dash tends to react when ponies mess with her friends, it’s probably a bad idea to keep this one up.”
“Take it from me,” said Nova. “She threatened to drop me off of Cloudsdale once, after she thought I broke Twi’s heart.”
Cloud Kicker sighed in disappointment.
“You guys are no fun. Well, see you around, everyone. Lucky, still waiting on you to balls up and pay back what you owe me,” she added with a wink in the grey stallion’s direction. Even as Lucky ground his teeth, she was already flying off.
“What’s your problem with her?” Nova asked, watching her go.
“Her obnoxiousness, that’s what,” snapped Lucky. “She followed me on a trip to Manehattan a few months ago. Just a vacation, but then we helped bust a drug sell we somehow got involved in. She helped me out, even though I don’t like to admit it, so I’m grateful for that, but I think what really got her was the night after we got done with it. I think it was… four other mares? Something like that. Anyway, ever since, when I wanted her to shut up, I’d bring up how she was the weakest of the bunch, if you know what I mean. Ever since, she’s been trying to convince me to some, ah, one-on-one time.”
“Sounds like you don’t live up to your name very well,” Nova replied.
The group all snorted.
“No, ‘fraid I don’t,” said Lucky. “I’m the kind of stallion who managed to avoid getting hit with a magic blast because I hit my head on a fire escape when I wasn’t looking.”
“We’re here,” said Mac, throwing open a door to a building with a warm light shining through a few windows. Nova looked inside to see a bar not quite as roomy as the Cloak and Dagger, but every bit as comfy-looking.
The bar itself was at the far back of the room, with tables spread around evenly, and a few booths. Nova noticed that there was a roped-off large booth that he assumed was for their little group. With all the ponies inside, some familiar others not so much, he wondered why they roped it off when it would probably not go well with those waiting.
“Ah, about time you got here, Mac,” called an amber-coated earth pony behind the bar over the babble. “Six?”
“Seven, Hearty,” Macintosh drawled, his voice carrying over the babble. “Brought Nova Shine with us tonight.”
“Right,” said the pony, trotting up. “Your booth’s right over there, as usual. Enjoy your night.”
Nova trotted up to the bartender and scrutinized him for a moment.
"Can I help you?" he asked, tilting his head.
"Are you one of the Brew Brewers?" Nova asked. The stallion smiled.
"Oh yes, you probably know cousin Potent, then, since I hear you occupied a space in his bar for a week a while back."
"That's me," Nova said, pawing at the back of his head sheepishly.
"Nice meeting you, then. I'll let him know you're one of my customers now. Methinks he'll find it hilarious."
Methinks... I gotta use that word more often.
"Anyway, have a good night, Mr. Shine," Hearty Brew said as he started making a few drinks. Nova made his way back to the group at that.
The group moseyed over to the table, moving around the tables between them. Nova saw a few familiar faces in the bar. Lyra and the creme-colored pony she was always with were both at the bar. Lyra was utilizing some kind of stool, while her companion used the usual cushion.
“She does that,” said Time Turner, following his gaze. “She’s rather well-known for her er… extreme attachment to the human myth. Only, don’t tell her I said that.”
Nova’s gaze fell to another pony in line, this time a purple mare with a grape cluster and strawberry cutie mark. He recognized her, having seen her around the town carrying a bottle of alcoholic beverage every day of the week, though he had never spoken to her.
“Oi, get over here,” Turner called. Nova started and slid into an open seat at the bar.
“Now,” said Thunderlane, “we’d like to welcome you to the Council of Gentlestallions.”
Nova blinked, and then snorted.
“Seriously?” he asked. "What kind of a name is 'The Council of Gentlestallions'?" The smile slid off his face when he saw that all of them looked sincere. “You are serious?”
“It’s nothing that special,” explained Caramel. “Just a little meeting of the town bachelors. Ask Mac, Turner, and Thunderlane about it. They’re the ones who started it.”
“Eeyup,” said Mac with a nod.
“It’s just an excuse for a guys night,” said Turner. “What with the how many mares the town has, we stallions gotta stick together. Especially the bachelors.”
Nova chuckled.
“Alright, so what do we do in this ‘Council of Gentlestallions?’ Shoot the breeze about our love lives, or something?”
