My Little Pony 1. Chapter 1, star fire

Chapter 1, fire star

In a time after the defeat of discord and before the banishment of Luna, there were three siblings. Celestia, whose powers influenced the heavenly body of the sun and brought warmth and light to Equestria. Luna, whose abilities allowed her to control the moon and brought the darkness and silence of the night to the world below. And nova, whose gifts lay with the stars and slowly, pulled the celestial bodies through their intricate dance. Queen Faust, an almost mythical Alicorn who had fought discord at the beginning of time, had chosen nova to rule equestria. Nova, though surprised, accepted and swore to lead pony kind into a brighter future. But it was not to be. Luna and Celestia, their pride damaged and blinded by jealousy towards their brothers' new power, combined their powers. For ten days and nights the three Alicorns fought, the sky lit up with great blooms of fire. But nova couldn't match his sisters and eventually succumbed. In a moment of spite, the sisters stripped nova of his powers over the heavens and locked him within the heart of one of his own stars. Nova, though deprived of his power and humiliated at the hands of his sisters, wasn't going to give in meekly to this chain of events. Trapped and unable to free himself, nova used the last vestiges of his power to rip the stars from their orbits, expending the last remnants of his abilities to form a new constellation, that would one day be called 'the stallion'. Nova hoped that one day some pony would understand the message he left in the constellation and he fell into a deep slumber, his mind resting in the warmth of his cell.

Time moved onwards. Day turned to night back to day back to night, the seasons kept turning. Nova was all but forgotten and became nothing but an old pony tale. Luna and Celestia, once allied against their brother, conspired against each other, Luna lost and was banished to the moon for a thousand years, leaving Celestia in sole control of reality, time kept on with its relentless march, and Luna was released from the moon, though she was shortly apprehended afterwards by twilight sparkle, a unicorn in the service of princess Celestia. twilight was a smart unicorn and resumed her studies afterwards, one night under the starry sky, twilight and her friends sat starring skyward, studying the constellation of the stallion…..

"I don't get it twilight" rainbow dash muttered stretching her wings "why do we have to spend all night out here looking at some dump stars, it's not going to do anything" dash gave her wings a flap before she leapt skywards, a rainbow streaming after her.

"of course you don't get it dash" twilight sighed, her horn began to glow as she used her magic to pick up one of the books that were littered around her "I've been watching the stallion for months now and I'm sure that something's gonna happen" twilight spread a stack of notes out on her desk "the central star in the stallions eyes, it's way brighter then it's supposed to be, and it's releasing pulses of energy, like it's a beating heart" Twilight picked up another of the notes "from what I can tell, I think this means that the star is dying"

"oh come on twi, you say that about every flashing light in the sky" spike said as he lay on his back, his eyes closed. Spike sighed with content "it's a nice night and all, but there's no need to worry about some stupid star, it's not like anything it does will affect us, we're all the way down here"

"Nightmare moon came from the moon spike, and that really far away, it can't be impossible for something from the stallion to land in equestria" twilight showed him a page from one of her notes "I copied this from an old book in the library, it's got to be at least a couple of hundred years old"

spike took the page, it was covered with strange runes. "what is it?" spike asked "it looks like hoof prints, but way more jagged" his brow furrowed in concentration and his tongue stuck out the side of his mouth

"it's written in old-hoof" twilight said absently, scanning through the rest of her notes "it talks about the stallion dying"

"old-hoof? what in the name of granny smiths hip's that?" applejack asked, taking a look at the page

"it's the language of ancient equestria" twilight replied, looking up from her notes "the princess told me that this was the language they spoke during the discord wars. The writing it self is meant to be some sort of encryption, I know what its about, but I have no idea what it means"

"well what have you worked out so far twilight?" asked rarity, she took the paper and gave the language a cursory look "oh my, even the writing looks savage" she gave the paper back to twilight "it's so hard to believe any self respecting pony would live like they did"

twilight smiled, showing off her perfect white teeth before she answered "from what I've translated it's talking about the star that forms the stallions eye" twilight picked up the paper and read the encryption out loud " when a stallion rides, chained in his eyes. Follow his path through the skies. Though brother and sisters they may be, one of them is not free. I beg you pony set me free. Watch the death of a star and you shall see me."

"the death of a star?" spike scratched his head with one of his claws "a super-nova, that's what its called right?"

"yes spike, well remembered" twilight answered, she looked up, watching the constellation of the stallion move across the sky "and if my theory on the pulses is true, then the star that forms the eye of the stallion is about to go into super-nova, possibly even tonight" twilight restacked the notes and books in a neat pile and looked out the window. "when a star goes into super-nova, it releases a huge flash of light into the night sky" Twilight turned to look out the window, her purple eyes fixed on the stallion "that's why I asked you guys to come over, so we could watch it together" she turned back and looked at each of the other five mares in turn. "it's been almost a few years since we stopped nightmare moon, I thought it would be cool if we could watch this together"

Fluttershy smiled "that sounds wonderful twilight" she replied quietly, her voice soft "I just hope that that the light doesn't scare my poor animals"

Twilight giggled "oh don't worry Fluttershy, it won't be that bright, it'll just be like a firework" she glanced at the clock "it's eleven minutes past ten o'clock, it's probably not that long until the stallion goes into a super-nova" the ponies sat down by the window and stared up into the dark night sky.

Silence, it was deafening. How long had it been since he had heard another pony talk, few minutes? A decade? He had no way to know. So he just floated there, held levitating in the center of the small spherical chamber. His body ached with a dull fiery pain. He scratched one of the runes his sisters had carved into his flesh to bind him to his prison, the damn things where always hurting him. He curled himself up into a ball and let his mind go adrift, remembering the sensation of the wind as it flowed through the feathers in his wings and the whistling of the wind as he dived, fast as a thunderbolt. He remembered the food he used to eat, cakes and grass and an excellent salad a little filly had made for him once, but he tried not to think about them too much, he hadn't eaten in so long, and even the memory of food made his stomach hurt. He remembered a lot of things, from his bed to his sisters, and even a little filly he had met once in the forest who was attempting to catch butter flies in a net. He missed all of these things, but the thing he missed the most was blossom, his sweet, sweet blossom. But there was no point in remembering these things, he was never going to eat again, or fly, or sleep in his bed or play with his sisters or see the little filly with the net. They were all dead, even blossom was gone. They where all dead except for his immortal sisters, who even now were probably reclining in the palace and ruling the world.

He felt a tear slowly roll down his cheek, salty on his tongue as it rolled passed his lips, and he watched as it floated in mid air, like a tiny plant revolving around his body. He flicked it away so it hit the side of his cell, a wet mark on the wall. He never cried, any sadness he had once felt was gone now, along with his happiness and jealousies and pains, they were dead things to him now, useless. He hated the tear the most, they way it hung in empty space reminded him too much of his stars, his glorious stars. They sang like a hymnal choir, their song echoing through the heavens. He couldn't here them now, or even feel their movements through his hooves every time he put them he put them to the ground as he once had done. But all that would be over soon, he knew that, every time he woke the pains were alittle sharper, his heart beating alittle slower. He was going to die, he knew that. All things must die in the end. For a few more hours he floated, lost in his memories when he heard something, a tiny voice. Did he actually hear anything at all? It was always so quiet in here, sometimes his mind would play tricks on him. Forcing him to listen to long lost conversations with blossom, or his sisters laughing as the door to his prison closed. The worst ones where voices he didn't even recognise, from ponies he didn't even remember, all they did was remind him of what he had lost. But no, there it was again. A tiny voice so quiet his ears had to strain to hear it, like a fly buzzing away. He listened to the voice for a long time, he had no idea what it was saying or if he could even understand it, but it was comforting all the same. It sounded like it was singing, even that hurt him, the song sounded just like his stars. After a while the voice became louder and another voice added it, their whisperings so quiet that he could scarecly believe they even exsisted. He could hear it now at least. It was a choir. A beautiful hymn of the stars, the voices were added by more, some deep and some high, all singing in perfect syncrony. Slowly, achingly slowly, the hymn became louder. Each note perfect, ringing in his head. He tried to join in with them, but when ever he tried to force some sound out of his body all he got was a croak. Slowly the voices became louder, he could here some of the words now, in a language he couldn't even understand. Then the hymn stopped, he waited for a few moments, hoping they would resume, but all he got was silence. He sighed, it seemed the voices were just another memory. Then, CRACK. He looked across from him and saw that where his tear had touched the wall a small crack had appeared. There was more cracking and the crack became slightly longer, with smaller cracks verging out from it. Then suddenly, BOOM. The crack grew even larger and chunks of the walls started to fall free, spinning as they went. Within moments his prison was gone and he was left hanging in an empty space, surrounded by star fire.

the golden flames consumed him, burning his body. He screamed in pain, the fire crawling over every inch of his body. He felt his skin burn and grow taught as the moisture left it. One by one, the runes on his body burned brighter and brighter, filling his body with pain. He was in agony, within and without. Then they shattered, their blasphemous power expent before the might of the flames. He realised the fire was Purging him, cleansing him of the bone deep runes. "Who are you boy?" a voice asked him, deep and booming. It seemed to come from the fire and it echoed in his head, he screamed again and the fire flowed into his mouth, scorching his tongue. He opened his eyes to the inferno and before the flames consumed them and he saw a beautiful white mare rearing out of the fire, her golden eyes dancing in the light of the fire. Radiance seemed to flow from her and even though the flames licked her skin the same as they did his, she didn't burn. Then she was gone, consumed by the sheets of golden flame. "blossom" he whispered before the flames burnt his mouth. "I ask you again boy" the voice said "who are you?" it was angrier this time, and it sent lances of pain through his mind. With an audible snap his skin tore and the flames began searing the flesh from his bones, the fire began to burn his laboured heart heart. It was agony. "WHO ARE YOU?" the voice seemed to scream, it's echo making him cry out with pain . "I don't know" he cried, the boiling jelly from his ruined eye sockets ran down his body, running over exposed muscle. "WHO?" the voice roared. "I'm no one, please leave me be!". "ANSWER ME YOU FOOLISH COLT, OR YOU SHALL SUFFER TRUE AGONY!". He didn't know what to say, "I have no name, I have no mark. I have nothing!". It didn't matter what he said, the flames simply burned hotter. His heart screamed to him, his blood was boiling within his veins. Lances of pain shot through his mind, probing deeper and deeper into his psyce. Images flashed before him, the queen, the war, his sisters, the little filly, his room, the cell. They came in a torrent, each jumping to the next before he even had time to comprehend them. Then they froze, in the image he saw, two ponies sat beneath a lone tree at the top of a grassy hill, arm in arm as the sun set in the horizon before him. He heard the colt talk in a ghostly voice that at once sounded far away and as if the speaker was right next to him, "I love you" he whispered in his companions ear. The filly turned to the colt and gently kissed him on the cheek, smiling. "I love you too, my sweet Nova". In that one moment it became clear. He stretched his wings, their skin and feathers gone, showing nothing but burnt flesh and pale bone beneath them. He stretched his powerful legs, they themselves devoid of any skin. He stood within the flames, and then he raised his head and roared back to the voice and the fire. "I AM NOVA!" he roared, he reared, showing his scorched heart, beating slowly within his ribs "AND I WILL HAVE MY VENGENCE". "you shall" the voice replied, but now it was softer, it was a mares voice. He felt the mare kiss him on his forehead and at once the agony ceased. He felt his skin start to knit toghter again, his muscles grew tense as they returned to their previous state and even the feathers on his wings returned. His eye sight was the last to return, and when it did he saw the flames had receded, leaving him in a ball of empty space. Before him stood a beautiful mare, her skin a pure alabaster white and her eyes a glittering gold. Over her head he saw a brilliant halo of light. "Blossom, is it really you?" Nova could scarcely believ what he was seeing. Blossom walked up to him and kissed him lightly on his forehead, "yes my sweet Nova, but now you must go". Nova opened his mouth to reply, but even as he tried to ask her what she meant he felt a force punch him in his stomach, winding him. Then another force and he shot backwards, disappearing through the flames. He flew through them, the force driving him on, and then they were suddenly gone. Space opened up before him, cold and silent and filled with tiny pin pricks of light. "I can't give you what was once yours, but I can take you home" Blossoms voice said within his mind. Nova felt a fierce heat on his back and turned in time to see the star that was once his prison explode outwards. The force of the explosion causing him to rocket out into space, black trendils crawled across his vision and spot began to appear before his eyes. Before he blacked out he heard Blossoms voice in his head once again.

"rest my sweet, the way is far and your journey long, rest" and then the darkness enveloped him.


	2. Chapter 2, star song

Chapter 2, star song

Every pony in ponyville stared skyward as the eye of the stallion expanded outwards, in a matter of minutes it went from the size of a pin prick in the night sky to the size of an apple. The whole town ground to a halt as every pony stared up at the sky. At sweet apple acres big Mac paused mid kick, the apples on the tree remaining attached to the branches. Down by his feet, young apple bloom hid behind one of his front legs. "why has the sky gone so bright big Mac?" she asked, her head peaking out to stare as the ball of flame got bigger, "I'm scared big Mac, are you scared too?" big Mac stared at the expanse of flame as it lit up the sky for a few moments, then he looked down and gave his little sister a gentle nudge "eeyup".

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Far away in Canterlot, the royal princesses Celestia and Luna watched from the castles highest tower as a comet emerged from the super-nova that had consumed the constellation of the stallion. Celestias eyes flickered in the light of the comet as it soared across the night sky, a trail of gold following in its wake. Her sister Luna shook her head and muttered to herself, in the darkness of the night her skin blended into her surroundings.

"Our brother is free so it would seem" Celestia sighed "this is not a welcome surprise, I though you said the star would be able to contain him" Luna's head snapped about, she stared her sister in the eyes.

"The spell I placed on the star was perfect; I checked every alignment, every astrological position. Everything was perfect. Damn it Celestia I incised the runes on him myself, we even used his own cutie mark on him, there's no way that he could have escaped" Luna sighed and turned away from the comet, turning her attention to the verdant valley below.

"If we don't do something about this quick then it's entirely possible that Nova could land here in Equestria, the star went into a supernova sister, you saw that the same as me. The energies Nova had to harness would have to be titanic. If he lands here then he'll be too powerful to stop. we should contact the scribes at the library, they should be able to map the comets trajectory over Equestria" Luna walked over to the door of the stair well, when she realized that Celestia wasn't following her she turned back to find her sister was still at the towers crenellations, her eyes still tracking the comet.

"Celestia, we're wasting time. The longer you stand there the closer Nova comes to Equestria". Celestia didn't take her eyes off the comet, but she still replied to her sisters urgings.

"Luna, it's been almost eight thousand years since Nova was with us, maybe we should let him stay here in Equestria, if we really have to we could send him into exile in the mountains, but we don't even know if he'll land here at all, maybe it would be best if we leave this for now and let destiny choose its own path" Luna couldn't help but stare, shocked by her sisters leniency to their estranged brother.

"Are you mad? Do I need to remind you that you were the one who suggested that we lock him within one of his own stars in the first place? In case you haven't forgotten Celestia we usurped him of his powers and locked him within a star for eight thousand years, and we haven't even fed him once! I can guarantee that he's going to be angry. And the fact we killed his precious Cherry blossom isn't going to help matters at all, if he lands here, he'll kill us. We need to act now!" Celestia looked at the floor, unable to meet her sisters' gaze.

"I guess your right Luna; we have to do something about this. In the morning I'll contact the librarians, they should provide us with the answers we seek". Luna gave her sister a hard stare before she nodded her agreement. As she turned to go down the stairs she heard Celestia call her name, she turned to find her sister still at the crenellations, but now she hung her head, in sadness or shame Luna couldn't tell.

"Nova always loved the stars, I remember when we where children he would stay up all night at the top of this very tower, staring at them. Once in the middle of the night I woke and couldn't find him, but when I came up here he was sitting like he always did, watching the stars. He asked me if I could hear them like he did" Celestia gave a sad smile and quietly sniffed, Luna saw a tear roll down her sisters cheek, Celestia was crying. "I had no idea what he meant, I told him as much. 'Listen' he said, and I did, but all I could hear was silence. 'But you've got to hear them' he said, I still remember the look on his face; he never looked half as handsome as when he was confused. 'I'm sorry Nova, I can't' I must have told him a hundred times before he believed me, but after he had talked about them so much, I felt sad that I couldn't hear them, so I asked him what a star sounded like. He sat in silence for a long time after that, like he forgot I was even there. When I turned to go he started to sing, quiet at first, but then he got louder and louder. It was such a beautiful song, and he sang it so well. When he sung it, for a second I thought I actually hear his stars singing with him. It was so beautiful" Celestia looked up at the stars, her tears rolling down her neck. Luna didn't know what to say.

"That was thousands of years ago sister. Nova can no longer hear the stars, just as we can't. We took his stars from him; we took his stars and his soul. It was your suggestion to take his mark in the first place Celestia, yours" Luna turned to go down the stairs, Celestia watched her go. Just before Lunas flank disappeared from sight, she told Celestia one last thing. "You took his mark, his stars and his soul Celestia. And now he's come back for vengeance, he'll kill you sister, make no mistake" Lunas flank disappeared down the stairwell, but her last few words stayed with Celestia for the rest of the night. "If you had taken the moon from me, I would have done the same".

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Blossom, it was my cherry blossom. The thought played itself over and over in Novas mind. She's alive, my sweet blossom is alive. For days he drifted in and out of consciousness, riding on waves of darkness and forgotten memories. Once he had dreamed that he was in the forest, the small filly called cherub showing him her butterfly net. "I come out here every day and catch as many as I can" she said, her bright blue eyes filled with joy. Nova laughed and replied "do you now young one? I bet you've caught a lot today". The filly's smile grew even wider and Nova swore her eyes started to twinkle "you bet I have, I've caught two whole jars worth of butterflies just today" she pulled out two small glass jars from her flank pack, Nova counted thirteen butterflies in the first jar and just as many in the second. He was about to congratulate the young filly when he realized she wasn't there, he was alone in the forest. Just then he heard the howl of a mighty wolf and woke with a start, still shooting through space. From what he could tell when he was awake was that he must have travelled thousands of leagues, far off in the distance behind him the star had consumed the whole constellation. He smiled at the thought, when he had been trapped for so long within his cell he had forgotten the plan he had laid in place millennia ago. Before his sisters had sealed the vault and drawn up the last of the runes he had used his last reserves of energy to alter the orbits of several stars to form a new constellation in the night sky. Over the many generations it had changed names multiple times. The unicorns had named it the seer, for its stars had formed the shape of a sorceress enacting a great ritual. The pegausi had named it the tempest, for the stars in their eyes was shaped like a great storm. The earth ponies, being as humble as they were, simply named it the plow. But despite its various names, the stallion was made to perform one simple task. To alter the flow of astrological energy released by the orbit of the stars as they travelled their set paths and funnel it into the heart of the stallions' eye. It would take eons; he had known that when he formed the constellation, harnessing the energies of a celestial body took time. But when his plans came to fruition the star would contain so much excess energy that it would turn into a super-nova centuries before it's predetermined time. Nova was pleased with the end result, but there were certain abnormalities that disturbed him to no end. The first was the most obvious, the appearance of cherry blossom. Blossom was dead, he had seen being tortured and mutilated before his own eyes. So how could she have appeared before his very eyes was a mystery, nothing brought back the dead, though once he had heard of angels who had families that they visited. And how had she survived the flames unscathed? And when she kissed him, her touch had healed his wounds, but she was just an earth pony, how could she have these abilities? Somewhere in the back of his mind a part of him told himself that the alteration of the flow of arcane energies had formed a nexus point within the star itself, this build up of energy had caused the walls between the realities to thin, allowing the souls of the deceased to cross into this astral plane. But at the moment the explanation would have to wait, he currently needed to focus on more pressing issues. For instance, he had no idea where he was going. Nova closed his eyes and let his body go limp. He had no idea no where he was going, but there was no point in worrying about something that was out his control. He curled up into his accustomed sleeping position, a tight ball, and drifted into darkness and dreams of his sweet, sweet Cherry blossom.