“Actually,” said Turner with a smile, “that’s exactly what we do.”
“Which brings us to the first order of business,” said Thunderlane, grinning and looking over at Caramel. “Caramel, have you or have you not asked Roseluck out yet?”
Caramel closed his eyes, grinned, and nodded eagerly.
“Yep, I did ask out my fair filly last Monday.”
“And what did she say?” asked Turner, leaning in eagerly, joined by Lucky and Pierce.
“She said yes,” said Caramel smugly. Nova, however, felt the telltale flare of energy change that meant Caramel wasn’t being truthful. But before he could voice his objection, he noticed Big Mac struggling not to openly laugh, which was also noticed by Lucky.
“What’s so funny, Mac?”
“Nnnope,” Mac said, gesturing at Caramel, who deflated and groaned. “She shot him down like Pokey does Pinkie’s balloons.”
“HAH!” shouted Thunderlane, holding out a hoof toward Caramel. “Pay up.”
With a sigh, Caramel pulled out a hoofful of bits and gave them over. Thunderlane stuck them in a small leather pouch and assumed a business-like pose.
“So, now that poor Caramel’s love life is out of the way--”
“Why, Big Mac!? Why couldn't you have let me have this one?” moaned Caramel dramatically and loudly.
“My sister’s the Element’a Honesty,” he said simply. “Ah’d be doin’ her a disservice by not bein’ honest myself.”
“And speaking of Elements of Harmony, let’s throw our newbie into the deep end, shall we?” asked Thunderlane, giving Nova a catty little smile. “What’s it like to be dating Miss Sparkle?”
“I don’t know what you mean,” said Nova. What did they mean by that?
“Oh come on! What’s she like!?” interjected Time Turner before Caramel could voice his opinion. “I’ll be one of the first to admit, I’ve fancied her ever since she showed up in a golden carriage the day before the Summer Sun Celebration, but that mare likes to spend her time indoors reading books. You know what she's like even deeper than that! So what’s she like?”
Nova glanced up at the ceiling thoughtfully and racked his brain.
“Well,” he said pensively, “she’s very focused on her studies, she loves reading, she sometimes neglects to pay attention to
Spike because she’s so focused on reading and her studies, she sometimes neglects to pay attention to me because she’s so focused on reading and her studies, she has a slight touch of egotism that was probably got in Canterlot and she’s very insecure about it, she won’t hear a word against any of the princesses, and she can be a mite insecure about almost anything, given enough apocalyptic scenarios... and she's the best mare I know.”
“So, basically, she’s no different than how we see her, then,” said Turner, chortling.
“No, not really,” said Nova as the group laughed. “But I don’t care. I love her as she is; not as I’d like her to be.”
“Good on you, mate,” said Turner, reaching across the table to pat his shoulder.
“So, what about you, Turner?” Nova asked. “I’ve been wondering, you certainly must have your eye on somepony here.”
“Ah, well,” he said, drawing himself up a little taller, “I have good news on that score, gentlestallions. I have successfully asked Miss Hooves to dinner on Hearth’s Warming evening.”
“Miss Hooves?” asked Nova.
“You probably know her as Derpy, the mailmare.”
“Oh, the one with the eye pro--”
Nova bit off the end of that statement as he saw everyone’s anxious looks and Turner’s glare.
“--uh… strange… eyes?”
“For your information, Nova Shine,” Turner said somewhat coldly, “she has strabismus, or ocular misalignment. Her eye muscles just don’t work right. Why, did you think that it meant--”
“No,” said Nova immediately. “I’m not that stupid, to think someone is handicapped because they look like it. I’ve spoken to her before. I just never bothered to ask what her name was.”
“Let’s calm down you two,” said Thunderlane. “How about you, Pierce?”
And so the rest of the evening passed with them swapping stories. Nova would never admit it to anypony, but deep down, after all the excitement, he thought it was rather nice to have a normal life like this. Why did his have to be the exciting one?
Not that he minded, but why did it always have to be something to ruin his nights? Why couldn’t all his nights just be perfect, like this?
{T} {A} {T} {S} {A} {T} {C}
Nova was jolted awake when a somewhat dense weight jumped onto his hind hooves.
“WAKE UP, NOVA! WAKE UP TWILIGHT! IT’S HEARTH’S WARMING!”
“Spike?” Nova asked blearily, turning and looking at his clock on the wall. “It’s seven-thir-ir-irty,” he said, failing to stifle a yawn.
Twilight mumbled sleepily beside him and curled up even tighter and closer, but Spike just pulled the blankets off.
“Wake up! We gotta go open presents!”
"Oh Faust, this is why we open them a day early," groaned Twilight from somewhere to Nova's left.
“Spike,” pleaded Nova, trying desperately to win a losing battle with the baby dragon, “we can open presents in a few hours. I was up late last night and I need to sleep!”
“Great, now I’m completely awake,” grumbled Twilight as she clung to Nova’s forehoof around her barrel.
“Well, at least you’ve got good company,” Nova said. “Might as well make lemonade out of the lemons Spike just gave us.”
“But I don’t have any lemons,” protested Spike indignantly.
“Figure of speech, Spike,” said Nova, letting go of Twilight and getting up. A slight chill blew ino the room, and his head snapped toward a window.
“Spike!” he said angrily, “Did you leave a window open again!?”
“Umm, well… maybe…” said Spike, kicking his hooves.
“Well, I think you deserve some punishment for this,” Nova said as he tapped into his magic.
A large clump of snow was suddenly pulled in and dropped right on top of Spike, who gave a feminine shriek of surprise.
“That’s for the window,” Nova said, rubbing the top of Spike’s head through the snow pile. “This,” he added, pelting him with a snowball, “is for waking me and Twilight up when we were having a nice lie-in.”
“You do realize snow doesn’t do anything to dragons, right?” Twilight asked behind him. “The fire they tap into to breath warms them and prevents cold from affecting them. And if you get any of my books wet, you’re going to the basement for a week.”
“Don’t worry, Twi,” Nova said, instantly evaporating the snow. “Also, Spike’s still a baby dragon. Snow’s still as fun as ever, since he hasn’t developed the natural fire yet.”
"I know. I raised him," retorted Twilight irritably. Nova chose to brush it off due to morning tiredness as he trotted downstairs. The three Hearth's Warming dolls sat next to each other on another bookshelf, with Nova taking particular pride in just how spiky he had made the mane of his, and the center bookshelf had the main attraction.
“You owe me a snowball fight today,” Spike told Nova as they made their way down the steps toward where Nova and Twilight both had placed magical bubbles around the pile of presents by the center table with the horse-head statue. Knowing Spike, he had a feeling the baby dragon would have snuck a peek at everything if he could.
Twilight came down the stairs a few moments later, and the two of them dispelled their shields, whereupon Spike practically dove into the pile. Nova had a very distinct impression he was searching for one pony’s gift in particular.
“Slo-o-ow down there, Spike,” he said, grabbing Spike’s tail and yanking him out. “I’ve got Rarity’s present for you hidden until after we open all of these.”
“Aww, why?” Spike asked.
“Because you’ll just ignore the rest of them,” said Twilight. “I know for a fact that Fluttershy made you a very nice purple and green sweater, and I wouldn’t want all of her hard work to go to waste.”
“Besides, some of these you’ll like,” Nova said. “Like this one, for example,” he added, pulling out a box wrapped in blue paper the size of Spike.
“Spike’s eyes dilated when he saw the package. Without another word, he ripped all the paper off, opened the box inside, and gasped.
Nova had brought all of the gems with him from his Vault in Everfree before he moved back to Manehattan. Having read in a book that gems grow tastier to dragons over time, he figured they would be the perfect present.
“Now, make sure you eat them slowly and save some for--”
*OMNOMNOM*
“--later?” Twilight finished, peering inside the box, where Spike had dove, literally this time, into the box. “SPIKE! SLOW DOWN!”
She looked over and saw Nova struggle not to laugh.
“Quit encouraging him!”
“I can’t help it, this is hilarious!” Nova protested, failing to stifle a giggle.
“Just put your present up so he doesn’t eat all of them,” she said, rolling her eyes. “Besides, gems aren’t the best breakfast, even for a species that eats them. Yes, I know the more gems you eat as a baby, the more magically powerful you’ll be as an adult, but for one, that’s decades off, and two, if you eat too many at once, you get Mana Poisoning, and I would not like you to accidentally be setting fire to this library under that influence.”