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"Your royal highness, I'm most honored that you have come to the order of librarians for knowledge" Luna stared down at the small, wrinkled mare in front of her. The mistress librarian of the royal library was a wizened old creature, with big round eyes behind equally large and round glasses. She had taken her vows when she was just a filly and hadn't left the capital ever since, though from the look of her, Luna wouldn't be surprised if mistress librarian Jane hadn't left the library at all.

"I have come seeking knowledge mistress librarian, I wish to know more about comets, specifically the one that was spotted a few days ago after the stallions' eye exploded".

"of course, of course this way your highness" Jane beckoned for Luna to follow her and she set off through rows and rows of book shelves "ahh yes, the report on the trajectory of the comet 'liberus Aquila', come your highness, one of my scribes finished the report just yesterday, A strange request from her royal highness princess Celestia, commissioning a report on a comet. A comet of all things as well, I would think she would be more interested in the recent surges of astrological energy we've been reading from the sun" they passed rows upon rows of high book shelves, occasionally passing a pony head deep in a book within one of the aisles. Luna hadn't really been paying attention, but when she heard about the increased solar radiation, some nagging doubt caught her interest.

"The sun you say?" if Celestias own sun, a star itself, was in flux then it meant that Nova could have possibly regained some of his powers. The sun was a star, the same as any other. It would take nothing for Nova to use a fraction of his powers and bring the sun down upon their very heads, the thought of being baked alive within her own castle wasn't an idea Luna wanted to entertain for long. "How is this possible?" she asked. Her voice was loud in the dusty silence of the library. "Surely if something was amiss with her own celestial body my sister would know about it". The librarian gave Luna an excited look from behind her thick glasses. 'She doesn't know' Luna realized 'none of them know about Nova, or the dangers he brings'

"Well your highness, I can guarantee you that you're not the only pony to be vexed by this mystery. Why, even our head astrologer professor far eye had to pause to scratch his head. At first we thought it was something to do with your royal sisters' ability to control the sun, when we analyzed the type of energy that was being detected we discovered that it was astrological rather than solar"

"Mistress Librarian, my powers allow me to control the moon. I'm afraid you'll have to enlighten me on what types of energy the sun gives off" Luna had never paid much attention to the arcane machinations her sister used to bring up the sun each morning, and as for different types of energy. The librarian was better off talking to one of her books; Luna knew and cared little about the subject.

The librarian gave Luna a warm smile and launched straight into the subject. "Well you see princess, the sun and all celestial bodies all give off energy. Some of it is easy to sense, for instance the sun gives off light and warmth, every pony can see that. But as well as those forms the energy takes on other forms, for instance the sun also gives of several different of astrological energy"

'She sounds like she giving another lecture' Luna thought, but instead she simply nodded her understanding.

"Of the seven different types we monitor here at the library, five have little effect on us at all. For instance, gold waves produce nothing more than a slight tinge to the atmosphere. Ultra-violet radiation is dangerous, but the atmosphere protects us from it. However there are two types that have been known to have some effect on our lives. The first is celestial energy which is generated by the suns orbit, as the sun moves the excess energy produced causes the sun to wobble on its axis. This change in the suns angle relative to Equestria causes the constant cycle of the seasons, since as the angle changes the amount of light and warmth reaching us changes as well, decreasing in the winter and reaching a maximum in the summer. The second is a type of wave that we have trouble monitoring, primarily because it rarely reacts with our sensory devices at all, we've named this energy ghost waves as a result. From what we can tell, as soon as it's generated it either dissipates, changes into celestial energy or is funnelled away from the sun" the head librarian paused to wipe her glasses "do you believe in the concept of astrology your highness?"

Luna had had firsthand experience with astrology; the moon did play a vital role in the concept. "I have heard of it, though I do sometimes doubt it. It seems strange to me that our fates are governed by some distant stars" the librarian nodded.

"It's only to be expected my lady, there's a fierce debate amongst my colleagues as to whether or not astrology is even a science at all" they had reached the far wall of the library tower, before them was a small iron cage just about big enough to fit five ponies. The librarian held the door open for Luna as she stepped inside. Luna disliked the device, through the gaps in the floor she could see the ground floor a long way below her and the cage shook as well, forcing her to sway in time with the movements to keep her balance. The librarian stepped inside, closed the door, and gave a sharp pull on a small rope. Somewhere over head Luna heard a bell ring and then the cage began to rise, it moved upwards in fits of starts and stops, but the ride gradually became smoother as they rose higher, the librarian resumed her lecture.

"From our previous interactions with ghost waves we can tell that there is something strange about its composition, celestial energy contains trace amounts of hydrogen and helium, which is only to be expected since it comes from the sun. But ghost waves don't even contain trace amounts of anything, the waves themselves are composed of pure energy"

"Pure energy" Luna paused, her mind processing the information "but that would mean that the waves are formed by…"

"Magic" the librarian finished her sentence "your correct about that my lady, only magic is formed from pure energy. But if the waves are formed from magic as our data suggests then that means astrology may be entirely possible. That's not all; we're also getting similar readings from the supernova within the constellation of the stallion."

"Their connected" if what the head librarian was suggesting was true then anypony with the ability to control the stars was also capable of controlling the destiny of the world. Luna didn't like the idea one bit.

"Precisely your highness, we have several of our sensory devices tracking other stars; all of them have come up with the same results. We've hypothesised that all the stars in the sky may be connected by links of ghost waves, a massive network spanning the universe."

The idea of it sent an iron grip over Lunas heart. If this was all true then it meant that should Nova regain his abilities he would not only control the stars but the fate of the whole universe. He couldn't be allowed to Equestria. He had to be stopped.


	3. Chapter 3, star light

Chapter 3, star light

It wasn't Cherry blossom he dreamed of, even in his dreams Nova suffered.

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"You're lying to me again Nova" Luna stared at the small silver tray on her right, deciding which knife to use next, she picked up a long, thin stiletto blade with her magic and returned her attention back to the alicorn that lay bound to the cold, blood stained slab in front of her. She peered closely at the expanse of flesh in front of her and sliced off a thin strip of flesh from Novas body, her brother screamed in agony. Luna laid the near see-through piece of flesh on another slab behind her along with all the other slices, then turned back to her brother and repeated the process, Nova screamed even louder.

"I'M NOT LYING, I SWEAR I-AAAAAGGHHH!" he was cut off as Luna jabbed a thin needle into a cluster of nerves. Nova had never felt such pain.

"Now now Nova, mother taught us that lying was wrong" Luna worked with slow methodical skill, slicing yet another piece of flesh from her brothers tortured body. She'd been at this for seven days already, slowly stripping her brother down, millimetre by millimetre, working to reach his bones.

"EVEN IF I KNEW I WOULDN'T TELL YOU! FUCK YOU LUNA, FU-AAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGHHHHHH!" Luna had prodded the nerve cluster again, slightly harder. Why wouldn't it end? For seven days he'd been spread out on the slab and not once had his body surrendered to unconsciousness. 'It's because of your excellent stamina obviously' Luna had told him the second day 'that and also a little magic I wove, you won't be blacking out on me anytime soon brother, have no fear'

"Tsk tsk, such foul language as well, if only mother could see you now" Luna took off another three strips of flesh and found her diligence had been rewarded, she had reached Novas bones "mother always thought you were too foul mouthed, you could never keep your courtesies about you, it always shocked her" Nova screamed, the sound was filled with both hatred and pain. His muscles tensed and he was rewarded with more pain as a result. "I never knew how strong you were brother, but I must say your flesh is quite impressive. It's so fascinating to see how the body works, without your skin you make quite a fine specimen"

Nova tensed, throwing his strength against his bindings. His body scream, every fibre of his being crying out in pain. It was no use, the ensorcelled chains held firm.

"stop resisting Nova" Luna told him in an amused voice "the more you fight it the more it going to hurt" Luna patted one of the chains affectionately "it's amazing what you can do with a little sorcery don't you think" she held up one of the chains to her brothers face, on every single link there were runes and glyphs, glowing in an evil red light. They hurt to look upon.

"Why Luna, Why?" he whispered, barely audible. He coughed up blood, thick and red. Even whispering was an effort.

"because I want your powers Nova, so does Celestia in case you haven't realised" Luna took a thin chisel and began to delicately scratch a pentagram into his bone, there were no pain receptors within the bone however, so Nova gained himself a brief respite. "they say that in order to gain another ponies abilities you must carve out their soul" with the pentagram finished she took out a small pouched and opened it up, within lay a small pile of dark purple powder. "Black amethyst dust, you should really appreciated how much effort I'm putting into you Nova, this particular ingredient is extremely difficult to find" she took a tiny pinch of the fine powder and sprinkled it gently over the pentagram, the glyph glowed bright purple as the powder touched it. Nova screamed once more. Luna wasn't surprised; the runes she was etching into her brothers' flesh and bones were binding themselves to him, and the agony her brother was feeling must have been exquisite.

"I'll never tell you where she is Luna" Nova was barely loud enough to hear, Luna had to lean in to hear him. "She's gone now, you'll never find her" Novas breath was hot in her ear.

"You see my dear brother" she took a pair of tiny tweezers and tugged on a thin strip of exposed nerves, "that's where your wrong" she told him over the sound of his screams.

She worked continuously day and night, never once resting. She stripped the flesh from every bone in his body, and on each one she carved a blasphemous rune. The tiny chamber stank like an abattoir, Nova was red with blood and if you had never seen him before you could never have guessed his skin was white. Luna was spared from getting any blood on herself; she used magic to manipulate her deadly tools. The only way to tell how many days had passed was when a servitor came down at the end of the day to remove the pile of flesh that had built up over the course of the day. After ten days she had covered every single bone in his body with runes. She'd pulled the feathers out of his wings personally, Nova has screamed so loudly she wondered if anyone in the audience chamber high above them could hear him. She stripped his wings until they were nothing but bone and a few loose strips of tendon and muscle that hung forlornly over the side of the table. Luna preferred to work alone, but when she had finished his wings and legs she need help lifting him onto the meat hooks so she could more easily reach his heart.

There was a sharp knocking on the door, Luna cleaned her instruments and bid them enter. The heavy iron door opened to reveal four of the royal guards, each of them heavily built, they filed into the room and stood to attention. Their backs straight and eyes forward, if they felt and sympathy for the ruined alicorn bound on the stone slab before them they gave no sign.

"Captain Titus, thank you for coming so quickly on such short notice, and I see you've brought your strongest guardsmen as I requested." Luna gave a cursory gesture towards the set of evil looking meat hooks that hung on chains from the ceiling, chiming softly in the breeze that floated through the open door. "I require so assistance on moving my beloved brother to more comfortable arrangements, do be so kind as to help."

Titus nodded and immediately the four guardsmen moved to unbind Nova, two of them were unicorns and the chains on Novas bottom two hooves glowed as they fell away. "Help me Titus, please help me. We're friends remember? We used to go hunting together." Nova stared pleadingly at the captain, but he never so much as glanced at him. "Titus, please, Tiberius? Lucius? Augustus? Please help me". They all ignored him. Luna smiled as she saw the hope leave his brothers eyes. "you're my friends, please help me" Nova was crying, tear running down his cheeks and leaving streaks through the dried gore, however his anger swiftly turned to rage. When the guards lifted him off the table and onto their shoulders he violently twisted and turned, fighting to get free. "LET GO OF ME YOU BASTARDS, I SWEAR I'LL KILL EVERY ONE OF YOU. IF IT TAKES ME A HUNDRED YEARS I'LL KILL EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU". There was a sharp cracking sound and Nova screamed again, a shard of bone thrust its way through his chest, Luna had broken one of his ribs with her magic.

Luna smiled, "they don't hear you anymore Nova. The guards are trained to obey the royal family only, not traitors and filth like you". Two of the guardsmen propped Nova up on their shoulders whilst the other two grabbed a pair of meat hooks, "gently now Titus, I've been so careful with him and I don't want any mess now, it would be cruel of me, plus it would ruin all the effort I've put into making my brother look so pretty". Luna laid a hoof under her brothers' chin and lifted his head. His eyes were dull and distant; the fierce emerald fire that had burnt within them was long extinguished, smothered under the torture she had laid upon his body and soul. "You used to have such beautiful eyes Nova, where's the flare? Where's the resistance? I expected you to put up a better fight then this" she stared deep into his eyes, waiting for his reply. When she heard nothing she smiled showing off her perfect white teeth, Novas spirit had been crushed; there was no hope in him anymore. She gently kissed his forehead and then stepped back to let Titus resume his work, Novas head hung in defeat. "Resume your work captain"

"As you say my lady" the captain replied. There was a wet, meaty sound as the hooks went through Novas legs, then screams of agony. Then the sound of chains clinking as Nova was hoisted into the air. He hung there like an obscene rag doll, blood dripping from where she had flayed his skin off. His wings hung forlornly against his back, their once majestic snow white feathers gone. His bones protruded through his skin, she was almost done, all she needed to do was enchant his ribs and his heart and she was done.

"Thank you Titus, you have been most helpful. When you return to the barracks you'll find a gift for you and your men, I hope you enjoy her" the captain nodded and his ponies left silently, as the door closed behind them there was a heavy sound as the iron locks slid back into position.

Nova was gasping for breath, occasionally there was a seething noise when he drew air in through his gritted teeth, he was a heavy alicorn and his weight only helped to pull his body further down onto the hooks. Luna selected a wicked looking serrated knife from the tray and returned to her work, she had such better access to Novas chest now, and it was the easiest thing to start peeling off the skin on his stomach. She worked diligently, using the knife to make light incisions into his skin. Nova convulsed when she cut a little too deep and severed a group of nerves, but she prodded a cluster of nerves in his back with the knife and he fell still, the strength having left his body.

After a short while she spoke again, "do you know who I gave to the guards Nova?" she asked as she pulled up one of the corners of the flap of skin she had cut out. Nova hissed in pain before replying.

"S...some mare you…you…you pulled off the street" he coughed up blood and feebly attempted to spit on her, he fell short of the mark and it ran down his chest.

"Oh Nova, those are some of the finest guardsmen in the whole palace, I'm not going to give them some streetwalker" she loosened the other corner; Nova gave off a low moan. "No I found just the perfect mare for them, such a petite thing, with beautiful golden eyes and the purest white skin I've ever seen, she'll probably struggle at first but I'm sure after she's had a taste of a real stallion she'll enjoy it".

Nova looked up; fear was etched in his eyes. The muscles in his neck tensed and contracted as he tried to work a sentence out, but all he could manage was a weak "no"

"oh why yes Nova, we found your sweet Cherry blossom and I thought we should give her to the men for their own amusement before me and Celestia destroy that exquisite body of hers" Luna picked up the pair of tweezers and pinched the corner of skin she had loosened, she paused for a brief second to savour the moment and then pulled hard, ripping off every shred of skin on Novas chest. Within his chest his ribs were red, wet and shiny, blood ran off of them and pooled on the floor. Within the mass of muscle, bone and gore his heart beat slowly. Even his heart was giving up; with every beat it pumped a little less blood. With every beat Nova slowly died.

Nova screamed in agony and sorrow, darkness washed over him. Before he succumbed he heard his sisters' voice, far off and distant.

"Did you ever think you could hide her from us?"

≤ΘΘΘ≥

Luna looked around the dark, dank chamber, the only light came from a small witch light within a small lantern that was held by an attendant. The chamber hadn't been washed ever since she had last used it, all those years ago. Celestia looked like she was about to be sick, her face had gone whiter than ever and her normally radiant hair hung down by her feet. This far away from the surface she couldn't draw any energy from the sun to augment her appearance, without her magic Celestia was just a scared pony. Blood and gore had dried and crusted up on the stone slab in front of her, it covered the walls and the floor as well. A thick trail of it led along the floor to a set of evil looking meat hooks that hung against one wall; on the wall behind them was the silhouette of an alicorn formed out of dried blood. Next to the blood stained slab there was a second, exactly identical to the first, except this one held other bodily fluids on its surface. She sniffed; even the air stank of stagnant blood. The whole scene looked like it had been dragged brick by brick from one of the darkest chambers of hell; you could practically hear screams emanate from the wall.

"my god Luna, what the hell did you do to him" Luna turned to face her sister, regarding her with a scornful eye. It was so like her sister, she tried to maintain an air of perfection, but when she saw how she had gained the key to power she blanched.

"What do you think I did?" Luna answered in an exasperated tone; her sisters' ignorance annoyed her to no end. "I stripped him down to the bone and stole his soul" She gestured to the slab before her, "I did exactly what you wanted me to do".

"But I…I…this is…" Celestia somehow managed to turn a whiter shade of white. "This was just torture"

"Of course it was torture!" Luna rounded on her sister, fire burning in her eyes. "I stole his soul Celestia! I ripped him apart and ensorcelled his very bones! I drove his mind to the very brink of madness and dragged him kicking and screaming back into reality!" she laid a hoof on her sisters' head and pushed it down forcing her to stare at the blood stained slab. "You asked me to get his soul Celestia! You knew what I would have to do to get it but you wanted it all the same, now look at your own work!"

Celestia whimpered and shut her eyes, Luna snorted. 'How pathetic, she can't even stand the sight of her own handiwork' Celestia stopped whimpering and tried to talk, but all that came out was a whisper "I didn't know…"

"Oh, you didn't know huh?" Celestia nodded meekly, her eyes tight shut. "Well guess what Celestia, whilst you where upstairs in the throne room, acting regal and divine, I was down here listening to my own brothers screams of agony whilst I flayed the flesh from his very bones". She grabbed her sisters' head and forced her to look at the second torturing block, this one covered in other substances as well as blood. "And let's not forget who ordered that his mate should be given to the guardsmen in the barracks, you again. You see that slab Celestia? That's where Nova had to watch as the entire garrison fucked his Cherry blossom bloody and then watch me flay her to the bone" Luna gave Celestia a sharp slap on her cheek, her sisters recoiled and stared at her in fear. 'Yes that's right Celestia' Luna thought 'you may rule the kingdom from that damn throne of yours, but down here in the dark I'm the true mistress'. "I did all of this on your behalf sister, don't act like you where ignorant to everything!"

"I…I…" Celestia began to weep, her tears causing some of the congealed blood on the floor to liquidate again. 'Strange' Luna thought as she contemplated the cold drop of blood and tears on the floor 'eight thousand years and his presence still permeates the very walls'. "I never wanted to hurt him!" Celestia sobbed, talking between gasps of air. "I knew what you would have to do, I…I never thought it would be like this though" she completely broke down, her tears mixing with more dried gore, it looked as if she was crying blood, just like Nova had. For an instant Luna felt sorry for her sister, she shouldn't have pushed her case so far. She gently nuzzled her sister, Celestia cried loudly and buried her face in Lunas cascading hair. "He'll never forgive me, will he?" Celestia wrapped her hooves around Lunas neck and hugged her tight.

"I'm sorry sister, but he won't. He'll never forgive either of us for what we did to him" Luna looked around the chamber for one last time. "Come sister, we should leave this place; I should never have taken you this far from the sun". As the two princesses left Luna turned to the attendant, Celestia paused as well.

"Aren't you coming Luna, the day is ending and the moon must be raised soon" Luna shook her head.

"one moment sister, I just have to think about something, I'll come up soon"

Celestia nodded and continued up the stairs, when she had disappeared from view Luna turned back to the attendant who stood silently holding the lantern. "I want the chamber cleaned and prepared for use, get the blood off the walls and for goddesses' sake gets rid of that stench". The attendant nodded silently, he couldn't answer; Luna had had his tongue ripped out for secrecies sake. "And tell the smith to craft me a new set of knives, I have a feeling I'm going to need this room within the near future".

≤ΘΘΘ≥

Twilight sparkle moved about the library, double checking that all the books had been categorized correctly. From the corner over by the stairs spike muttered something about Rarity in his sleep, twilight smiled to herself when she heard it. For about half an hour she sorted her way through the neo-classical history section, then the recent developments in magic section and finally the ancient history section. She worked diligently and was soon done, as she looked across the neatly lined shelves, marvelling at the knowledge contained within them, one book caught her eye. She levitated it off the shelves and looked at it, it was ancient by the look of it, it was caked with dust and she could barely make out the title. She blew on the cover and coughed as a storm of dust flew off the cover, underneath the leather was pitch black. Golden lettering spelled out the title. "Prince Nova, a history of deeds and achievements by princess Celestia", twilight wondered at that. To her knowledge princess Celestia had never published a manuscript in her life, so what was a book like this doing in the ponyville library. Twilight placed the book on her desk and levitated another book down from another one of the shelves, it was bound in a deep green cover and read 'inventory' on the spine. Twilight opened it and flipped through to the contents page labelled under 'P'. "Let's see…potions, poisons, princess Celestia: a biography, Princess Luna: a biography": a biography, Princess Luna: a biography. There's nothing here about a prince Nova" twilight checked the 'N' contents page just to double check that there wasn't a filing error. When she found nothing she returned the inventory to its place on the shelf and picked up the black tome, bemused, she opened it up and read the authors note. "That's strange, it's written in the princesses own hand" the pages were old and yellowed, but she managed to make out the first few sentences.

"This tome is dedicated to the royal prince Nova, a dear friend and a good brother. Though Nova has left Equestria, he has left behind a legacy that shall echo through the ages. I'm afraid that there aren't enough pages in the world that can contain all of his greatest feats of heroism and courage, but I have done my best to record his greatest deeds within the confines of this book. May he rest in peace for all eternity with the goddess, never has she had a more faithful or diligent servant"

'but the princess doesn't have a brother' twilight turned to the next page and began to read, she was slow to accept this knowledge at first. But page by page she read deeper and deeper into the book. The candles in the chandelier burned further and further down as the night progressed, but she was so engrossed in the book that she didn't even notice.

"Prince Nova" she said to herself, the book open halfway. "If he's really done all these things, why haven't I heard of him before?"


	4. Chapter 4, home coming

Chapter 4, home coming

"Hey girls, check out what I found in the library last night" twilight pulled the book out of her flank pack and levitated it for everypony to see. They all crowded around, staring at the aging yellow tome.

"That there's a mighty big book twilight, what's it about?" applejack asked, she took the book from her and read the title aloud "Prince Nova, a history of deeds and achievements by princess Celestia" applejack frowned at the book, her bright green eyes showing her confusion. "Whose prince Nova, I ain't heard ah him before"

"A PRINCE!" rarity almost shouted, she took the book from applejack and stared at it as if it were made of gem stones. "Oh my, prince Nova, such a romantic name" she opened the book and started flipping quickly through the pages; twilight winced when she thought she heard one of the pages tear. "What does he look like? Are there any pictures? Is he handsome? Oh I bet he is, I would love to meet a prince"

Twilight took the book from rarity, who made a clumsy snatch for it. "You've got to be careful with it rarity, it's got to be at least a couple hundred years old" twilight gently smoothed out the pages and put it back in her saddle pack.

"Hundreds of years old, that's impossible" rainbow dash shook her head "besides, the libraries only a couple of decades old twilight, why would a book that ancient be sitting on one of the shelves. How the buck did it even get there in the first place?" all the others nodded in agreement

"I asked myself that dash" twilight pulled out another book from her flank pack, it was a deep green leather bound book with the word 'inventory' written on the side in golden lettering, she opened it to the 'p' contents page. "I searched the inventory and I couldn't find any record of a book labelled under Prince Nova anywhere in the library. There's no date to state when it was deposited within the library, or even any record that it even existed! It's like nopony knew it was there".

"It can't be real" applejack said, her brow furrowed in concentration "there's never been a prince, only two princesses. And princess Celestia ain't ever published a book in her life. So where in tarnation could this book come from?"

"I was wondering that myself" twilight pulled out the black bound book again, as well as a letter from princess Celestia. She opened the book at the authors note and held it and the letter next to each other. "The writings exactly the same as princess Celestias though, and it even states that she knew prince Nova" twilight turned the book towards herself and began to flip through the pages, "I was confused as well, but this book is absolutely fascinating. It says that prince Nova fought Discord in hoof to hoof combat during the Discord wars and won! And that he fought a dragon. Have you guys ever heard of Dalktarion?" Twilight showed them the page she was on, on its surface was a hoof drawn picture. It depicted an alicorn rearing before a huge dragon. The stallion was armed with a mighty war hammer, and around him blades circled through the air, held aloft by magic. He was without armour and the cutie mark on his flank depicted a five pointed star. He was lunging towards the dragon that hid behind a vale of thick black smoke that poured from its nostrils, only its evil eyes were visible through the smoke.

"Oh my goddess" rarities round eyes practically twinkled, they were deep and purple. "That is so bold and romantic, just like any prince should be" she sighed "ahh, if only he had done it to save a damsel in distress, then it would have been the perfect story"

"Actually he did" twilight flipped forward another couple of pages "the book says that Dalktarion had kidnapped a young mare to eat, but when prince Nova heard he left so quickly he didn't even take any armour with him, listen to this" twilight cleared her throat and began to read a quote from the book.

"Dalktarion, the black terror opened his cavernous mouth and breathed fire and brimstone upon Nova, wreathing him in flames. When the villagers saw this they wept, for they believed their saviour to be dead. But before their very eyes the Prince erupted from the flames, his mighty wings lifting out him of the fire like a phoenix rising from the ashes. He rose and rose and the black terror took wing and followed him. They flew so high that they disappeared into the clouds, occasionally the dragon would roar flames and for a split second the battle would be silhouetted in the heavens. Then Dalktarion gave a mighty roar and silence fell upon the village. Many ponies, myself included, once again believed he was dead and all wept tears for the fallen hero. We began to disperse when suddenly a young colt with a wooden sword at his hooves pointed skywards shouting "look, look". When I turned to look up I saw Dalktarions great body falling from the heavens, blood falling from a great wound in his chest, then followed my brother Nova, his great hammer held in front of him. For a moment the pair hung in space, and then Nova gave a mighty roar of his own and brought his hammer smashing down on Dalktarions chest with the force of a god."

"Pretty impressive, isn't it?" twilight closed the book.

The others stood in silence, and then applejack replied. "Ah've heard many stories in ma time twilight, but that has to be one of the best ah've heard yet", everypony nodded in agreement.

"He sounds fabulous, when can I meet him?" rarity had a dreamy look on her face. "I bet he's strong and handsome and courteous and such a gentlemen, the perfect stallion" she began to lean on applejacks shoulders, apple jack shrugged irritably. "Can you imagine? He would come and pick me up and whisk me off my feet and take my up into the sky with his gorgeous wings, it would be perfect"

"err, I'm not sure how to tell you this rarity but…Nova died about eight thousand years ago" twilight flipped through the book to the very end "the princess wasn't very specific, in one entry she says that Nova died at the battle of ironforge, battling the great stallion king Kulduran. It says he held a breach in the fortress wall for a day and a night, and even slew the kings iron guard before he succumbed to his wounds. In another she wrote that after his mate, a mare by the name of Cherry blossom died, he cut off his wings and horn and left in search of a resting place for her bones, he never returned. Twilight closed the book and placed it once again within her flank pack with the letter. "Whoever he was, prince Nova seemed to be a great stallion"

"That's if he ever existed" rainbow dash gave twilight a incredulous look "sorry twi, but I'm not buying it. This Nova guy, or whatever he's called, he just sounds like another pony tale that mares tell their colts to get them to go to sleep at night" she lifted one of her legs and studied her hoof. "He still couldn't beat daring do though" she said with a smug smile.

"How dare you!" rarity suddenly shouted, she sounded both surprised and angry. "My prince would be the one who saved your silly mare every time she got into trouble" rarity flicked her hair imperiously "she's a silly character besides, why would anypony go into the jungle any way? There's nothing but disgusting bugs and slimy snakes"

A fierce debate began between the two mares, getting hotter with every word and partially veiled insult, apple jack turned to twilight and said "sorry twilight, but ah gotta get back to the farm, granny smith'll be up from her nap soon, and ah gotta check on the fillies and make sure they ain't getting themselves in noponys way" she nodded her goodbyes to the others and started down the road back to the farm.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN 'DAMSEL WHO PUTS HERSELF IN DISTRESS'!" she heard rainbow dash shouted as she walked away.

"WELL IT STRIKES ME AS RATHER ODD THAT ANYPONY COULD BE CAPTURED SO MANY TIMES IN SO MANY OBVIOUSLY ESCAPABLE WAYS!" rarity made noise that sounded like 'hmph' applejack smiled to herself and walked onwards.

≤ΘΘΘ≥

Below him the planet hung in space, a beautiful blue jewel floating within the void of space. Nova stared down upon the world and wondered at it, it was so beautiful. Far off in the distance a star shined upon the world, causing the oceans to flash bright blue like sapphires. At each pole sat white caps of snow and ice, stretching across the roof of the world and muffling it in cold silence. The continents seemed to glow a bright green like emeralds, and below him he saw majestic mountains and deep valleys. From this high up they looked so insignificant, like folds in a carpet.

Something nagged at him in the back of his mind, he knew this world. That set of mountains that shot up from the surface of the planet looked achingly familiar and on the dark side of the world he saw tiny pin pricks of light begins to glow, cities. 'Home' he realised 'blossom has really brought me home'. He began to search for Canterlot, his eyes scanning to valleys below him. He saw tiny towns and cities rising up from the world's surface, from this high up they seemed like nothing more than a fillies toys. Several times he thought he spied it, but when he looked closer he realised they were simply towns or fortresses. He even saw Cloudsdale floating in midair over a chain of mountains. Giving a brief glance northward he saw a great mountain of snow clawing its way into the night skies, the aurora dancing around its peak. 'Tornuldal' he idly thought 'the mountain of ice dragons'.

After what seemed an age he finally spotted Canterlot nestled on the side of a mountain, in the valley below it lay a small settlement, surrounded by a thick forest. Nova summoned his courage, folded in his wings and dived, rocketing down to earth like a missile, his fiery mane and tail flying out behind him. As he entered the upper atmosphere a shell of flame began to build up in front of him, leaving behind a trail of fire as he blazed across the sky. He gritted his teeth against the building heat and pressed onwards. As he passed through an upper bound of the ionosphere the fire that had built up behind him began to excite the ions trapped within, the result was a huge halo of fire as he rocketed through. The sense of speed was invigorating, intoxicating. Nova could feel icy air ruffling his feathers as he flew; it sent a tingling along his spine, 'how long have I waited for this?' he thought, in response his stomach growled 'don't worry dear friend, we're almost there. The first thing I'm going to do when we get there is see if sugar cubes sweet shop is still open'. He stomach growled in appreciation and Nova smiled despite himself. As he broke through the lower ionosphere another halo spread outwards in his wake. 'Are you watching Luna? Are you Celestia? I'm coming for you and I'll take back what's mine'.

He broke through the lower stratosphere, about 30,000 meters above the surface. Below him Canterlot sprawled within the confines of the thick city walls, he could see the palace, gleaming white in the moonlight. 'Home, I'm going home. I'll finally get to sleep in my own bed again'. He closed the last 27,000 meters within a minute, this close he could see tiny ant like ponies staring up and pointing as he plunged towards the city square. 'Their running from me' he noticed 'they think I'm a comet about to crush them'. From what Nova could remember of Canterlot the majority of the populace had been rich aristocrats who had gained their money and power during the iron wars, posh and pampered ponies who talk about the glories of their ancestors but who'd never fought a battle in their life. 'They're right to be terrified' he thought, some of them had betrayed him to Luna and Celestia. 'Brightflanks, lightmarks, darkbolts, they all betrayed me, when I'm done with my sisters I'll see to them too'

'It's pointless my love' blossoms voice echoed in his head, she'd been there since she'd released him from the star. 'Greyeyes and aurora and shadowmane are dead and gone, not even their descendants remember them…or you, I haven't brought you back to give you vengeance' Nova felt a sudden blank dread fill his heart.

'but if you didn't release me so I could have my vengeance then what did you release me for?' he thought 'how could I continue to live if I can't fix what has been set wrong'

Blossom giggled, 'oh my love, they didn't take your life, they took what you lived for. I've given you this chance to defy them in the greatest way possible Nova. I am dead, my hopes and dreams are gone, but you live, you still live and breathe and dream and hope.

'I don't understand!' he wanted to scream, blossom wasn't talking sense. What did she mean when she said they had taken what he'd lived for; his sisters had taken his life.

"it's simple my love" Nova was suddenly aware that blossom was right next to him, but no matter how hard much he wanted to he couldn't turn to face her. He was travelling too fast; if he turned his head the force of the air would snap his neck. "You must find something to live for Nova, you must live for me"

"You are what I lived for blossom" Nova could feel a strange heat building up to his left, it was different from the flames when he had pushed through the atmosphere. It felt warm, not hot, and soothing, like it was reaching into his heart and filling it with ease. "I lived for you and I fought for you" Nova felt hollow "I failed you, if I had fought harder than you would have never been captured, you could have lived. You wouldn't have had to have suffered"

"Nova, you must let go, I am beyond suffering now, I am beyond pain. Nothing can hurt me, I am at peace. But you are doing nothing but hurting yourself if you don't let go, I'm gone Nova, I've moved on. You must now do the same"

"I couldn't love another as I loved you Blossom, I couldn't. How could I be with anypony else? They would only remind me of you"

"Oh Nova" Blossoms voice was soft and sad "your stubbornness was something I always admired, but your path is already chosen, you fate sealed. The goddess has agreed and made preparations, there is another Nova, one who shall truly have your heart"

"I WON'T LEAVE YOU!" Nova shouted, an intense roaring noise had built up and it was getting difficult to hear anything.

"my love, it's been decided. You already have".

Nova was puzzling over this when he spotted a grey pegausi flying in wonky circles directly within his flight path, he shouted for them to move out the way, but it was already too late to pull up. 'I may no longer visit your world Nova, but I may leave you one last parting gift'.

'This is going to hurt' he thought, then his body slammed into the pegausi. He heard a sharp snap and a lance of pain went straight through his right wing, he gritted his teeth and grunted in pain. They were falling, spinning through the air. The pegausi was screaming in terror, Nova looked down and saw the ground rushing up to meet them.

"HOLD STILL!" he shouted, and then pulled the pegausi tight into his body. She whimpered and stared at him with golden eyes that pointed in wrong directions. "JUST HOLD TIGHT!" he shouted. He opened his left wing and rolled so he was on his back, the pegausi clinging tightly to his chest. 'This is really going to hurt' he thought, and then his back slammed into the ground. He grunted and the pegausi shrieked in terror and clung to him even tighter. Then his head whacked against the ground with such a force he thought his head would split.

And then…silence.

≤ΘΘΘ≥

Apple jack was walking through the orchards, checking the trees for and signs of damage. It was a quiet night and over head the stars twinkled in the night sky, like pinpricks of light in an ocean of darkness. A shooting star lit up as she watched, "make a wish applejack" she thought to herself. That made her pause for thought, what should she wish for? What did she want. Applejack had never paused to consider her emotions to others for long, she was always open and honest to her friends and ever polite to those above her, but sometimes to seemed that It never really mattered. Idly she thought about all the suitors who had pressed their case to her over the years, there'd been several. Some had been rich and some had been powerful, some had sworn to love her for eternity and some had promised to treat her like a princess. 'but above all they just wanted my body' she thought, someponys had called her beautiful and sometimes when she looked in her cracked old mirror her vanity got the better of her and she agreed, but nopony had ever paused to see what she was like underneath.

'Doesn't matter if a candy apple look good if the apples rotten' granny smith had said to her once, and she agreed. But applejack was young, and like all young mares she felt the urge to find some soul mate and become happy. Fate always seemed to rain on her dreams though, once she'd had a ponyfreind, but when he'd found out she lived on an apple farm he'd wanted nothing to do with her. 'Just another rich colt looking for arm candy' granny smith had told her when she'd come home in tears 'don't you listen to him youngen, he's just bad news', after that she'd given up on colts and stallions almost entirely, they where all just empty promises and hollow words. For some reason she thought of the prince twilight had told them about earlier, rarity always said princes where good and kind and chivalrous, if only she had a prince. She looked at the falling star and smiled "alright then applejack, make a wish upon a star and let's see if ya get your prince". In response a halo of bright red fire seemed to spread from the star, followed a few seconds later by another. Applejack smiled and returned to her work. For a few more minutes she worked undisturbed, then she heard someone call her name. she looked up and saw Derpy flying in a wonky circle over head, Derpy waved and she waved back, then she noticed the star.

"DERPY LOOK OUT!" she cried, then the ball of orange slammed right into Derpys little body and caused her to drop like a stone towards the earth. She watched dumbstruck as Derpy fell towards the ground, then she ran. She sprinted off in the direction where the star fall, with Derpy right underneath it. As she ran she thought she heard a voice shout "HOLD STILL!" and then "JUST HOLD TIGHT!" Then there was a dull cracking noise and a wave of air whacked her straight in the face, "Derpy!" she cried and ran towards the stars crash site.

She arrived at a small crater, sprinting up the side she stopped and gawked at the sight she saw. In the centre of the crater there were the bodies of two ponies, one she recognised as Derpy and the other who was twice her size with snow white skin and hair that was a mixture of reds, yellows and oranges, like flames. When she reached them she heard the stallion whisper "are you alright?" Derpy whimpered and clutched him tight as if she would die if she let go.

"What the blazes!" applejack exclaimed "Derpy, you alright?" Derpy simply whimpered and clutched tighter to the stallion, who gently pried her off his body and rolled onto his stomach. Applejack saw that one of his white wings was broken, shards of bone pushing their way through his skin. He stood up and almost fell, wincing in pain.

"Not my bloody wing again" she heard him whisper, he tried to stand and collapsed again "my leg too, goddess that hurts" he looked up and saw applejack, who simply stood staring at him, her mouth gaping. "see she's ok" he told her, gesturing to Derpy. Applejack nodded mutely and went to check on Derpy, who was unhurt but appeared to be in shock, all she could do was whimper.

"Who…what…who are ya?" she asked the pony "how the hell did you come from a star", she watched as he tested his leg, gingerly standing up, once he was satisfied he answered her question.

"I'm…Nova" he murmured "sorry about your land, I'll pay or something, whatever it is I have to do" he collapsed again. Applejack ran to his side, Derpy forgotten. She knelt down and cradled his head with her front two hooves. "What's your name?" he whispered his eyes half open.

"Applejack" she answered, still confused by what was happening. Nova smiled, reached up with one hoof and gently touched her cheek. "She did it, she brought me home" Nova sighed, a look of happiness on his face. "It's been so long…since I've heard another pony talk" he coughed, a racking sound that made his body convulse.

"Just stay here ok? Ah'll go get the doctor or somepony ok?" the stallion simply looked at her, wide eyed. 'He's in shock', he smiled weakly. She suddenly noticed the horn that had lain buried under his flaming hair. "Ya an alicorn just like the princess" she suddenly realised, at the mention of princesses the stallions face darkened.