“Yeah, she’s got a point, Spike,” said Nova, yanking Spike out of the box and ignoring his scrabbling to get back in. “We’ll let you have some more later, but we gotta open the others first.”
While Twilight kept Spike suspended in midair with magic to prevent him from diving back in, Nova closed the box and teleported it to his home in Neighton with the help of his cloak. Nice thing about the Night Master cloak was that it allowed for quick teleportation between two places. First, to wherever the wearer had set up a permanent magical tag, and then back to where the original teleport had happened, within a specific timeframe.
After the early episode with Spike, the rest of the present-opening proceeded as normal. The moment Spike opened Fluttershy’s sweater, he was forced to sit down and wear it. Spike said he hated the thing, but Nova and Twilight both felt the telltale flare of energy. They met each other’s eyes, smiled to themselves, and let Spike have his moment.
After hearing from Mac and Twilight how Nova enjoyed his drinking, Applejack had sent them two sets of bottles of cider. The first was baby-dragon-friendly and non-alcoholic, even if alcohol had no effect on dragons, which Nova looked up after the time with the wine at his parents house a week ago. The second had a little something extra, courtesy of Mac, with Applejack’s full knowledge. Nova had promptly gone and locked the second bottles of cider in his chest in the basement.
As the number of presents dwindled, Nova cast his thoughts back to his own gift for Twilight. Again, his nervousness started to claw at him, just as it had done a few nights ago, before the “Council of Gentlestallions” came and gave him the night out. He had a feeling both of them knew they were saving their own present to each other for last.
“Aww, look Nova,” said Twilight, pulling out a small parcel, “Rarity sent you a gift! Nice to know that even on Hearth’s Warming, she can put aside her dislike of you.”
Nova suddenly felt really guilty about what he had gotten Rarity.
{T} {A} {T} {S} {A} {T} {C}
“What’s this?” asked the alabaster unicorn, finding a very unexpected gift in her pile. After seeing who it was from, she gasped, “Why, it’s from Nova Shine!”
“Who?” asked Sweetie Belle, who was already hyped up from all of the gift-opening and was bouncing around the room like Pinkie Pie.
“The unicorn who is currently dating Miss Twilight,” Rarity explained, “Remember him? He’s the one who helped you with your magic a couple of months ago.”
“Oh yeah! I remember him,” said Sweetie. “Why do you sound surprised? He’s a nice stallion. Why wouldn’t he send you a present?”
“Well, er… we kind of both mutually dislike each other after you… broke my vase.”
“Well, go on Rarity,” said Magnum, waving a hoof at the package. “Open it!”
Rarity obliged. She did, and she gasped. The most magnificent silken amethyst-colored cape was neatly folded inside. She pulled it out and swung it around with a cry of wonder.
“Oh my, Nova, forgive me, I sent you a joke parcel,” she lamented, though the lamentation didn’t reach the glee in her eyes as she looked over the cape. Without another word, she swung it around and fastened it to her neck. As soon as it was secure, Rarity turned her neck and admired the thing, noting that it seemed to be the perfect color to go with her mane.
*Snrk*
“What?” asked Rarity, turning and looking toward her mother and father, who were both trying not to laugh. “What is it?”
“Rarity, you might want to look in a mirror,” said Pearl, but Sweetie Belle decided to beat her to it.
“YOUR MANE IS GRE-E-EN!” she sang, before collapsing into a fit of giggles.
“Wh-WHAT!?” screamed Rarity, before bolting to her room for a mirror. A high-pitched shriek met everypony’s ears, and all three of them just let the laughter loose.
{T} {A} {T} {S} {A} {T} {C}
“Nova, what is it?” asked Twilight, when she saw he was kicking at his hooves.
“I kinda… er… sent her an enchanted cape that turns her mane green,” he admitted.
“Oh, Nova, you didn’t!” Twilight said, aghast that he would exploit a holiday like Hearth’s Warming for such a prank.