"My lovely sisters, they did this to me you know" he nodded to the stars overhead, glowing far off in space. "They took my stars" he coughed "my sweet stars, I want to hear them again applejack, I want to hear the stars sing" his hoof gently caressed her cheek, applejack suddenly felt herself blush. This was madness! This pony had almost crushed Derpy and here she was blushing. "I'm so hungry, is there any food?" he closed his eyes and went still, for a moment she thought he was dead.

"Nova?" she shook his body, he smiled again and coughed up blood, thick and red and steaming.

"I'm…I'm still here applejack" he looked at her and she felt the blood rising to her cheeks once again. "Blossom told me there was another, are you her?" his hoof dropped and he coughed again, sounding even worse than before. "You've got lovely eyes applejack, do you know that?" applejack was once again speechless.

"Are ya hitting on me by any chance?" she couldn't help but smile, whoever he was, this stallion had guts.

"I've been locked away for so long, can you blame me?" he smiled "before you go applejack, can you sing for me?" he murmured. Applejack didn't know what to say.

"I don't know any songs" she told him.

"Anything's good" he whispered and pressed himself into her arms "you're really warm, or am I just cold?"

Applejack simply stared, a song he'd asked for. He'd just fallen from the sky in a fiery ball of flames, almost crushed Derpy, flirted with her, made her blush, and now he was asking for a song! Applejacks mind reeled, then she remembered a song Fluttershy had once sung. "Hush now, quiet now, quiet now, night you sleepy head, time to go to bed" Nova smiled contentedly and went limp.

"Thank you applejack" he whispered. Then he drifted off to sleep, applejack simply stared. His head cradled in her arms. She was still with him when big Mac came; he stared at her with his usual nonchalant expression. Applebloom was with him and stared wide eyed at the alicorn that her older sister was kneeling beside.

"Mac, go call the doctor. This one and Derpys been hurt" Big Mac nodded and galloped off in the direction of the house, Applebloom simply stood staring. The pair waited in the orchard for what seemed like hours, neither saying a word. Derpy did nothing but whisper and Nova didn't even move, save for the shallow rise and fall of his chest. When the ambulance did come the ambulance crew placed his wings and one of his legs in a splint and carried him into the ambulance. The doctors gave Derpy a check over, shining a light in one of her eyes and doing a reflex test.

"Well it's a good thing you called us" one of the nurses told applejack, a light cyan mare with a shock of white running through her electric blue hair. "From what we can tell he's emaciated, one of his wings was almost crushed and his front left hoof is broken. He may also be suffering from internal trauma and bleeding after his crash, but there's no way to tell until we can get him to the surgery"

"He's gonna be ok though, right?" Applebloom asked her eyes wide with uncertainty, the nurse smiled warmly.

"We'll get him to the hospital in well enough time young one, no need to fret." The nurse turned back to applejack, a more professional look on her face. "Can I just have a word with you please miss applejack, in private if you don't mind"

"sure" applejack nodded "Applebloom, you get back to the house and go to bed, ok?" Applebloom gave the ambulance one last look and trotted of back to the farm house, once she was gone the nurse gestured for applejack to come abit closer.

"miss applejack, I'm afraid that after this little…violent…episode the doctors have decided to put you on a course of depressants for a short time" applejack gave the nurse a confused look.

"Me? I ain't been hurt; it's Nova and Derpy ya gotta be looking after" the nurse gently shook her head, a sad expression on her face.

"I'm afraid it's not that simple miss, this Nova" she gestured in the direction of the ambulance, where the doctors where loading Novas stretcher into the back "well given the circumstances of his arrival and the condition of his body the doctors believe it's possible you could go into shock, the depressants are simply to suppress the more serious effects" the doors on the back of the ambulance closed and the crew was getting back into the ambulance.

"Come on Cream!" the driver called out, waving at the nurse. "We gotta get this pony into surgery!"

"One moment!" the nurse shouted back "take these" the nurse handed applejack a small jar of pills "take one in the morning and one in the evening every day for two weeks". She turned to go, but then she cocked her head slightly to the right and gave applejack a sympathetic look. "I'm sorry you had to go through this applejack, did you know the stallion?" the nurse gave a cheeky smile and winked. "What where you two even doing out here in the orchard?"

Applejack felt herself going red. "Oh… it was nothing like that, I don't even know the pony" she stared at the ambulance; the driver gave a hoot on the horn. "He's just…some random pony…"

'But he came, I wished on a star and he came. What's going on here?"


	5. Chapter 5, waking dreams

Chapter 5: waking dreams

Blossom screamed in pain, Nova tried to close his ears to the sound but it pierced his mind like a knife. On the blood stained slab in front of him Blossom laid stretched out, chains pierced directly into the skin of each one of her hooves. She screamed again, and was hit for her efforts, leaving a bruise on her face. Why wouldn't they stop? Within the tiny chamber were four of the royal solar guard and four of the royal lunar guard, each watching in silence as the head of the solar guard, Titus, had his way with Blossom.

There wasn't a single hint of mercy or reproach in his eyes as Titus fucked Blossoms tiny body. He'd been at it for half an hour; all the while Nova had been forced to watch. Blossom was covered with cuts and bruises, and her blood had seeped out onto the slab.

"NOVA!" she had screamed when they'd dragged her into the room, tears running down her face. Nova had been hung against the wall, impaled upon a set of meat hooks. His skin was gone and his heart exposed for the whole world to see, his ribs had been smashed and the feathers on his wings had been pulled out, leaving behind nothing but bone and cartilage. Luna had smiled when they'd brought her in, chained up and with whip marks on her flanks.

"Ah Blossom, so nice of you to join us", she'd stroked her hair and gently kissed her on the cheek, "As you can see your stallion in shining armour is quiet incapacitated at the moment, so I've taken the liberty of diverting my attentions to you" Luna had smiled wickedly then. "Captain, if you would be so kind as to make our guest comfortable" Titus had nodded mutely and the guards shackled Blossom to the butchers block in front of Nova. "You may take what you will from her captain, you and your men". At the simple command one of the lunar guards had grabbed a hoof full of Blossoms cherry pink mane and thrust himself into her, Blossom had screamed so loudly Nova felt as if his ears where going to bleed. He'd tried to shout out and break free of his bindings, but Lunas torture had left his throat filled with fire and any attempt to pull himself off the hooks had simply impaled him further. He'd been forced to watch as each of the eight guards defiled Blossom and abused her.

Titus gave a slight grunt as an indication he'd finished and stepped back from Blossom to stand to attention with the others, Blossom whimpered in pain, Titus' seed running down her legs. "Excellent work, all of you" Luna told them, her gaze moving from one to the next. "Such a wonderful demonstration of the stamina of our guardian elite, leave us" the guards each gave a curt nod and left single file, leaving Luna, Blossom and Nova alone within the dark cell. "Did you enjoy the show Nova" Luna asked, she walked up to Blossom and gently began to stroke her mane, Blossom whimpered. "I certainly did" Luna ran a hoof through the blood and held it up to her face to examine it. "Such a deep shade of red" she licked the blood "and a wonderful texture as well" she smiled and rubbed her hoof clean on Blossoms skin.

"Luna" Nova whispered, he raised his head, a dark fire burning within his emerald eyes "if it's the last thing I ever do, I swear upon my soul I'll kill you for what you've done" he spat blood at his sister, who simply smiled.

"Ah, there's the fire I wanted to see" Luna placed a hoof under Novas chin and stared deep into his eyes, a smile on her face. "It's nice I could finally get a reaction from you" she pointed a hoof at Blossom, who was crying, tears running down her cheek. "I must say she did put up with so much, eight of the finest guards in the whole palace in one row" Lunas smile became wicked; an evil gleam entered her eyes. "but now it's time for the real fun to begin" Luna selected one of her long silver knives and began to make shallow incisions into Blossoms flesh, Blossom screamed, long and loud.

"GET OFF HER YOU BITCH" Nova roared, he strained against the hooks, the gentle clinking of chains filling the air, but it was no use. His body relaxed and he gritted his teeth as the hooks pushed even further into his already ravaged body. "Get off her" he wheezed.

Far away in the distance he heard ponies talking, their voices faint. "What's going on doctor?" one of them asked, he swore he knew the voice "why is he shaking?". "The anaesthetic must be wearing off" another answered "he's waking up".

"HELP US!" he roared, his heart began to beat faster within the ruins of his chest "FOR THE LOVE OF THE GODDESS HELP US!"

Luna regarded him with a cold stare and resumed her work, peeling strips of flesh from Blossoms tiny body. Blossom screamed and pulled at the chains, but she didn't have Novas stamina and quickly gave up, the chains had left deep cuts in her legs.

"No one can help you Nova" she said, peeling away a thick slice of flesh. "No one will ever be able to help you or even hear you again" she began to peel away the skin over Blossoms cutie mark, a fleur de leys in the centre of a heart.

"Why's he screaming for help? And who's Blossom" another voice murmured.

Luna pulled away a neat strip of skin from Blossoms body. Blossom screamed and convulsed, blood pouring from the flesh wound. "What do you think Nova?" Luna levitated the strip of flesh in front of Novas face. It was Blossoms cutie mark, perfectly centred in a circle of Blossoms soft white skin "I think I might have it cured and sowed into a cloak" Luna smiled "or maybe a scarf" she stroked Blossoms body, Blossom wept uncontrollably.

"NO!" Nova roared "NO YOU CAN'T" he pulled at his bindings and was rewarded with an audible snap of leather. 'Wait leather? The bindings are meat hooks, not leather'. And then he surfaced from the dream.

≤ΘΘΘ≥

Nova sat up and screamed. "NO, BLOSSOM!" In front of him a three ponies jumped back in fright. "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH HER?" he roared. Then a pair of heavy, strong hooves pressed against his chest and forced him back onto his back. "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH HER YOU BASTARDS?"

"He must have woken from a repressed nightmare" he heard a somepony say "restrain him whilst I administer a sedative".

"NO!" he shouted and tried to press against the hooves on his chest, but he felt so weak and the hooves wouldn't budge "YOU CAN'T PUT ME UNDER! LUNA! WHERE ARE YOU?"

"Hold him still" a unicorn stallion with brown skin and close cropped grey hair appeared above him, his grey eyes filled with sympathy. "I know you're scared but just relax, this'll only take a moment" he told him, then Nova felt a needle go into his neck and the fight left his body.

After a few moments the hooves on his chest released their iron grip, Nova was breathing hard and beads of sweat trickled down his brow. "Just sleep my dear prince" he heard a posh voice whisper in his ear "you're safe now" then he sank into a dreamless sleep.

≤ΘΘΘ≥

The bed was soft, feather light, but Nova barely felt it as he woke from a grey dream with a gasp and sat bolt upright, a name on his lips. His breathing heavy was heaven, "Blossom!" he murmured, then shook his head and took in his surroundings. He looked around him and saw he was in a white room by himself, sun light streaming through a window in the far wall. He felt a dull ache in his front right leg and when he looked down he saw someone had made an incision into one of his arteries. A see through plastic tube filled with blood had been pushed into his body through the cut, his eyes followed it and he saw it was connected to a machine that had a screen with a series of squiggly lines on it.

"Oh goodness you're awake!" Nova turned his head in the direction of the voice and saw a unicorn nurse standing in the door way, pushing a small trolley with a tray of food on it, Nova caught a whiff and his mouth began to water. "I've brought you breakfast" the nurse said, a warm smile on her face. She pushed the trolley up next to the bed and levitated the tray onto his lap. When Nova had been a prince he'd been formally educated in the correct etiquette required when eating his meals, but when he stared at the thick stack of pancakes dripping with equally thick maple syrup all thoughts of manners at the dinner table left him.

"Thank you" he managed, his throat was so dry and felt like it was made of sandpaper, was there a drink available as well? Almost as if in answer the nurse levitated a tall glass of apple juice onto the tray, beads of condensation running down the side.

"Eat up, I hope you enjoy it, I made it my-oh!" the nurse came to an abrupt stop as Nova levitated half the stack up to his mouth and ate half of it in one bite, he grinned in delight. The pancakes were perfect, fluffy and light and buttery, with the syrup adding just the right amount of sugary goodness. He swallowed and moaned with pleasure as he felt food enter his stomach for the first time in eight thousand years, he tried some of the apple juice as well, and it was deliciously sweet and had little bits of apple pulp floating around in it. Perfect.

"Wow" the nurse giggled as Nova took another bite of the pancake stack, his mouth moving and chewing like clockwork. "You're pretty hungry huh?" Nova washed down another mouthful of pancakes with apple juice, then licked his lips, a huge grin on his face.

"That was delicious" the nurse smiled and he couldn't help but smile even wider himself. "I haven't had food like that in ages" he licked a blob of syrup from his lips.

"I'm glad you liked it" the nurse had warm eyes. Nova looked her over, she had bright purple eyes that seemed to sparkle with happiness, pure white skin and a purple mane and tail that where expertly curled, when she knelt to fetch something from the bottom of the trolley Nova saw her cutie mark, three diamonds. 'that uniforms a bit tight for a nurse isn't it' he thought as he took a brief second to check out her rather lovely arse that she had somewhat conveniently exposed when she had knelt down. She stood up and gave a sly smile when she saw Nova suddenly take great interest in the view out of the window, a modest flush on his cheeks.

"Where am I?" he asked, staring out the window, outside he saw ponies walking through what appeared to be a park just down the road from the hospital, further down the road lay a small town bustling in the early morning sun and beyond that the tiny outline of a barn surrounded by what appeared to be orchards of some kind. The nurse smiled and levitated the now empty tray and glass back onto the trolley.

"Ponyville of course" she said, Nova turned and was greeted by the sight of her rather well defined bum as she pushed the trolley over to the door. "A small town in the middle of the valley of peace" she gave Nova a wink when she saw him staring "naughty naughty" she said, a sly smile on her face. "That's ponyville just down the road there" she gestured to the town "and that's sweet apple acres just on the horizon". That last part made Nova pause for thought.

"Sweet apple acres…" he suddenly remembered his crash and his encounter with applejack, was she at the farm right now? Working in the orchards? "I think I owe Applejack an apology for what I did to her land" he said, the nurses smile faltered for a moment. But she soon regained her composure.

"Applejack, yes… she's a remarkably…rough young mare at times" the nurse shuddered slightly, a look of distaste on her face. "Working on a farm, ugh, the idea of it makes me feel strange" she turned her attention from the window back to Nova. "Please excuse my manners I forgot to introduce myself" the nurse gave a low curtsy "I'm rarity".

A tumult of different greetings that had been hammered into his mind skipped through Novas brain, what did he do know? Did he get out of bed and bow? No, he was hooked up to the machine. He didn't have anything to present as a gift either, so that idea went out the window as well. In the end he settled for a plain and simple "it's nice to meet you rarity" he held out his right hoof, but then retracted it almost immediately when he realised he had a plastic tube sprouting out of it, he raised his left instead but had to retract that as well when he saw it was covered in bandages "I'm Nova".

Rarity squealed with delight and rushed at him "Your real!" she gave him a wet kiss on his forehead "I just knew you were real, twilight said you weren't real but what does she know, staying in that musty old library everyday with old books for company. And applejack as well" she paused for breath and giggled "but I guess now she's eating her own words as well as those apples she makes. And won't rainbow dash be so annoyed" rarity's cheeks were flushed, but whether it was because she was out of breath or genuinely blushing Nova couldn't tell "she said you where just another ponytale and I said 'like your marvellous daring do?' and she said 'daring do could whup your princes arse any day' so I said 'my prince would be the one who saved you daring do every time she got into trouble' and that got her to be quiet in now time" rarity stared at Nova with huge, adoring eyes "I can't believe your really here, I'm in the same room as a real prince!" she gripped him in a fierce bear hug and Nova winced as she squeezed his left hoof just a little too hard. "Oh this is just splendid" she began to stroke his mane, and smiled when she felt him shudder "like that do you?" Nova gave her a sheepish grin.

"Nopony's brushed my mane in years", rarity ran her hoof through his hair again and Novas smile became even bigger "how did you know I was a prince?"

"Oh, twilight told me about you, so I did some research of my own. That and also the fact you're an alicorn makes it pretty obvious your no normal pony" she gently rubbed his back "oh my sweet prince, don't worry, your secrets safe with me. Every pony just thinks you're just my ponyfreind" she sat herself on the edge of the bed and ran a hoof through his mane "I'll take you home and I'll make you a fine suit and I'll brush your mane and tail and I'll take you to the spa and give you a massage" she winked and Nova felt himself blush "and I'll take you to sugar cube corner and buy you a lovely cake and we'll go to the park and have a romantic picnic" rarity sighed and rested her head on Novas shoulder, 'she's really warm too' he thought 'just like applejack…'. Also he was worried about the obvious fact he was an alicorn. Alicorns could be conceived naturally, there had been many who had been born with both wings and a horn, but they were few and far between, Nova was going to stick out like an earth pony in Cloudsdale.

"Miss rarity, for the last time please don't climb into bed with my patient" a small pony with brown skin and short grey hair stood in the door, a clipboard levitating beside him and he was wearing a white doctors uniform. "I'm sorry for your rather hyper 'nurse' my dear boy" the doctor said as he entered the room, a look of annoyance on his face.

Nova gave rarity a sideways glance, "it's no problem, I knew she wasn't a nurse the moment I saw her cutie mark" rarity blushed with embarrassment and slid off the bed, releasing Nova from her vice-like grip as she did so.

"And please, please, PLEASE stop wearing that nurses uniform!" the doctor exclaimed, looking at her from over the top of his clip board "I have a patient in ward five who's suffering from elevated blood pressure, one look at you and he's bound to go off the charts" the doctor shook his head "you mares today, I remember when we used to be lucky if we saw one with a skirt that reached her knees and now look at you" he gestured to rarity's behind, which was only partially covered by her choice of garment.

"Well that's kinda rude don't you think?" Nova said giving the doctor an annoyed look of his own "I'm sure miss rarity's only aim was to make sure I was comfortable" he gave rarity a wink "worked a treat it did" rarity blushed.

"Young stallions always think about something else" the doctor shook his head, a smile on his face, behind a pair of glasses his grey eyes twinkled. "I'm just popping by to give you this" he handed Nova the clip board "it's a document stating your medical history, allergies, whether or not you're susceptible to greyscale and your surgical history"

Nova scanned the document, which was completely empty except for the surgical history section. "You removed my right wing!" Nova flexed his wings, no, both still there.

"Actually we only removed it for about half an hour" the doctor stated "if you look further down the sheet you'll see we also reattached it" Nova looked, yep there it was. '1:30 am, puncture wound to heart blocked, wing reattached'.

"I can't afford this" Novas heart sank, he'd been gone for so long that he doughted anyone was about to give a hand out to some pony who'd dropped from the sky and was claiming to be a prince.

"No need to worry" the doctor took the clip board and flipped through a few sheets, Nova simply sat staring, a bemused look on his face. "Here we go" the doctor gave back the clip board "under the health service act of 'fifty six all ponies suffering from life threatening injuries are to be given free care as to such a time as they are able to leave the hospital and resume work" a concerned look crept onto the ponies face "the only problem is we don't seem to have a record of you anywhere in the database, not a single mention of an alicorn named Nova at all. We cross referenced with older records, checked by cutie mark, but we couldn't find a trace anywhere. So for purposes of your medical history and record I'm going to need you to fill out this form before you go, just your name, date of birth, location of birth, address, post code, your parents names and a secondary post code in case the first one proves invalid"

Nova wasn't sure that this was such a good idea, if he had a digital medical history it meant he was 'on the grid' so to speak, and his sisters would be able to find him, 'although after last night's display I don't think they'll have any problems with that'. "Sure, when can I leave?"

"Once you've filled out the form miss rarity will show you down to the main entrance and you can just drop it off at reception and you free to go" there was a short beeping noise and the doctor pulled out a small black device "damn that pony and his blood pressure" he whispered, giving an accusing glance at rarity before turning to go. "Oh, one more thing…" Nova felt his right arm turn to jelly and watched in morbid fascination as the doctor magically pulled out the plastic tube from his arm, it made a wet, sticky sound as is slid out. Rarity paled and looked as if she was about to pass out, the doctor levitated a plaster over the wound and it stuck on. "There we go" and he turned to leave. Once he was gone rarity took the form from him.

"Name?"

"Nova"

"Surname?"

"Starflight"

"Pretty, date of birth?"

"Fifth of the fourth, one thousand five hundred and seventy four b.d.w" rarity stared at him "I'm older then I look"

"About twelve thousand years older! Location of birth?"

"Royal citadel of Canterlot"

"Ok, I'll fill in the address section myself. Obviously you don't have a place to go, but I think I might have a spare guest bed room at home" she gave Nova a wink. "Right, that's done; let's go see if we can get those bandages removed"

She took Nova by the hoof and he slid out of the bed, his legs felt like jelly, it had been years since he'd last stood on his own four hooves. Rarity gently guided him to the door and along the corridor to an elevator, Nova walking gingerly behind. Nova slipped outside the open door of a ward and rarity knelt to help him up, as she did so there came a high pitched beeping noise, followed by a "DAMMIT RARITY!" and the wards doors slamming shut. Nova smiled and stood with his legs wobbling like jelly beneath him as they waited for the elevator.

"You can lean on me if you want" rarity told him, a look of concern on her beautiful face. But Nova simply shook his head "I'm fine rarity, I've just been in bed for too long is all" though once the elevator arrived and the doors shut with a gentle chiming noise he did slightly lean on her shoulder, which was easy considering he was at least a head or so taller than her. When the doors opened onto the lobby Novas legs had somewhat solidified considerably, and he briskly strode to the reception desk. The receptionist took the piece of paper without giving him a second glance and gave a standard "have a happy day now" as they walked from the desk to the front doors. Outside the sun shone brilliantly in the sky.

"Are you coming?" rarity asked him, and Nova realised he had stopped. Rarity was holding the door open and a gentle breeze flowed through, smelling of flowers and summer.

"Of course" rarity used her magic to hold the door open and then took Novas hoof gently in her own and led him through the door. The sun was warmer on his face then he remembered it, gently caressing his face and making goose bumps run along Novas back. He paused for a moment and closed his eyes, tilting his head towards the sun, a smile on his face. 'This is what Blossom told me to live for' he realised and he looked at rarity, who stood smiling at him, obviously enjoying watching him bask in the sun. 'She's beautiful, this town is happy and filled with young ponies with their whole lives ahead of them, maybe I don't need to fight my sisters after all…' Nova smiled at rarity and grinned even wider when she smiled back, for a brief moment he saw an image in his mind. He was lying in a large feather bed with rarity, who was cuddled close to his body. As he watched a small colt and a small filly ran into the room and jumped onto the bed, jumping up and down and telling their parents it was time to get up, huge smiles on their excited faces. The image was so real for a moment Nova thought he could actually hear the young ponies giggle, and then the picture was gone, replaced by rarity, who was staring at him with a concerned look on her face.

"Are you ok?" she asked laying a hoof gently on his cheek "your crying, is the sun too bright for you?"

"No…no its not" Nova felt the tear drop from his cheek and land on the path "I was just thinking…" he turned his head to look at the town, perfectly situated in the green and verdant valley. Overhead the sky was crystal clear and a deep blue, with not a cloud to be seen. The sun shone bright and clear, its warmth bathing the valley.

"What were you thinking about?" rarity took Novas hoof and stared deep into his emerald eyes, Nova stared back into the deep purple of hers.

"I was just think…it's so beautiful" and he smiled as rarity blushed.


	6. Chapter 6, emergence

Chapter 6: emergence

They were arranged into three formations on the valley floor, each a solid wall of muscle and steel. On the far right stood the iron phalanx, a solid block of spears and halberds one hundred ponies deep by two hundred across, the heads of their weapons glinting in the moon light, pennants and favours snapping from their hafts in the freezing wind. On the far left the second formation was formed of lancers, earth ponies with heavy lances strapped to their flanks, their tips weighted with lead to provide extra penetration upon impact. In the centre of the battle line was Novas formation, a solid core of hardened veterans, each wielding a great sword. Their armour, golden and polished to mirror reflection, seemed dull and grey in the moon light.

Nova turned his head back to the immense fortress walls that dominated the valleys mouth, their immense bulk rising a hundred feet into the sky. Behind that wall were reinforcements, fresh battalions of lancers, newly forged weapons, food and water. On the walls themselves, the royal pegausi flying corps prepared for battle. Their armour was lighter then the earth ponies, made of simple boiled leather or fine ring mail, on their wings where their weapons, sharpened blades ran along the front edges of their wings and flails and scourges streamed behind them, so that when the time for the charge, the deadly barbs would allow the pegausi to inflict massive casualties on the opponent without putting themselves in direct danger. Within the wall itself, in huge chambers formed from the rock of the mountains on either side of the valley where the unicorns. They were too valuable to expose to the real battle and too vulnerable to have any effect should they be placed within a fighting formation, so within each hall the unicorns mediated, focusing their energies on enhancing the stamina and moral of the soldiers outside and to negate the worse effects of the enemies magic. Though this wasn't strictly true for all of them, walking down the ranks of each formation were priestesses, blessing the ponies and their weapons to give them the strength to fight on. One of the priestesses stopped in front of Nova, her grey skin matching her grey eyes and mane, behind her where two attendants, an earth mare and a pegausi mare, both equally as grey as their unicorn mistress. Nova bowed his head and laid his weapon, a master crafted double handed warhammer of the finest hiyterial steel, at her hooves before he knelt, all round him his commanders and lieutenants did the same. Rank by rank until the whole formation was kneeling in silence, their hearts open to the blessing of the goddess and her servant.

"May the goddess bless you" the priestess intoned, her voice heavy with age "may she guide you in the darkness"

"Her light shall guide the way" the soldiers intoned as one.

"May she bless your weapons and your hearts. May she give you the resolve to do what must be done"

"For the night draws near and the danger awakes"

The priestess laid a hoof on the top of Novas head. "May she give you the power to do what is right Nova, may she bring you victory on her wings" Nova felt a fire begin to kindle within his soul, a small spark that needed only fuel to blaze into a searing conflagration. The priestess drew the symbol of the horse shoe over his head, then nodded to her attendants and moved among the ranks, delivering blessings to the ponies, some of the ponies asking for blessings from either the earth mare or the pegausi instead, due to their personal beliefs. When they were about half way through the ponies a great horn suddenly sounded from the wall, one of the attendants whispered something to the priestess and she nodded her agreement, finishing her blessing before heading to the great gate set in the fortress walls with her attendants. The wind began to pick up, but this time instead of being icy cold it was hot and burnt his lungs whenever Nova breathed in.

They heard his approach before they actually saw his host, a strange discordant cacophony of shrieks and screams that filled the night air. "The goddess" a pony a few ranks back said, his fellows all around him reflexively making the sign of the horse shoe over their hearts, Nova among them.

Discords army was a huge mass of corrupt and defiled flesh, mutant creatures lurching forwards under banners formed out of pony skin, the remains of their captors. In the sky, griffins, once majestic and noble creatures now made corrupt, wheeled in formation. Nova saw huge creatures the size of houses shambling through the army, blood and pus oozing from their corpulent forms. But it was not only demons that marched with him. Several battalions of ponies marched under his banner, turncoats and traitors who'd sold their companions for discord in return for his patronage. At the head of the demonic host marched discord, his twisted and tortured body standing tall, and a leering expression on his misshapen face.

"Just look at them!" somepony cried out, others began to murmur, the sight of discords hellish army sowing the seeds of doubt in their hearts. Something had to be done quickly or otherwise moral would suffer a heavy blow. Discord brought his host to a rolling stop and stepped forward from the 'ranks', if such a term could be fitted to the chaos that formed the army.

"ITS SO GOOD FOR YOU ALL TO COME SEE ME!" discords voice reverberated off the sides of the valley, becoming a booming roar. "I DIDN'T EXPECT YOU TO BRING OUT THE WHOLE ARMY FOR ME! I MUST SAY THIS IS QUITE A TREAT" discord smiled, revealing wickedly sharp teeth. "SURRENDER NOW, AND I MAY LET YOU LIVE LONG ENOUGH TO LOSE YOUR SANITY" discord made a gesture to one of the massive creatures in the line, who began to throw pony sized objects into the air at the assembled army, the formations raised their shields skywards, forming an impenetrable roof over their heads. "RESIST ME AND YOUR DEATH SHALL BE SLOW AND PAINFUL!" discord said as the first of the objects began to smack down into the formations, cries of dismay began to ring out as the soldiers realised the reason the objects had been pony sized, they where ponies. Their skin removed and the flesh underneath green and black with corruption. Some of them burst on impact, showering the ponies around them in foul smelling bile. The murmurs turned to shouts, the formations where weakening, one wrong move and they would tear themselves apart, their moral and fighting cohesion gone. Nova stepped forward from the ranks, his warhammer strapped to his flank, three razor sharp blades slowly spinning in the air around him as he walked, his ornately forged emerald armour chiming softly. As he moved forward silence began to settle on the battle line, ponies turning their attention to their commander.

'come on Nova' he thought to himself as he stopped twenty paces in front of the line 'let's give them something to ignite the spark in their hearts' he shoot a scrutinizing look at discord, who smiled back, a glass of chocolate milk in his hand, 'and something to put fear in theirs if they've got them. By now silence had completely muffled the three formations; even the pegausi on the walls watched in silence as Nova unslung his warhammer from his flank, placed his hooves in the two magnetic holding slots and reared on his back legs. Hammer in hoof and blades spinning around him.

"STAND FIRM PONIES!" he cried in a voice just a loud as discords, his words easily carrying over the silent army behind him. "BEFORE US STANDS THE GREATEST MONSTROSITY THIS WORLD HAS EVER KNOWN!" discord gave him a smug smile "BEHIND US ARE THE WALLS OF IRON FORGE, WHERE A THOUSAND INVADERS SOUGHT TO PILLAGE OUR REALM. EACH HAS BEEN DASHED AGAINST THOSE WALLS, THEIR ARMIES USELESS AGAINST THE MIGHT OF OUR MILITARY!" shouts of agreement came from the army, 'it's working' "FOR GENERATIONS WE HAVE FOUGHT AGAINST THOSE WHO SEEK THE DESTRUCTION OF OUR REALM, FOR GENERATIONS WE HAVE GUARDED OUR WIVES AND CHILDREN AGAINST THOSE WHO WOULD SEEK TO DEFILE THEM!" more shouts 'time to roll out the big guns' "LOOK AT THE BODIES AROUND YOU, THEY WEREN'T KILLED, THEY WHERE DESICRATED! WE SHALL HAVE VENGENCE FOR OUR FALLEN BROTHERS! THEY HAVE FOUGHT AND DIED SO THAT THE KINGDOM MIGHT LIVE. THE WALLS OF IRON FORGE HAVE NEVER BEEN BREACHED! OUR FATHERS AND GRANDFATHERS DEFENDED IT BEFORE US AND OUR CHILDREN AND GRANDCHILDREN WILL DEFEND IT AFTER US! SHALL WE LET THOSE WALLS BE BREACHED NOW? SHALL WE BE THE GENERATION WHO FAILED TO DO WHAT IS RIGHT?" he gestured to the monstrosity that had hurled the defiled bodies of the dead soldiers "SHALL WE LET THIS HENIOUS ACT OF BLASPHEMY GO UNPUNISHED?"

"NO!" the army roared as one, 'it's worked, they won't break now' "VENGENCE FOR THE FALLEN!"

"VENGENCE! WE SHALL FIGHT AND WE SHALL HAVE VICTORY!" Nova pointed his warhammer at discord, who now wore a much more worried expression as he stared at the bristling formations before him. "WE WILL NOT FALTER, WE WILL NOT FAIL!" the army screamed, Nova held his hammer high and brought it smashing down, signalling the charge. With a mighty roar that echoed through the whole valley and could even be heard by the unicorns deep within the wall the army charged forward, roaring with hatred.

"CHARGE!" Nova roared and galloped forward, his formation just behind him. Overhead the pegausi leapt from the walls and flew thick and fast, their numbers blocking out the moon, scourges and flails trailing behind them. Discord growled and launched a counter charge of his own, urging his host forwards, but it was too late. He would never be able to match the momentum of the ponies charge, they didn't have enough distance. In a single moment the whole battle line slammed into discords host, righteous fury burning in the eyes of every pony as their weapons drove straight through the heart of the enemy. Nova leapt at discord, his wings giving him a burst of speed as he swung his mighty hammer, a look of fierce determination on his face. Discord stared in paralysed shock, unable to move as Nova came bearing down on him. Then Novas hammer impacted into discords face, sending one of his front teeth flying out of his mouth. Discord whipped his head back around and snarled at Nova; his snarl was promptly brought to a halt by a devastating return from Nova, his hammer hitting discord squarely under the chin. Discord was sent flying into the air and disappeared into the storm of pegausi overhead. Nova smiled grimly and he launched himself into the thick of the fighting, his battle brothers' right behind him.

≤ΘΘΘ≥

'he's come' Celestia sighed and stepped down from the throne, magically levitating her crown form her head and setting it down on a lush pillow held by a servant. She'd felt her brothers presence as soon as he'd touched down in the valley, the sun and the stars where one and the same after all, so a psychic connection between her and Nova was only to be expected. 'He's back' she thought as she exited the throne room through a small side door, Titus, head of the guard and her immortal protector following close behind. 'He's returned and he's hungry for vengeance' only last night she had focused her abilities and peered into his dreams, she shuddered just thinking about what she'd seen. 'We tortured him body and soul, and when we could take no more we took from those he loved the most' Celestia turned through another door and began to climb a set of tall, sweeping stairs. She climbed in silence, lost in her own thoughts; the only noise came from the gentle rattling of Titus' armour as he climbed behind her.

"do you remember my brother Titus?" she asked him when they were about halfway up the staircase, she heard Titus draw a sharp breath, then his answer.

"I remember nothing of the traitor your highness, only that he betrayed the kingdom in a mad bid for power" he told her in a gravelly voice, changed by age. He had once possessed great oratory skill, but after so many years of service, age had begun to set in, wearing him down from the inside out.

'No Titus, he wasn't a traitor' she thought 'I am me and Luna as well, we were the ones who wanted power, and we are the ones who betrayed the kingdoms'. "Do you miss my brother Titus? You where friends once, that I remember"

"I have no friendships with traitors my lady, they aren't worth the emotion, and they are nothing but a danger to the realm and its subjects"

'Spoken like a true guard' Celestia thought as they reached the landing outside her apartments, she bid Titus good evening and entered her rooms, locking the door once it had closed. It was silly move she knew, Titus would be unable to reach her if anything happened, but right now she just needed to be alone with her thoughts. She crossed to her balcony and leaned on the stone railing, below her in the streets of Canterlot ponies where closing up shop and heading home to their families, oblivious to the threat her brother represented. 'He'll kill us all; he'll burn the whole city to the ground, and butcher every stallion, mare, colt and filly he finds'. Celestia sighed and closed her eyes. 'I should have foreseen this, I should have known Nova would never let himself be defeated' she focused her energies and reached out to the sun, preparing to lower it. But when her magic came into contact with it she felt resistance, like the sun didn't want to obey her anymore. She pushed a little harder, working her way into the suns burning heart.

'Princess' she heard a voice in her mind, a strange noise that sound like the crackling of fire. 'You seek to lower me and let my sister take my place'

'As I have done every morning and evening for eons, why are you resisting me now?' she strengthened the bond between her and the sun and slid into a trance like state, her soul leaving her body and entering a white, empty space. Before her stood a majestic stallion, his skin formed out of bright flames and his eyes burning embers. He nodded to her as she approached him.

"You know why I am here" she told him, the heat that radiated off his skin hot on her face, but she didn't turn away. The sun was hers to command, and she wouldn't show any weakness. The stallions' skin flared brightly for a moment, as if he knew what she was thinking.

"I am my own Celestia, I will not be lowered against my will" he snorted and flames burst from his nostrils "do not presume that I bring myself down the sky every day simply because you bid me to" his front right hoof pawed at the earth, his skin flaring brightly.

'He's angry' she realised; she had to be careful where she tred now, one wrong word or misinterpreted sentence and the sun could easily incinerate her in a thought. "The queen commanded you to obey me in all things" the muscles in her back felt tense, 'careful now Celestia' "I have called for you to bring yourself down at the appointed time, you shall obey me"

"INSOLENT FOAL!" the flames roared higher, the heat of the blazing inferno beating against her skin. "I HAVE SEEN MORE YEARS THEN YOU OR YOUR PRECIOUS QUEEN, DON'T THINK THAT I'M GOING TO LET MYSELF BE COMMANDED BY A STRIPLING OF ELEVEN THOUSAND YEARS!" the flames died down, resuming their previous form. "You know why I am resisting you" it wasn't a question, it was a statement.

"Nova" she should have foreseen this as well, the sun was a star after all, and was Novas as much as hers to command.

"Starflight, the prince of the heavens" the suns form shifted to become the shape of Nova, almost a full head taller than her. "He has returned" the sun told her with Novas voice "Nova has returned to take back what is rightfully his Celestia, and as one of his subjects I shall obey"

"You will obey my brother and take him as your prince, but you will reject me?" Celestia felt a knot tighten in her stomach, this was not good.

"I saw what you did to him Celestia; I saw you and your sister subvert your purposes in blind lust for power" Celestia winced as he spoke. It was bad enough the sun knew what she did, but when he said it with her brothers' voice the effect was magnified threefold. "Your brother did what was ordered of him, he did what was right" novas skin flickered and burst apart as the suns flames erupted forth, too powerful to be incorporated into a mortal form for long. "The prince has returned to resume his place, I am a star first and foremost in all things Celestia, and I will obey him"

"Has my brother become powerful enough to wrest you from my control?" she asked him, the suns skin flared for a moment and she was afraid she had gone too far, but the flames expended themselves.

"…no"

"Then I order you to set and resist me no further" the sun stared at her hard, then nodded. His skin darkened and crusted over, turning into a statue of stone before it exploded into ash, leaving her alone in the whiteness. Celestia released the bond and returned to her body, shaken to her core. Far overhead the sun was sinking low in the sky, finally relinquishing its grip on the world below. Celestia stared at it until it had disappeared from her sight, then turned her back from the balcony and went to lie on her bed. 'this isn't good, Novas power is growing and now my own sun is beginning to disobey me' without the sun Celestia would be powerless against her brother, she drew her energy from the sun and without it she would never be able to fend her brother off when he attacked, which he most assuredly would. For hours she laid there, her mind working over what to do next. It was midnight when she finally sat up and went to the door, all this stress would do nothing but make her more worried, she needed some kind of release. Outside Titus was standing to attention, ever vigilant.

"My lady" Titus nodded as she stuck her head out the door.

"Enter Titus, I have need of you" the solar guard nodded and crossed the threshold into his mistresses chamber, Celestia laid on the huge four poster bed before him, as naked as the day she was born. She nodded and magically undid his armour, loosening the straps and buckles and letting it fall the floor with a clatter of steel. Titus approached the bed and simply gazed at her. "I'm terribly stressed Titus, I have need of your excellent stamina to help me rid myself of this burden" Titus climbed onto the bed.

'One of the perks of the job' he thought as he mounted her.

≤ΘΘΘ≥

Nova woke from his dream in an instant, the sounds of battle still ringing in his ears. He sighed, sat up and was greeted by the sight of rarity, who stood in the door way with a candle in her hoof and a concerned look on her face. She was clad in a silk night gown that billowed in the breeze through his open window, Nova tried not to stare.