“Yyyyeah, I kinda did,” he confirmed, reaching over and starting to unwrap her gift. “Now I feel really guilty. She was nice enough to--”
*SPLAT*
Twilight cried in surprise as an old-fashioned whipped-cream pie splattered Nova in the face the moment he opened the small box. After a moment in which everything sunk in, Spike started laughing, and Twilight paled. She seemed to be glancing at Nova with slight apprehension. How was he going to take this?
“Well, I don’t feel guilty anymore, that’s for sure,” said Nova after a long moment. He licked his lips and the cream around it. “Hey, this isn’t bad!” he exclaimed, and proceeded to pull all of it off his face with magic and eat it.
Following Rarity’s gift, nothing as interesting happened. Rainbow Dash had sent both of them tickets to “The Amazing Rainbow Dash’s Death-Defying Sky Show” that afternoon, Fluttershy had sent Twilight some owl care products for Owliscious and Nova an apology letter, saying she didn’t know what to get him. Based on how the letter in question was worded, Nova kinda felt guilty about it, but he did end up getting her a gift: a magical toy of his own making for her animals. He’d used it before on one of his odd-jobs, when he was watching Fluttershy’s animals for her while she went to her weekly spa trip with Rarity.
Pinkie Pie’s present to Nova was… another pie. This one, however, didn’t hit him in the face, and appeared to be of the apple variety. Nova had a feeling she knew what Rarity had been up to and wanted to make up for it.
Finally, after they opened the last of the presents at the foot of the center shelves, Nova retrieved Rarity’s package to Spike from inside the chest downstairs. Spike tore right into it at top speed, pulled out the item, and hugged it like it was a teddy bear before Nova even got a proper look at it. When he actually put the thing on, Nova smiled at Spike. Rarity had given Spike a necklace with an amethyst gem shaped like her cutie mark.
“Nice haul, Spike,” observed Nova, looking down at everything he had received from everypony. Spike promptly picked up all the stuff and started moving it toward the cabinet he usually kept his stuff in, leaving Nova and Twilight alone to give each other their gifts.
“Well,” said Twilight, going slightly red, “I guess it’s time for ours.”
She sounded really nervous about something, which only intensified Nova’s own apprehension. A flash of magenta light later, a small box sat before Nova, about as big as one of her Daring Do books.
Oh, don’t tell me…
Nova tore the paper, and saw that it was actually not a book, which in all honesty surprised him, given that she had given books as gifts to most everypony else, Spike included. Instead, it was a small, apparel-sized box.
Did she get me something to wear?
Carefully, he pried open the box’s lid, and when he saw what was inside, he gasped and froze, not quite believing what he was seeing.
“Y-you don’t like it?” Twilight asked, after Nova didn’t respond for a moment.
“YOU ARE THE BEST MAREFRIEND EVER!” shouted Nova, practically tackling her in an embrace, sending the box that contained two tickets to every home and away Arsenal match next season sliding across the floor, and peppering his wonderful marefriend with kisses all over her face.
"Get a room, you two," Spike rolled his eyes, still looking at Twilight's present to him (a book) with disappointment.
"We had a room, until you decided to wake us up," Nova retorted, giving Spike a look.
“I’ll be honest, I’m not one for sports, but I figure you might want to take Spike some time,” she said, lightly pushing him off now that she wasn't under assault.
“Thank you, SO much!” he said gleefully as he looked down, giving her one last kiss for good measure. But then something struck him as rather odd.
“How did you get these?” he asked curiously. “The home matches are easy enough, but usually the away games don’t come with season ticket packages.”
“Oh, well, you’d be surprised what the Chairpony of the Equestrian Premier League will do at the request of Princess Celestia,” Twilight explained. “She’s always liked the sport, and she’s hardly an inconspicuous guest at games. I asked her for help, and she came through.”
Nova, who couldn’t stop grinning, gave her yet another quick peck, before he conjured his own gift. The small parcel was laid at her hooves, and she opened it. To Nova, it felt like she seemed hesitant about it, which only amplified his own nervousness about her reaction.
When the paper was pushed aside, and the small box was left, she opened it and she, too, gasped at the contents of the package. Her horn glowed, and a white traveling cloak was pulled out of it. A white brooch with a sun and a scroll cut into it kept the two parts at the neck fastened.