"Are you alright?" she asked, entering the room. The dim light from the moon went straight through her gown, making Novas attempt of polite ignorance useless. "I heard you shouting, were you having a bad dream or something?" Nova groaned and rubbed the sleep from his eyes.

"What time is it?" he asked, his vision blurry.

"About five in the morning" rarity sat on the edge of the bed, making no attempt to close her now open gown. "What's wrong Nova, you can tell me" she took his hoof "you can tell me anything you want" she glanced at his hoof "your ice cold"

"I'm fine. It's nothing you need to worry about rarity…just memories, you've already invite me into your home and I'm nothing but a stranger to you, I shouldn't upset you with what I've got to say" rarity gave him a sad smile and gently kissed his lips, Nova stared dumbfounded at her.

"Nova, you're not a stranger to me, you're my prince" she gave him a mock curtsy "and I'm your loyal subject" Nova smiled and she smiled back.

"your nice rarity, your kind and generous…but my memories…my dreams, they're too…violent…for your delicate ears" rarity gave him a hurt look and pulled herself onto the bed next to him, she wrapped a hoof around his chest and laid her head on his shoulder.

"You're so strong Nova" she ran a hoof down his chest, he felt his stomach knot up and his muscles tense, rarity was awfully close. "But just because your strong it doesn't mean you can fight everything you've kept pent up inside of you" she stared into his eyes, her own pleading "please tell me Nova" Nova sighed and thought back to the dream.

"It was ten thousand years ago at the battle of iron forge, discord had summoned a host of demons and monsters and sought to break through the walls and lay waste to Equestria…" he told her everything, from the fortress to discords army and his speech. All the while rarity pressed herself against him and urged him to continue whenever he paused. When he was done she gave him a tight squeeze.

"You where so brave Nova" she gently nuzzled his mane and took a deep breath, taking in his scent. "there's been no pony like you before" Nova thought about the battle, the ponies who had fought and died beside him. He wasn't brave, the ones who had died had been brave, the ones who had sacrificed everything for the life of the kingdom, they where the brave ones. He simply sighed and pulled her closer, feeling the warmth of his body against his.

"Thank you rarity" he whispered in her ear "thank you for everything" rarity sighed and snuggled up to him, the contours of her body perfectly matching his. Nova lay in silence and listened to her breathing, feeling the rise and fall of her chest under his hoof. 'I will live for you Blossom' he thought 'I will live and have hopes and dreams. I'll find a wife, settle down, have children and raise a family. I'll do it all for you' a frozen image of the battle flashed in his mind, the image of discords face as Nova swung his hammer down on him. Except instead of discord it was Luna, her perfect features quavering in fear, Nova felt his muscles tense.

'I'll live for you Blossom, I promise' he pulled rarity tight to his body 'but I shall have vengeance for myself…'

≤ΘΘΘ≥

In the library twilight was sleeping soundly, a book lying open next to her on the bed. At the window spike stood on an empty box and stared through the eye piece of twilight's telescope, the device pointed at the window of rarities house. His hands clenched into fists as he watched rarity stroke the strange alicorns mane and run a hoof down his chest, when he saw the stallion pull her tight against his body he almost screamed in frustration. After a while the pair of ponies simply lay on the bed, asleep and dreaming. Spike stepped down from the box and quietly tiptoed down to his small sleeping pallet on the ground floor. 'Son of a bitch' he thought as he lay in the darkness, he rolled onto his side and stared at the framed and signed portrait of rarity he kept by his bed. "To spike" it read "my biggest fan" there was even a lipstick kiss on it, spike picked it up and hugged it close to his chest. 'It's not fair' he thought in frustration as he drifted off to sleep 'why can't I be a prince?'


	7. Chapter 7, remembrance

Chapter 7, remembrance

In the early hours of the morning, Nova opened his eyes to the falling moon. By his side rarity had fallen asleep and lay in tranquil silence, her motionless body giving her a serene image. Nova gently rolled away from her and sat on the edge of the bed, yawning and rubbing the sleep from his eyes. Rarity murmured something about a handsome prince and curled into a ball, Nova smiled at the sight. Outside the world was bathed in total darkness, held in the vice like grip of the dawning hours when the moon had slunk below the horizon and the sun had yet to rise up and take her place.

Nova left rarity in bed and walked out onto the landing, crossing quickly and opening the door to the bathroom. He crossed to the mirror and stared at the unfamiliar image that stared back, after eight thousand years he barely recognised the sight of his own reflection. 'By the goddess I've changed', it was true. His skin was darker, its once pristine whiteness hidden under a thin layer dirt. The muscles in his legs had gotten smaller, so had the ones on his chest. His eyes had retained their fierce emerald glow, but the bags under them detracted from their striking colour. His skin seemed to hang on him; he looked like an emaciated cadaver. 'I may as well be one'. His mane had grown a considerable amount, the mix of reds, yellows and oranges trailing down his back and almost reaching the floor, the same could be said for his tail, which spread out behind him like a stream of fire.

He ran the cold tap and let the sink fill up to the brim. He placed a hoof on each side, counted to three and dunked his head in the ice cold water, gasping as he felt a shock race along his spine. He held his head under the water, counted to thirty and came out for air. He looked in the mirror again; streams of cold water leaving runnels of whiteness through the grey dust that covered his skin. He braced himself and dunked his head again, once more counting to thirty. When he was done he turned his attention to the tangles and knots that had worked their way into his mane, 'how did rarity think I was handsome?' He dug his way through the multiple bottles of shampoo, mascara, make up and lipstick, searching for a brush. When he finally found one, buried under a pile of old lipstick sticks he ran it through his mane and winced as he felt the strands of hair pull at his forehead. He was a stubborn stallion though and after about fifteen minutes of painful grooming he had his mane sorted out, though the brush was filled with his hair. He pulled it all out and ran the brush through his tail, once again wincing as the knots stubbornly refused to yield to the brush. When he was done he looked one more in the mirror and decided he looked marginally respectable, yesterday rarity had said something about going to a spa. 'That'll be useful' he looked at his mareishly long hair 'but it's a barber I need more like'.

Once he was done in the bathroom he went down stairs and entered the immaculately kept kitchen, his hooves squeaking quietly on the floor as he walked. In the pantry he found a open box of oat meal, retrieving a bowl, spoon and a carton milk he made himself a small breakfast. He took it outside and sat on the doorstep, bowl of oatmeal in hoof. Ponyville was small from what he could tell, only a small collection of tightly winding narrow streets, a main road running through the centre. Up the street was a tall circular building in the centre of a small square, 'that must be the town hall'. Down the road the town reached its boundaries and stopped, the road running its course out of town and up to sweet apple acres farm, its barn faintly outlined in the weak morning light. Nova dug his spoon into the bowl of oatmeal and ate a mouthful, savouring the taste of it on his tongue. It was simple food, but food all the same. 'Be thankful for every crumb you ever eat Nova, it may be your last' Nova harboured no illusions that his sister where coming for him, right now was the best time for them to strike. He had only just returned to Equestria, and had yet to regain most of his abilities or his cutie mark. He ran a hoof over his blank flank, feeling a keen loss as it ran over smooth skin. His cutie mark represented everything he had ever been, a warrior, a prince, a pony with a place in life, without his mark what would he do? Despite their inherent connection to the values of friendship, love and tolerance, many ponies still regarded those without a mark with ridicule and suspicion.

There was a crashing sound up the road and Nova turned his head to see a pegausi mare slowing floating down the street, a post satchel slung over her back. There was something familiar about her, but Nova couldn't quite put his hoof on it. He watched in amused fascination as she clumsily flew down the street, pushing letters through post boxes. When she came up to rarities door he saw her eyes were a deep gold and pointed in opposite directions, 'this is the one I crashed into when I came home' he realised 'hope she doesn't want to press charges, I can't afford a lawyer'.

"Oh hey!" she said as she floated up to him, her wings flapping lazily "you're the guy who saved my life!" she gave him a wide smile, 'strange eyes yet perfect teeth'. "Thanks a lot mister, if you hadn't come along that fireball would've crushed me like a pancake!" she pulled out two envelopes and handed them to him, gave him another smile and floated down to the next house. 'Strange mare' he thought, then turned his attention to the letters. One of them was a bill from the electricity, clad in simple brown paper. The other had a purple envelope, rarities name written in flowing script on the front. 'from twilight sparkle, the was the one who told rarity about me' she also allegedly had a book about him as well 'I should get my hands on that book, if it's really about me then whoever wrote it knew a great deal about me'. Nova finished his bowl of oatmeal, stood up, and stretched his wings, sighing as he felt them extend to their full span, at least twice his body length. He flapped them a couple of times to rid them of their morning stiffness and took to the air.

The ground fell away from him as he soared into the air, enjoying the sensation of the wind as it ran through his wings, like a thousand fingers comprised of cool air. Below him ponyville spread out like a patchwork quilt, the orchards of sweet apple acres adding a brilliant emerald green to the canvas. He flew higher and higher into the cloud layer and alighted on a small white cloud, the springing sensation feeling strange under his hooves. He stretched his wings and his legs, working any leftover stiffness and aches from them before he launched into a series of drills, spinning and rolling through the air. The leapt from cloud to cloud, running a course through his mind, when he ran out of clouds he opened his wings and began to loop, once, twice, three times. He stabilised and corkscrewed through the air, the world spinning as he did so. For at least an hour he spun through the air, honing his flying senses back into place. He touched down on a cloud and lay down, savouring the warmth of the sun. He was still a long way off his former level of mastery of the art of flying, but for now this would have to do, he hadn't eaten enough to give himself enough energy to keep going.

"Nice moves kid" he looked up and saw a blue pegausi on the cloud above him, her red eyes shining vibrantly. "Pretty amateur though" she glided down and landed next to him, landing with expert skill. "Names rainbow dash" she held out her hoof, which Nova shook.

"Nova" rainbow dash cocked her head sideways and gave him a scrutinising look.

"So you're him huh? The guy who thinks he could take on daring do" she gave him an aggressive smile "you're aiming to high kid, nopony beats daring do"

"I haven't got a clue who daring do is, and how do you know about me?"

"Twilight, she said you where some big shot prince that fought a dragon" rainbow dash snorted "I took on a dragon once, beat it to" her smile turned smug.

"Twilight seems to know a lot about me" Nova didn't like this; whoever this twilight mare was she seemed to be telling everyone about him.

"she's got a book" rainbow dash yawned loudly "but enough talk, I saw you flyin there, you looked pretty fast" she ran her eyes over his body, taking note of the muscles in his wings in particular "fancy a race?"

Nova paused for a moment, 'rarity will probably be awake by now and wondering where I am, I shouldn't keep her waiting' but a more competitive part of him whispered 'go on Nova, make this mare put her wings where her mouth his'. "Sure, lets race"

Rainbow dash smiled, 'she thinks she's got you on the ropes Nova, put her to the test' "nice, see that mountain over there?" she pointed to a huge dark peak on the other side of the valley, its black sides clawing into the sky "first one to black point wins"

"Sure" Nova spat on his hoof and held it out to rainbow dash, she did the same and they shook hooves. "May the best flyer win"

"Right then" rainbow dash lowered herself into a starting crouch, Nova did the same "three…two…one…GO!" rainbow dash was off in the blink of an eye, Nova right on her tail. The race wasn't a test of agility or strength; it was a test of speed, something rainbow dash had in abundance. She sped ahead, a rainbow streaming out from behind her as she did so. Nova found himself hard pressed to keep up. The wind whipped through his mane and tail, causing them to fly out behind him like a tongue of flame. His wings beat the air in swift, rhythmic motions, moving in time to the beat of his heart.

"Come on Nova!" rainbow dash called back to him, a grin on her face "princes are supposed to be fast, you'll never beat daring do like that!" Nova smiled back and pushed a little harder. Slowly, agonisingly slowly, the gap between him and rainbow dash began to close. They where half way to the finish line when he caught up with her, the pair of them racing neck and neck whilst in the valley below ponies stared in wonder as the pair shot past in a blur of motion.

'You can do it Nova' a voice said inside his head, Blossoms voice 'just have faith in yourself, you can do it' Nova closed his eyes and was greeted by a picture of Blossom standing alone on a small hill, the arms of a great oak stretching over her. In the sky above an alicorn was flying down to her, he landed in a storm of dust as his wings beat furiously to slow him down. When the dust cleared he walked up to Blossom, a smile on his handsome face. 'It's me'. 'There' the alicorn said, gasping for breath 'I won, will you go on a date with me now?' Blossom gave him an exasperated look and rolled her eyes. 'Fine, one date, and I'll call you if I want another, got it?', 'Sure' young Nova smiled, his emerald eyes practically glowed with happiness.

'You won me over by winning a race nova, now win this one' Nova felt sparks ignite in his chest, swiftly growing to a roaring inferno.

He gritted his teeth and pushed harder than ever before, his wings becoming a blur. Rainbow dash turned to look at him, her wide open in surprise as Novas flame like mane and tail transformed into fire and roared behind him, leaving a trail of light streaming after him. She caught a brief glimpse of his fierce green eyes, a look of determination in their emerald depths. For a moment the world around them seemed to slow to a standstill, then a pulse of energy seemed to erupt from Novas body and he was gone, speeding ahead of her like a bullet, the flames following behind. Ahead of them was the mountain and the finishing line, its twisted peak thrusting into the sky.

Nova angled his approach, making minor changes to his velocity as he sped towards the mountain surface, aiming for a small glade within a tiny valley on its side. He stuck his hooves out and hit the ground with a slam, his impact causing cracks to spread out like a lattice work. He was breathing hard, gulping down air. Rainbow dash alighted next to him, her cheeks flushed and a sheen of sweat on her brow.

"Nice work kid" she held out her hoof for Nova to shake, which he did. "Buck that was a race" she smiled "don't think I've had a race like that since flight school" she collapsed on the floor, Nova smiled then felt his own legs give way, falling onto the grass next to her. "You're fast Nova, and that trail of fire? Awesome!" rainbow dash rolled onto her side and stared at him "your fast, you're trail is awesome and you've got some serious guts accepting a race against me" she winked at him, a sly grin on her face "I like that"

≤ΘΘΘ≥

Luna was angry, even angrier then when Celestia had sealed her within the moon for a thousand years. Nova had been in Equestria for almost three whole days now and still Celestia did nothing, claiming that they didn't truly know if it was Nova or just a meteor. Her sister still wore the same defiant look as she sat on the throne, her solar guards formed at the base of the dais. "Celestia we're wasting time, we have to do something!" around her the lunar guard eyed up the solar guard, who stared back with contempt. The guards where magically bonded to their mistresses, and their actions could be influenced by the emotions of their rulers. Right now Luna was amazed that the two groups hadn't engaged each other in combat.

Celestia stared down at her, an aura of superiority radiating from her. 'She thinks she's so high and mighty up there on that damnable throne, give me a day alone with her and my knives and I'll bring her back down to earth' Nightshade, the head of the lunar guard growled menacingly. Titus, head of the solar guard snarled back. The aura of animosity the pair generated was palpable, a single command from Luna or Celestia would send the pair slashing at each other's necks. "my decision stand sister" Celestia told her 'even her voice sounds high and mighty' "until such a time as the royal solar guard can confirm that it is Nova who has returned and he is a danger to the realm no direct action shall be taken"

"What about the royal lunar guard sister?" Luna asked, her patience wearing thin. The muscles in nightshades wings flexed and tensed, for a moment Luna was tempted to let him loose. "My own bodyguard have a duty to protect the realm and me, by imperial right this means that if I wish them to take direct action then no authority may countermand my order"

"I am the true ruler here Luna, don't perceive any grand imaginings of your own position Luna" Celestia sneered and the beneath her the solar guard bristled, subconsciously slipping into fighting stances. The lunar guard mirrored them move for move, each pony picking out targets and formulating a plan of attack. "I only allowed you to return to the palace and take your place as my sister because I must keep face in front of my subjects, do you honestly think I would have let you live if twilight and her accursed friends where with her?" Celestias eyes where cold and malovent "I would have killed you in an instant. Neither the royal solar guard nor the royal lunar guard shall make any move to attack Nova, any who do so shall be tortured unto death. That is my command and the same fate shall fall to any who break it"

"So you admit he's here" Luna took a step closer to the throne, the lunar guard moved with her. "He'll kill you Celestia, do you know that? When he comes and attacks us in this very hall, which I can guarantee he shall, he won't hesitate to smash that pretty face of yours with his warhammer" she took another step forward, the lunar guard right behind her. "Have you seen what he can do with that hammer Celestia? Have you ever seen Nova when he's in the grip of battle fever?" another step, she stood directly in front of the solar guard 'if they part then Celestia will concede to me' "I have. I've seen Nova smash discords teeth with that hammer, I've seen him kill Dalktarion the black terror with that hammer" she took another step and the solar guard parted before her 'victory' "and that's just his hammer, I've seen him eviscerate a basilisk with his magical blades, I've seen him strangle a cockatrice with nothing more than a piece of rope" another step, she was at the top of the dais, staring her sister in the eyes. "I saw him kill your lover with his hooves" Celestias eyes where wide with fear 'that's right Celestia, cower with fear, I'm running the show here' "he's going to kill you Celestia, and then he'll tear your body apart piece by bloody piece" Celestia pressed herself into the back of the throne, hoping that by making herself seem smaller and less noticeable Luna would leave her alone. Luna sneered "so child like sister, aren't you the true ruler around here?" she snorted in derision, then turned and walked back down the steps of the dais. As she walked past the solar guard they backed off warily, "come Nightshade" she told her bodyguard, who barely tried to conceal the mocking smile on his face. "Let's go star hunting"

Back in her private chambers, Luna deliberated her strategy. On a wide oaken table before her a map of Canterlot and the surrounding settlements was spread out, its edges held down by ornate paperweights. On the map itself a red ring had been drawn out, representing a one thousand kilometre radius, it Nova was on the move, he had to be somewhere within this ring. "We'll send flyers out to the furthest settlements" Nightshade told her, his hoof tracing three small towns "one to east stream, one to coltenmark and one to backwater. They'll make patrols between the three towns and pick up any information regarding Nova. Whilst they maintain the perimeter myself and the others will move from town to town searching for him" he gave Luna an evil grin "he won't escape from us, there'll be no hiding once the moon has risen" he stepped back to survey the map, a smug grin on his face as he contemplated the finesse of the plan. It was simple and easy to pull off, should Nova manage to avoid them he'd be detected at the perimeter and swiftly apprehended.

"And you're sure this will work? I'm taking no second chances regarding my brother. Should he avoid detection and slip past us he may become a rallying point to any dissidents and rebels" Luna scrutinised the map, calculating every angle.

" he won't slip by, there's only three ways out of the region" nightshade ran his hoof over a deep blue line just within the red zone "the river reach has only three crossings, we'll monitor them day and night. Even if he attempts to fly across the local patrols will stop him"

Luna nodded in agreement, ever since her brother had returned the iron ponies in the black peaks had become rowdy, even rebellious. Their leader, an old pony well past her prime, claimed that the comet was a sign from their god that the time for freedom had come. Ever since the local garrisons had stepped up patrols and doubled the watches in an attempt to dissuade any would be activists from attempting anything. "Excellent Nightshade" she crossed to the window and stared at the sun, which had reached its zenith in the sky and was beginning to slowly sink towards the horizon. "You'll leave at moon rise with my blessing" she turned back to Nightshade, who stood to attention. "If you are successful I believe there may be a promotion waiting for you on your return" he smiled.