“Is this… a Faithful Student Cloak?” she asked.
“Not just any Faithful Student Cloak,” he responded. “It was Clover the Clever’s Faithful Student Cloak.”
The grin slid off her face, replaced by wonder. At first, Nova had mistaken the wonder for disappointment, thinking she probably had come up with some wild theory about her being Clover’s replacement, but when she unclipped the brooch, swung it around, and put it back on, and particularly when she leaned over and kissed him, he let it go.
“I updated the spells on the cloak myself,” he said after they separated. “I had plenty of time to study my own, so I added the same ones in mine and updated all of the ones that were already enchanted. I hope you like it,” he added, almost pleadingly.
Twilight just smiled at him, kissed him on the cheek, and whispered, “I love it.”
Following the morning opening of presents, they went to the traditional play, put on by the Ponyville Elementary, and featuring Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo as the star roles, followed by the town's raising of the Equestrian Flag. Nova couldn’t help but laugh harder than anypony else at Sweetie Belle’s performance as Clover. He also couldn’t help but think it absolutely hilarious just how wrong Scootaloo was to play Private Pansy.
Nova and Rarity shared a laugh over their respective gifts to each other. Rarity remarked that she had been able to remove the enchantment with some help from her father, and she even wore the cape to the play. Nova also remarked that he thought the pie was delicious, but he would rather have enjoyed it under other circumstances.
After the play, the Council of Gentlestallions engaged in all-out snowball warfare with the kids of the elementary, which Nova only too happily joined joined in, making sure to give Spike plenty of good shots at him to make up for that morning. After the afternoon’s activities, Nova and Twilight decided to repeat their first casual event where two best friends could hang out in a completely platonic manner, so they spent the night looking at Ponyville Park’s collection of Hearth’s Warming Lights.
While nothing would be able to compare to Trottingham’s, he and Twilight both loved several of the displays. Nova’s personal favorite was one commemorating Twilight and her friends battling Nightmare Moon, but Twilight really liked one of the three princesses. While she was off exploring, Nova couldn't help but stare at one particular set of lights in a display depicting the Three Patriarchs' assistants. Clover's display left him choked up, but he still felt oddly happy despite it.
After the park, they headed for a hill Twilight used for stargazing, and just spent time lying under the stars and enjoying each other’s company. Luna had sure pulled out the stops for this particular night. The moon was bright, the stars were clearer than Nova had seen in a long time, and the sky, rather than being its usual inky color, seemed to be lighter, and have a bit of a purple tint to it. The effect was glorious, and Nova made a note to thank his teacher for her efforts.
The day ended far too quickly for Nova. He had enjoyed it so much, but all good things had to come to an end. As he and Twilight lay in her bed in the loft, he couldn’t help but let a tear fall. With the threat of Envy constantly looming over them, this was a taste of the life he couldn’t have. A normal life, with a mare he loved and who loved him.
He had a feeling she heard him sniff, because her embrace tightened. He let himself be drawn closer to her, and they both drifted off to sleep.
{T} {A} {T} {S} {A} {T} {C}
A week after Hearth’s Warming found Nova humming to himself as he trotted through town, running an errand for Twilight. The last few days had been nothing short of perfect, which only increased Nova’s apprehension about the coming unknown day when he would have to confront and defeat Envy. Still, all they could do was wait. Princess Celestia had even resumed sending Twilight spells to learn, some of which Nova knew, others he learned too.
“Ah, good morning Nova,” came a Braytish voice behind him as he purchased a rose from Miss Roseluck’s stand, just for Twilight. Nova turned to see that it was Time Turner, smiled, and bumped his friend’s hoof.
“Morning yourself, Turner,” he responded.
“How are things?” Turner asked. “That rose for your lady?”
“Yes, yes it is,” said Nova. “If nothing else, she’ll at least enjoy the snack. As for things, they go well. Everything the last few days has been amazing. How about yourself?”
“Very well.” said Turner. “Derpy and I have gone on another date following the one on Hearth’s Warming, and I offered to cook this time. So, I’m out buying ingredients for some Bitalian. What about you? Just out grocery shopping, by the look of things, right?”