"As you will my lady, we shall find the traitor and bring him back to you, dead or alive"


	8. Chapter 8, revelations

Chapter 8, revelations

Nova lay collapsed in the floor, moaning in pain. His left wing had been crushed beneath him, his front right hoof had been crushed into paste and half his face was swollen up, making it difficult to see with his right eye. "Your mine now Nova" he looked up to see Luna standing over him, a wicked smile on her perfect face. "You fought well, but ultimately your efforts where useless. Your power belongs to me and Celestia now nova"

"Don't tease him sister" Celestia appeared within his field of vision, with barely a scratch on her perfectly smooth alabaster skin. "How are you doing Nova?" she rolled him onto his back and laid a hoof on his chest "had enough yet?" she stamped down hard, winding him. "Why did the queen ever choose you? Look at you, your weak" she smiled at her sister "a true sovereign would never let himself be defeated in battle"

Nova tried to talk, but he was still winded. Within his chest his ribs where broken…no…not broken, destroyed. "Fuck…you…" he managed before he convulsed with pain, one of his ribs had punctured his lungs.

"Watch your mouth Nova" Luna grinned and her horn glowed, there was a scraping noise and Novas hammer appeared above him, held levitating in the air. "What was that you just said to us?"

"Fuck…yo-" it was all he managed before Luna send his hammer slamming down on his chest. There was a horrendous crunching sound and nova screamed, within his chest a dozen shards of bone had pierced straight into his heart. He coughed up blood and rolled onto his side, every inch of him in agonizing pain. He blacked out for a moment and was awoken when Luna smashed the hammer down on his other wing, crushing its delicate bones and leaving him paralysed on the ground.

"Oh do be quiet Nova" Celestia told him "you'll wake the whole city if you keep screaming like that"

"Speaking of which…" Luna had a wicked grin on her face "I believe it's time to reveal the traitor to the masses" she prodded him with one of her hooves "the ponies of Equestria would never accept us as rulers if they believe we took power in a coup, so we'll take you out around the town and put you on display. Show them that we acted for the good of the realm and you're a traitor who wanted to sell us to our enemies"

"You think they'll…believe that…crap" Nova climbed to his feet, wincing as he felt lances of pain drive through his wings and his front right hoof, Luna moved to knock him down with his hammer, but Celestia motioned for her to stop, Nova wasn't a threat to them now. "I…I fought at iron…iron forge. I fought discord with my own bare hooves" he coughed and retched up a thick stream of blood, he was in so much pain. "I saved this kingdom I…I saved you" he collapsed "you drove discord…to do it" he stared accusingly at Celestia "all you had…to do was say…say…yes. And none of this would have…would have happened"

Celestia gave him an accusing stare "shut him up" she told Luna, and then turned away and began to pick her way through the rubble, all that remained of the throne room. Overhead the ceiling had collapsed in and the stars shone through the night, their song loud and clear, a fixed point in Novas murky world of pain.

"Listening to your stars brother?" Luna still had her wicked grin "when I'm done with you, you'll wish you were never born" then she brought the hammer smashing into the side of his face. Nova felt one of his teeth go flying out of his mouth…then darkness.

≤ΘΘΘ≥

Later, much later Nova found himself on the steps of the palace, propped up by two guards, Titus of the solar guard and Nightshade of the lunar guard. His head felt like someone had crushed it into paste, and his right eye had swollen shut making it difficult to see 'where are the astral guard?' he thought 'where are my warriors?' A scream made him turn his attention to the scene before him. The city square was filled with ponies, rich and poor alike. Some of them were booing and throwing things at a chained group of prisoners, others simply stood in silence, only their eyes betraying their emotions. The prisoners were bound with heavy irons on all four of their hooves, a chain linking them together. Despite the jeering of the crowd and the stones and rotting vegetables hitting them they stood tall, their pride remaining undamaged in the face of the crowds' animosity. There was another scream and Nova saw a scaffold had been erected in the centre of the square, on it was a black unicorn with an axe standing next to a butchers block. On the floor by his feet a ponies head rolled around like a football, the executioner levitated it into the air as a pair of guards dragged away to decapitated body. One of the guards unchained one of the prisoners and dragged him to the scaffold, where they forced his neck down onto the block.

"Shock, you stand accused of treason against the realm of Equestria" it was Lunas voice, Nova looked to find Luna and Celestia standing in a raised box, surrounded by their guards. 'Heavy security, they're still scared of me' "for your crimes you are to be executed and your body given to the flames, you will be denied the funeral rites of the astral guard for your betrayal" the rites of the astral guard where that upon death, a member was to be buried within the crystal crypt, a burial hall in the bowels of the castle, where the crystals that grew from the walls focused the energies of the stars and sang with the voices of the stars. To be denied this right was the ultimate disgrace for a member of the astral guard, the flames symbolised the circle of hell reserved for traitors and oath breakers.

To his credit, shock stared at Luna and then spat in her direction, a look of defiance on his face. "You can burn my body you bitch, but my spirit will become one with the stars, that's something you can never take from me" Luna smiled, and then nodded to the executioner. There was wet smacking sound and shocks head rolled around on the floor of the scaffold, his body spasaming. The executioner levitated his head into the air for the crowd to see, somepony threw a stone and it flew straight into one of shocks dead eyes.

"Precede" Celestia called, and another pony was pulled up onto the scaffold. He was told the same as shock, but this one, instead of remaining defiant he fell to his knees.

"PLEASE MY QUEEN!" he screamed "SPARE ME AND I SHALL NEVER BETRAY YOU!"

"TRAITOR!" one of the astral guard cried, looks of hatred marked the faces of the others "IF I HAVE TO FOLLOW YOU TO HELL I SWEAR I'LL MAKE YOU PAY FOR THIS!" Celestia paused for a moment, then extended her hoof and called out in a loud voice

"Execute him!" the pony screamed and struggled against his chains, but it was no use. His neck was forced onto the block and the executioner swung his brutal axe, severing his head in one clean stroke. It continued on and on, until at last only one of the astral guard remained. 'Requiem, no' Requiem had been the head of the astral guard for almost fifty years and was one of the finest soldiers Nova had even seen, with electric blue skin and a fierce white mane and tail Even now his aura of strength remained undiluted, even the crowd seemed to shy away from him. Somepony threw a rock at him and his head spun round, growling and bearing his teeth, the crowed took a step back. As he stepped onto the scaffold Requiem turned his head and saw Nova staring at him, a look of helpless agony on his face.

"Requiem, you stand accused of treason against the realm of Equestria" it was Celestia who spoke this time "for your crimes you are to be executed and your body given to the flames, you will be denied the funeral rites of the astral guard for your betrayal. However, as you are the head of the astral guard I shall allow you your last words" Requiem gave Celestia and Luna a venomous stare and turned to Nova, a brave look in his eyes.

"I'm not afraid to die" his eyes met Novas "she's safe" Nova could only stare in mute helplessness as Requiem laid his neck on the block, closed his eyes, and breathed his last. As the axe descended Nova screamed.

"I WILL HAVE VENGENCE SISTERS!" he roared, he reared on his back legs and pulled at the chains that bound his front hooves together. They broke with a loud snap and Nova leapt into the air, though his wings were broken he found the strength to fly. He dove towards his sisters, who stared in disbelief. Their guards formed up in front of them and dropped into a phalanx position, their swords held at the ready. "VENGENCE FOR THE FALLEN!" Nova roared as he shot towards them like a bullet "VENGENCE FOR REQUIEM!" he caught Lunas eyes for a second and saw the fear within them, then he felt something run through his chest, straight through his heart. He surfaced from the dream screaming, clawing his way towards the dissolving image of his sisters.

"LUNA!"

≤ΘΘΘ≥

Nova sat bolt upright, his breathing heavy and his body sweating. He kicked at the blankets that covered him and rolled off the bed, it was still dark outside. A thousand thoughts of violent revenge screamed through his head, every nerve in his body calling for vengeance. Nova gritted his teeth and tried to force them back into their box, but they wouldn't budge. "Nova?" he spun and saw rarity standing in the doorway, this time she had gone without the nightdress, her body out on display for him. "You were screaming again"

"I'm fine rarity; please…I just need some time to think" he pushed past her out into the corridor; he made his way downstairs and opened the door out onto the street. The night air was cold on his skin; a brisk wind was blowing over the town. He shrugged in indifference and began to walk down the street towards sweet apple acres

"Nova!" Rarity called out as she saw him walking down the street "where are you going?"

"To think!" he called back and he jumped into the air, his wings carrying him swiftly out of earshot of rarity. He flew fast, letting the wind work its way between his feathers and chill his skin, if he stayed cold everything would be sharper and easier to think about. Below him sweet apple acres spread out before him, he spotted the crater he had made and dived, landing in the centre of the deep indentation he had made to the surface of the orchard. 'Think Nova think!' he kicked at the surface of the crater, he hoof beating against solid rock. 'You can't be like this! Blossom said to move on!' he screamed "HOW THE HELL CAN I MOVE ON IF VENGENCE IS ALL I SEE!" he slumped onto the floor, his fierce rage suddenly leaving him. "What the hell am I supposed to do?" something salty ran over his lips and he realised he was crying, his bit back the tears but it was no use, they wouldn't stop. "How can I move on if these ghosts keep haunting me!" he turned his head to the sky, overhead the cold stars burned on with indifference "I want to move on! I want to forget and just keep living...but it's useless, I'll never be able to forgive Celestia or Luna for what they have done to me…" he slumped his shoulders in defeat, he pulled his knees up to his chest, wrapped his hooves around them and buried his head in his hooves. Over head the moon seemed to be mocking him, its brightness almost blinding him. "Damn you Luna…" he stared at the moon, right now Luna could hear the moon as it sung its own song, different from the stars but just as beautiful in its own way. "DAMN YOU LUNA! GIVE ME BACK MY STARS YOU BITCH!" he stood up and pounded his hooves on the ground, cracking the rock beneath them "GIVE ME BACK MY STARS, I NEVER DID ANYTHING TO YOU. I DIDN'T WANT TO RULE EQUESTIA, THE QUEEN SHOULDN'T HAVE CHOSEN ME I NEVER WANTED IT, I NEVER WANTED THE RESPONSIBILITY. BUT YOU AND CELESTIA TOOK EVERYTHING FROM ME FOR IT, I SWEAR IF I HAVE TO KILL EVERYPONY I CANTERLOT I'LL SMASH YOUR FUCKING TEETH IN! IF I HAVE TO KILL THE WHOLE OF THE ROYAL GUARD I'LL DO IT!" the stone beneath his hooves had become nothing more than dust, crushed under the unwavering ferocity of his barrage "I'LL SMASH YOUR TEETH IN AND BREAK YOUR WINGS! I'LL SNAP YOUR HORNS OFF AND SHOOVE THEM THROUGH YOUR COLD HEARTS! I'LL KILL YOUR LOVERS AND I'LL SMASH YOUR CHILDRENS SKULLS IN! I'LL MAKE YOU WISH YOU'D NEVER CROSSED ME! I'LL MAKE YOU WISH YOU HAD DIED AND GONE TO HELL, IT'LL BE NICER THEN WHAT I'M GOING TO DO TO YOU! DO YOU HEAR ME LUNA? DO YOU HEAR ME CELESTIA?" he screamed, long and loud. Overhead the moon seemed to dim. 'That's right Luna; I know you can hear me right now. I'll find and kill you, I promise. You tell Celestia that'.

He must have been there for an hour before rarity showed up, with her was applejack and rainbow dash and three ponies he didn't know. One of them was a bright pink earth pony, with equally pink hair that seemed to grow in bunches. The second was a light yellow pegausi with light pink hair, when she saw then destruction he had wrought she seemed to pause, but the third one whispered something in her ear and she kept moving. The third was a unicorn; she had purple skin and her mane and tail were a deep purple, with a stripe of pink running through both.

"Here he is" rarity said, her face wore a mask of concern. "Nova, what are you doing out here?" Nova gave her a dark look and stared at the moon.

"Cursing my sisters"

"The princesses?" asked the purple unicorn "what have they ever done to you" 'bad choice of words young filly' Nova felt the anger in his heart flair up.

"What have they done? WHAT HAVE THEY DONE? THEY'VE TAKEN EVERYTHING FROM ME AND LEFT ME TO WALK ALONE THROUGH THE ASHES! THAT'S WHAT THEY'VE DONE!" Nova got to his feet and walked up to the young unicorn, who began to back off, fear in her eyes "that's what they've done to me young one, is that reason enough to curse them?" his voice was menacingly low, the unicorn gave a scared nod.

"NOVA!" rarity cried and slapped him, leaving a red mark on his cheek "HOW DARE YOU TALK TO TWILIGHT LIKE THAT, THAT'S NO WAY FOR A PRINCE TO ACT!"

"I'm not a prince, not anymore" he told her, rarities face became confused.

"Pardon?"

"I said I'm not a prince! I never wanted to be one and thanks to my sisters I never will be one" he felt sullen, 'they know nothing, none of them know anything' "you think my sisters are perfect, all of you" he showed them his flank, which was as blank as a new born foals. The assembled ponies all drew back with shock, each one of them gasping "well guess what, your perfect princesses took my soul" he stared at each of them, noting the revulsion that they tried to hide "I have nothing now, my sweet sisters are to thank for that" he sat down and rest his cheeks on his hooves, sighing in exasperation. "Blossom says I need to move on, but my dreams tell me to fight back"

"Who's Blossom?" rainbow dash asked, her voice still quiet with fear after his burst of rage.

"Blossom is…was…my mate. One day we were going to be married, and when that day came, I was going to give up my immortality and live a happy life. I was going to have children, grow old and listen to my grandchildren run around laughing. But it's all gone now; they took the dream from me"

"Why?" the one called twilight asked.

"At the end of the war, the queen choose me to lead pony kind into a brighter future. The discord wars had left scars across the face of the earth, nowhere was left untouched by his madness. In the far north the ice dragons of tornuldal had been corrupted by his presence and froze anything they found. In the west most of the griffins had sided with discord and now the remnants of the rebel army where going home, trying to run from us. In the war I had let the army to countless victories, finally defeating discord at the battle of iron forge. So the queen thought I was the best choice to become the new ruler, I didn't want to take the job, but it was a huge honour. I ruled for a hundred and fifty two long years, I stopped the ice dragons' rampage and brought the griffins to heel. I wasn't happy but I kept at it, it was a duty given to me by the highest authority. My sisters were jealous though, during the war they had had many victories themselves and thought that the only reason I was in charge was because the queen favoured me, so they plotted my downfall. They wanted my powers, so they took them, them as well as my sweet blossom, my home, my friends, my life…my stars. They took everything I lived for and sealed me within the heart of a star, the most humiliating and ironic punishment they could think of"

"The stallion" twilight whispered. Nova nodded

"That's right unicorn" he sighed, feeling exhausted. "But now I'm home, and I don't know what to do with myself. I have no mark, society will shun me" he gave them a look "I want to start anew, live a good life and find a new mark but…I can't let everyone I left behind be forgotten, I have to give them vengeance for what was done to them"

"Nova…" rarity sat beside him and pulled his head into her chest "Oh you stupid, stupid Alicorn. Why would you keep all of this to yourself" she stared into his eyes "one pony can't keep all of that inside themselves, they'd burst"

"Blank flank or not you're one of the fastest flyers I've ever seen" rainbow dash sat at his other side.

"It takes a strong heart to face the past", applejack lay a hoof on his shoulder "It's never an easy thing to right what's been done wrong"

"…thank you but…even if I wanted to fight I would never be able to, when my sisters defeated me they took my weapons, and I can't forge new ones. My hammer, righteous, it took a hundred years to forge and was made of the finest hiyterial steel. And that's not it, I had three magically blades as well, truth, justice and honour, each one I personally forged and honed to razor keenness, their irreplaceable" he sighed "my weapons where magically bonded to me, as much a part of me as my mark. I can't wield another weapon, it just wouldn't…be right" they sat in silence for a while, the moon over head growing brighter. 'She's mocking me, she knows I'll never be able to have my revenge'

"A hammer you say?" twilight suddenly said, she pulled out a thick, black, leather bound book from seemingly nowhere. On its front the words 'Prince Nova, a history of deeds and achievements by princess Celestia' where spelled out in golden lettering. Twilight flipped it open a couple of pages from the back "it says here that once you left Celestia built a temple deep within the everfree forest. It took a hundred days and nights of continuous work, but when she was done it was one of the most beautiful buildings in Equestria. Inside she put a statue of you, the books says that should you ever return the statue will come to life and return your weapons to you" she closed the book, a beaming smile on her face "it's easy, all we have to do is find the temple and you can get your weapons back"

Nova considered this for a moment, 'the book was allegedly written by my sister, but why would she do such a thing? And why keep my weapons intact when she could just as easily destroy them?' "Let me see that book" twilight handed it over and he flipped through the faded pages, each one crinkling as he turned them. "it looks like my sisters hoof writing" he briefly read a small extract from a page that had water drop marks on it "and whoever it was who wrote this is ridiculously accurate, they must have seen the events happen to write them with such detail" he paused for a moment, and then focused his magic. He felt it running along his hooves and into the book as he built a connection between him and it, seeking to use any residue traces of the author that remained to find out who wrote the book. In his mind he saw Celestia sitting at a small wooden desk, working by candle light. Before her lay an open book, its pages blank. Celestia levitated a quill across the page, the writing it produced elegant and flowing. She paused and turned her head, staring straight at him. Nova watched in mute shock as she smiled and returned to her writing, tears running down her face and splashing onto the book, drying off and leaving stains on the pages. Then the image was gone and he was back with the six mares, the book still held in his now trembling hooves, overhead the moon had dimmed slightly.

"What is it Nova?" applejack asked "what did ya see?" Nova stared at the book 'no way, it's impossible…why would she write a book about me after what she did, why would she keep my weapons?' for a second his mind was clouded with confusion, then he remembered something Celestia had told him eons ago.

"We all have to live in harmony with one another, no pony can ever stand alone in the face of adversity, the elements of harmony teach us that. If I ever wrong you Nova I promise I will always work to rebuilding the bridge between us no matter what, I promise"

"Nova?" rarity gently shook him "Nova are you ok?"

"Yeah yeah I'm fine" he hugged the book to his chest. It was so obvious now; Luna was the one to blame. She had always stood over Celestia, always the dominant one of the pair. She was the one who had convinced Celestia to take the throne, to usurp him of his powers. 'And when Celestia had done the job Luna would have done the same to her'

"Well what is it then?" twilight asked, her features showing her confusion.

"It's my sister" Nova said with a whisper so quiet that the mares had to lean in to hear him. He stared at the book, suddenly a gift so priceless he would never give it away

"she really did care…"


	9. Chapter 9, retrieval

Chapter 9, pushing through

"Harmony must be maintained, this is the one thing that must be constant. The balance must never tip, the scales must never become off balance. One must never become more powerful than the other, light must never overwhelm dark and vice versa. The day I sided with Luna and fought against Nova I breached that one rule, a rule I had swore to hold true to no matter what. I tipped the scales and upset balance"

"We where the embodiment of perfection. Two opposites may always act in tandem, but to maintain three different focuses of power was a true testament to the harmony we lived within. Nova was the ultimate embodiment of this balance, the perfect symbol of harmony. His powers weren't just limited to the stars, just as I am capable of controlling the moon; Nova is capable of controlling the sun and the moon as well as the stars. He can maintain the balance of opposites between the heavenly bodies themselves. Luna and I may pride ourselves on our power and abilities, but without Nova we shall never be at our full strength. Though we have watched the rise and fall of empires, seen dragons that lived in a time before our world and watched fillies being born, growing old and dying, we will never be able to match our brother for wisdom and knowledge"

"But Nova isn't with us; he may have returned, but he is not part of the balance. In my own lust for power I pushed him away from me; I excommunicated him from the balance. I took his soul, his mark, his stars…his life. Pity me reader, for I am a foolish mare. I have long preached the sacrament of harmony to my subjects, but I have hidden my own hypocrisy from their eyes. Nova will never be able to forgive me for what I have done to him; nopony would ever forgive me for what I've done to him. But every day when I wake in the morning and go to sleep in the evenings I pray that he may find it somewhere within his heart to forgive me, to find the strength to absolve me of my sins"

"Nova has returned now, he came from his star wrapped in fire, bringing the strength of the heavens with him. In a comet of blood red fire he fell to earth and within the caring hooves of my pupil twilight sparkle and her loyal friends he now rests, finally at peace…but I have glimpsed into his heart and see that he suffers agony for what he has left behind. Every night he experiences a new nightmare, every night he is tormented by the ghosts of what has been. I wish I could comfort him, but I am the one who drove him to this despair"

"Nova…you may never read this…but please know that I do care for you. Though brother and sisters we may be, one of us is not free. Let me free you Nova, let me bring a new light into your heart and guide you from the abyss I threw you in. We all have to live in harmony with one another, no pony can ever stand alone in the face of adversity, the elements teach us that. I have wronged you Nova, but I promise I will always work to rebuilding the bridge between us no matter what…I promise"

Celestia stared out into the night sky, watching her brother stars as they moved through deep space, dancing a dance that would last until the end of time. She lowered her head, a solitary tear running down her cheek.