“Yeah,” said Nova. “She had to buy food more often to feed an extra stomach when I started staying over a few months ago, so she had to up the rent on me. ‘Course, now I don’t pay rent.”
“Are you paying her at night, or something?” Turner asked, arching an eyebrow.
“Nope,” said Nova with a shake of his head. “Seeing as how we’re both important ponies in Equestria, it’s probably not a good idea to risk a pregnancy, even when she isn’t in season.”
“Ah, saving it till after the wedding?”
“Exactly. I’ve already spoken to her about it, too. After explaining my reasons, she seemed to agree, so we’re resolutely waiting. Plus, Spike sleeps in a basket at the foot of Twilight’s bed, so…”
Turner chuckled.
“Yes, that’d be kind of a mood killer--”
Nova dropped the grocery basket he was carrying as a sudden shockwave of magical energy surged over him. He clapped his hooves to his head as the surge ignited a pain inside of his skull as it jumbled up the pathways from his horn to his Source. Around him, other unicorns also seemed to be experiencing some degree of discomfort, but nowhere near the same level that affected Nova. It probably had to do with his sensitivity to energy, which meant Twilight had to have felt that, too.
If that was magic, it had been powerful.
And for some reason, it felt familiar. He knew he had felt that brand of magic before, but where?
He haphazardly stuck everything back in his basket and took off for the library, where he found Twilight blazing through several medical books at top speed.
“Did you feel that?” she asked without looking away from her books.
“Hard to miss it,” he said. “It was a powerful energy surge. And when I say powerful, I would say only Princess Celestia and Princess Luna could cast something of that magnitude.”
He fell into a seat at a table, rubbing by his horn, both because he was thinking, and to hopefully help stimulate the flow of magic from horn to Source again.
“And for some reason,” he added, “it felt familiar. I could swear I’ve felt that magic before, but I don’t know where.”
“Me too,” Twilight said. “I know I’ve felt it before. I think it was in the last few months, too. But where?”
“Wait,” Nova said, suddenly struck by an idea. “The last few months? And it feels like I’ve felt it recently, too. We’d know if it was the princesses, since we know them that well. It has to be a pony with a powerful source of magic. And remember what I told you on the train? Envy took the Alicorn Amulet.”
“You think that was Envy?” Twilight asked, turning around.
“Yeah,” admitted Nova. “She’s made her move. But what did she do?”
He recalled where he had felt the energy coming from. It felt like it had been from the north--
Neighton!
“Nova!?” Twilight asked as he got to his hooves and cast a small spell.
“I’m going to Neighton,” he said. “Wait for me.”
With that, he swished the cloak in front of him and fell forward, vanishing instantly. His hooves collided with solid ground, and he found himself standing in his study in his house in Neighton. Without a word, he galloped outside.
The town was eerily empty. But what Nova noticed immediately was not the absence of ponies, but the large white beam of magic rising upward from Neighton Park.
The emergency beacon!
Nova galloped toward it, but suddenly, he slid to a stop. He couldn’t sense any ponies anywhere in the town. He dashed toward the Cloak and Dagger and threw open the door. It, too, was empty. There were spilled mugs on the floor, yet perfectly normal ones standing upright on other tables. There were fragile bottles of alcohol in the shelves behind the bar that were completely fine, but some plates lay smashed on the floor.
It was as if everyone had just vanished, in the middle of their daily lives.
He ran back outside, and continued looking through houses, but he couldn’t find anypony. Balanced Budget, Potent Brew, everyone, just gone!
But then how did the emergency beacon activate? If nopony could activate it…
But the solution was simple. Envy wanted him to know. She wanted him to know she had made the townsponies vanish. Which meant she wanted him to rescue them.
He swished the cloak in front of him again and found himself standing in Twilight’s Library.
“Twilight!” he called upstairs, “we need to board a train for Canterlot immediately!”
Twilight came dashing downstairs.
“What was it?” she asked.
“Envy is holding the townsponies of Neighton hostage.”
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I know I'm going to feel stupid for asking this, but does this have any significance?:
{T} {A} {T} {S} {A} {T} {C}
3553531 it meansThe Apprentice, the Student, and the Charlatan
3553531 I think it means the first letters for the tile The Apprentice, the Student, and the Charlatan