"Please Nova…find it in your heart to forgive me for the things I've done"

Overhead the stars watched her coldly, feeling neither sorrow nor mercy within their ancient hearts.

≤ΘΘΘ≥

"Are you sure you want to go in there?" Rarity asked. Nova and the mane six stood before the everfree forest, enveloped by its cold shadow.

"I have too. To find peace I must fight, to fight I must have weapons" he smiled at her and gently kissed her forehead "I'll be back out before you know it"

"Take this" Twilight handed him a flankpack "I read a book about survival, the pack has everything you need in case you get lost" she smiled, obviously pleased with her astuteness to the situation. Nova opened the pack and began to rummage through its contents.

"let's see, food, water, bandages and plasters, a torch, dried fruit, a map, a compass" his felt something hard and cold under his hoof and he gripped it. "What's this?" he pulled out a heavy knife, Fluttershy recoiled. "Functional" Nova examined the blade "recently sharpened, poor job though, the edge is uneven" Twilight blushed "heavy, a bit too heavy to be used as a combat knife" he flipped it round his wrist and threw it at a nearby tree, the knife sunk deep into the wood "a decent throwing weapon" he pulled it magically from the tree, wiped it on the grass by his hooves and laid it against his flank, it stuck fast.

"How are you doing that?" rainbow dash gave his flank a look, staring intently at the knife. She prodded it, or more rather his flank. "It won't budge, you using magic or something to keep it attached?" Nova shook his head, smiling.

"no rainbow dash, during the war I had several strips of magnetised sheet metal implanted under my skin" he whacked his flank, the knife didn't even shift "nice to see that after nine thousand years it still works, I'm sure the thing must be running low by now though"

"Cool" rainbow dash said, staring intently at his flank 'may be more than just my flank she's checking mind'

"Are you sure you want to go alone?" Rarity asked him, once again there was concern in her eyes "we'll come with you if you want" Nova shook his head

"This is something I have to do alone, the place I'm going to is a shrine to the Goddess, only her servants may enter and bear witness to the ceremony" he gave them all a look, studying each one of them "and none of you bear her mark"

"Nova, before you go I have two things to ask you" twilight perked up, Nova raised an eye brow.

"That would depend on what you want to know"

"Ok, first. Who is this goddess you're talking about?" the others each turned their faces to him. Nova almost snorted.

"You're kidding me…right?" he raised an eyebrow "what, none of you where baptised when you where foals? The priestess never drew the horse shoe on your foreheads?" all he got was blank stares, Nova felt partially insulted. "The Goddess is the creator, the architect of reality" he explained. "She forged the first pony within the heart of the first star using her own flesh and gave her the sun to guide her through the day and the moon and the stars to light up the night sky whilst she slept. The Goddess made everything and all things are representative of her and her power. She is the beginning and the end, life and death, yin and yang, a force for creation and also for destruction, the ultimate personification of balance and harmony"

Rainbow dash snorted in derision, then burst out laughing, rolling around on the ground, she looked like she was having a fit. "Hahahaha, nice story Nova, but Celestia created the world with the elements of harmony, everypony knows that" it was all she managed before she was seized by another fit of laughter.

Nova felt something stir in his heart, a fierce urge to wipe this pony and her blasphemies from the face of the world, for a single moment he wanted nothing more than to obliterate her where she lay. Instead he suppressed his rage, compressed it into a tight ball, and stamped the floor. A shock wave ran out from his hoof across the ground, causing the mares to fall on their backsides and cracks to run like a spider's web across the earth. He walked up to rainbow dash and stared into her red eyes, within their depths he saw fear. "I fought for twelve days and nights against discords minions to hold the breach at the imperial cathedral whilst they evacuated the priestesses, when one of the creatures gutted me through the heart and ripped it out in front of my still seeing eyes. They were about to give up on me, but the high priestess brought me back from the land of the dead with her prayers. Remember that Rainbow dash, I don't ever want to hear that blasphemy come from your mouth ever again"

Rainbow dash nodded furiously, her head moving so fast it became a blur. Nova turned his attention back to twilight. "What else did you want to ask me miss sparkle?"

Twilight stared at him for a moment before she composed her thoughts "I want to come with you" Nova shook his head "please, this is the first time I'll be able to see a temple of your goddess. Or actual weapons from the discord wars. The book says once you take your weapons from the temple it'll crumble to dust" twilight stared at him with ridiculously round eyes, Nova found it slightly unnerving. 'Damn that pony'

"Fine, but when I move to reclaim my weapons you must leave. The receiving of a weapon from the Goddess is an important part of my faith, only those who are part of the faith may be present, and you're not a part of it" twilight nodded in understanding. Nova hefted the pack onto his flank and turned to face the forest, within the shadows of the trees seemed to move, coalescing into leering monsters and apparitions. "Don't fall behind" he told twilight and he set off into the forest, soon becoming enveloped in the inky black shadows

≤ΘΘΘ≥

Nightshade studied the ponies below him, circling overhead like a jet black vulture. He had just seen the fugitive prince Nova and a purple unicorn enter the everfree forest, disappearing into the undergrowth, leaving a unicorn, two pegausi and two earth ponies behind. Following the traitor would be impossible, the trees grew too dense for him and his ponies to traverse at great speed and if they lost their quarry within the forest it could take months to find them again. So they played the waiting game, letting their prey come to them.

His squad of pegausi was becoming restless however, and he feared that without some immediate form of action discipline would be lost. Princess Luna only selected the strongest and most aggressive ponies for her personal guard, and hammering discipline into such ponies was a laborious and time consuming process. It was difficult to break the minds of such aggressive ponies and mould them into more suitable shapes. 'Mend and make do' he thought.

After what seemed an age the sun began to slink towards the horizon, 'finally'. It would be night soon, and under the dark umbrella it provided they would swoop down on Nova like the deadly predators they were. "Captain" a soft, feminine voice said to his left. Nightshade turned his attention to his second in command, Poison ivy. Ivy was a lithe creatures, and beautiful too. Her skin was a deep night sky blue; her mane and tail were cascades of black, with deep blue steaks running through them. 'Just like the princess' it was no secret that princess Luna was prone to moments of intense vanity, and it was during one of these moments she had selected Poison ivy to be a member of her Lunar guard.

Ivy had been the daughter of a wealthy nobleman and had been raised as a spoiled, pampered filly with not a care in the world. One day her father had taken her to see the newly returned princess Luna as she paraded through the town with her also newly formed Lunar guard, thinking of it as nothing more than a day to share with his daughter. But when Princess Luna had spied Ivy through the crowd she had called an immediate halt and demanded that Ivy be handed over to become a member of the Lunar guard. Ivy's father had resisted of course, claiming that not even a princess had the power to take a filly from her father, but his argument had proved rather invalid after one of the Lunar guard had separated his head from his neck. Ivy had simply smiled and stepped with the princess onto her chariot, never looking back.

Now, ten years later, she had grown from a spoilt filly to a deadly killing machine. Her soul had hardened; her muscles were larger and stronger. She was graceful, sinuous; every movement she made flowed like water. Though she had also retained her beauty, and her body was as soft and well formed as any aristocratic mares. Nightshade had shared a bed with her many nights, and though they didn't feel any true emotion for each other, there was a certain…bond between them. Almost primal in its aggression and jealousy, neither of them would leave the other, nor let the other leave them. They had a certain magnetism that kept them together, something ferocious that could only be let loose whilst abed. Nightshade wasn't a soft lover, but neither was Poison ivy one for pointless frivolities whilst in heat, so it worked out just fine.

Nightshade had to keep his distance though. There was something in those dark eyes of hers, something…murderous. Poison ivy had bribed, murdered and seduced her way to the top of the ladder, 'and I'm the final rung, the last step to power'. "Poison ivy" he nodded, acknowledging her presence.

"There are rumblings amongst the squad sir, they believe we need to take some form of action" her voice was flat and almost emotionless, but her eyes were the eyes of a predator. She was watching his every move, searching for some form of weakness to exploit. Nightshade had to be careful here, one wrong word or sign the smallest sign of weakness at Ivy would descend on him like a wolf, ripping him to shreds. Only in a metaphorical sense however, Nightshade was too strong for her to engage in direction confrontation.

"Tell them our target will be within our reach soon, until then we are to maintain our current formation and altitude to avoid detection. Anypony found in violation of my orders is to be executed immediately, this operation must run perfectly" Ivy nodded at relayed his orders to the squad, the rumblings became more audible. 'this isn't going to work, I have to give them something to do' below him the five mares still waited at the edge of the forest, though by now the sun had fully descended and the moon had risen. 'they look like there asleep' Nightshade quickly considered his options 'the ponies need something to do, some form of action is to be taken' he glanced at the ponies below him 'there's five of us and five of them. their unarmed and unawares, we'll take them by surprise and hold them as hostages when Nova returns' he had seen Nova kiss one of the mares before he had entered the forest, Nightshade spied her asleep on the grass, her purple mane and tail easily noticeable. 'she'll make the perfect bargaining chip; we'll leave Nova on the back hoof. Once he comes out we'll demand he gives himself up or we'll kill the mares, when he does we'll kill them anyway. We'll leave no witnesses'. Nightshade relayed his orders to the squad, designating each of them a target. Silently they moved into position, directly over head their prey. Nightshade gave an almost imperceptible nod of his head and they dived, striking from the sky like murder itself.

≤ΘΘΘ≥

"So how are we going to find this temple?" twilight asked as she clambered over a rotting log, her hooves failing to find purchase on the slick moss that covered it.

"have faith twilight sparkle" Nova bit the back of her flank pack in his mouth and hauled her over, lifting her over the log as if she weighed nothing more than feather. "It's more likely it'll find us"

Twilight stared at him incredulously "find us? What the buck does that mean?"

Nova studied the land ahead of them, the trail they were on diverged into two separate paths, each one forking into the dense undergrowth. "Holy places resonate with divine power" he choose the left path, and though he didn't know what lay down it, something told him he was going in the right direction. "If you let you mind go into neutral you'll actually find that you've taken a few steps toward it" he pushed through the thick bushes that lined the trail with ease, twilight was having a harder time.

"If there's so much power from just one building" she paused to swat away a thick fly "then how come nopony has found it yet?"

"When you're welcomed into the faith, the priestess places an enchantment on you. It's like a guidance spell; it lets you know where the nearest temple or priestess is, so you'll always find your way home" he paused again, sniffed the air and left the path, cutting straight through the matted undergrowth. Twilight was having trouble keeping pace.

"Do you feel it now?" she stepped into a pool of thick mud hidden under a dense pile of leaves and began to sink "NOVA!"

"Don't worry, I got ya" Nova focused his magic and pulled twilight from the mud, gently depositing her beside him "you better take more care miss sparkle" he smiled at her "everfree ain't exactly the best place for a city mare like you"

"Hey! I haven't lived in Canterlot for three years!" twilight exclaimed "but anyway" she began to scrape the muck off her legs "do you feel this temple place calling you now?"

Nova raised an eyebrow, and then furrowed his brow as he concentrated. Twilight suppressed a giggle; Nova was terribly handsome when he looked confused. Twilight had never been a mare to look at stallions in any particular way, indeed her partial ignorance to the matter had led many to believe that she was a lesbian. But looking at Nova now she felt something stirring in her chest…and in other places, 'he is handsome, and clever and skilled with magic as well…no twilight you can't think like that' she scratched her head, what was she thinking? Only a week or so ago Nova had been a character in a book that she even doubted the authenticity of, but here she was now thinking about him such an obscene way, it made her want to slap herself. 'But still…rarity hasn't made a stake on him, though she didn't leave his bedside whilst he was in hospital. I could make him mine, a simple love potion would work…' she stopped herself from continuing any further 'get a grip on yourself idiot, you barely know this stallion but you want to make a move on him? The hells wrong with you today?'

"I…think I can feel it, it's not really something easy to describe, if you could actually describe it at all"

"So what is it then?"

"Just a…sense I guess, a sought of feeling in your gut that you're headed in the right direction" twilight simply nodded and they continued on into the forest. It was difficult to tell how high the sun was with the trees growing so thickly overhead, but the world around them seemed to darken as they pressed on, after what twilight had guessed was a few hours, rays of silver light had begun to pierce their way through the canopy, the moon was out.

"the moons bright tonight, really bright if it's making its way down to ground level" she watched the muscles in Novas wings and back tense 'he doesn't fold his wings tight against his body like Celestia, he sought of lets them…hang loose, like he's waiting for something'

"The moons at its brightest when Luna's pleased with herself" he turned at looked back the way they had come, his body statue still. Silence fell upon them, and for a moment twilight thought she could hear shouts of surprise from behind them. "We have to keep moving, double the pace" Nova turned back and ploughed straight into the forest, twilight almost had to gallop to keep up.

"Wait! Why are we running? Can we slow down abit?" she called out, her heart beginning to hammer within her chest.

"No time! If we stop they might catch us!" Nova shouted back, the muscles in his legs rippling under his skin, powering him forward, the ones in his wings twitching as he suppressed his flight instincts.

"Who?"

"The royal Lunar guard! Their Lunas personal protectors!" there was a new edge in his voice, it sounded like anger "their leader is a pegausi called Nightshade, he was one of the ponies responsible for Blossoms torture!" Novas eyes were ablaze "I need to get my weapons quick, by now they've probably either captured your friends and killed them, or are making sport of them before they kill them. We have to hurry or they'll die!"

"what!"

"just keep moving!"

They galloped on and on, ploughing straight through the heart of the forest. Twilight was panting heavily, she'd never run this fast for this long. Ahead of her Nova had barely even broken a sweat; he galloped almost silently, barely disturbing the terrain as he moved. 'This is his territory; this is what he was built for. He moves like an animal, like he's more beast then pony'

For what seemed like an hour they galloped, Nova always leading the way. Twilight was beginning to wonder if they were lost when suddenly the trees began to thin, and suddenly the forest came to an abrupt halt. They galloped out into a huge clearing, ahead of them was a huge stone structure with a massive then lanced into the air, menacing in the moonlight.

Nova ground to a halt, skidding along the ground as he checked his pace, Twilight wasn't as quick and slammed into his flank. "This is it" he said 'he's not even out of breath "come on Twilight" he made his way to the huge iron doors that were set at the entrance. The doors where decorated with images of war, showing ponies battling nightmarish creatures that seemed difficult to comprehend 'nothing could possibly evolve to have that many tails' in the centre of the doors was a single image of peace. A filly stood in the middle of the maelstrom of violence surrounding her, completely heedless to the monstrosities circling her. Her eyes where sapphire blue and in her mouth she held a small net, by her feet stood two jars.

"This is…incredible" Twilight had never seen anything like this before, these doors must have been thousands of years old. "What are those creatures? And why's there a filly in the middle of a battle?"

"The creatures are the daemons that Discord summoned from the bowels of hell to fight by his side" Nova walked up to the doors and placed his right hoof on them, directly below the smiling filly. "the filly is a pony I knew a long time ago…"

"What was she called?" twilight asked 'why has he put his hoof on the doors? They're way too heavy to simply push open' Nova closed his eyes and sighed, a single tear rolled down his cheek.

"Cherub…her name was Cherub"

For a moment nothing happened, then the sapphires the filly had in the place of her eyes flash a brilliant blue, blinding Twilight. There was a deep rumbling and the sound of rusted gears grinding together, she felt dust falling on her skin. When her sight returned she saw the doors where gone, leaving behind a yawning mouth that opened onto total darkness. A voice called out from the darkness, ancient yet sounding as though the speaker was only a filly.

"Welcome Starflight, prince of the heavens. We have been waiting for you"

Nova simply blinked, then stepped into the darkness. Twilight took a moment to summon up her courage, and then followed after him, walking straight into the heart of the darkness.


	10. Chapter 10, blood and innocence

Chapter 10, blood and innocence

"Get off me!" rarity screamed, thrashing her body. "Get off me this instant you thug!" her captor simply laughed and pressed a dagger against her throat. Rarity froze, the steel was ice cold. 'Nova where are you?' around her the other attackers where subduing her friends. Fluttershy lay bound and gagged on the floor, her hooves tied together behind her mouth and a wad of cloth shoved in her mouth. She bled from a small nick in the flesh across her cheek, her eyes where tight shut and the only noise she made was a quiet whimpering. Beside her was Pinkie pie, who hadn't yet been gagged, was yelling obscenities.

"you better stop right now mister!" she was shouting at the top of her lungs "Cus we've got a big strong stallion friend called Nova and he's a prince and he's gonna come outta that forest and kick your butts you big mean bul-" that was as far as she got before one of the ponies that had attacked them grabbed a mouthful of her hair, pulled her head up and stuffed a ball of cloth in her mouth.

"For the love a Luna shut up" he said in a heavy voice, thick with aggression and barely suppressed blood lust. "Nightshade, can't we just kill em and get this over with? This one's doing my head in" he kicked Pinkie, who gave a yelp from behind her gag. Beside her Rainbow dash mumbled as she dreamed. She'd been knocked unconscious by a heavy whack to the head with an iron shod hoof.

"No pony is to touch them until the target returns Steelflank" said the pony that had his knife pressed against Rarities throat "we need them unhurt to use as bargaining chips" the one called Steelflanks gave Pinkie a hungry look.

"Well seems to me that after all that work we've just done we deserve a little reward" his hoof reached towards Pinkie and he yanked her head up, staring hungrily into her eyes. "This one's given me a lotta grief, time I gave her some"

"No raping Steelflank" Nightshade said his voice quiet but none the less threatening "Or I'll geld you, understand?" Steelflanks eyes flamed with anger and his muscles tensed, Nightshade stared him in the eyes, a growl rumbling in the back of his throat. For a moment Rarity thought they were going to going to come to blows, but then Steelflank dropped his gaze.

"As you say…sir" he spat the last word, as if it tasted like poison on his tongue. There was a light laugh from Rarities left and she looked to see a female Pegasus on top of applejack, her cheeks flushed and her muscles bunched up. Beneath her Applejack was writhing on the ground, her face red with exertion. She moaned in fear and saw the Pegasus was running a knife down her cheek, Applejacks green eyes where wide with fear, but the pegausi' where filled with some sought of sick fascination.

"Easy there girl" she told Applejack in a low, soft voice, her knife traced a line down Applejacks other cheek. "I like this one; she's got plenty of fight" she leaned in and took a deep breath of Applejacks mane, Applejack squirmed. "And she smells like apples" the Pegasus placed her front hooves on Applejacks cheeks and stared deep into her eyes, Applejack closed her eyes tight shut. "Look at me" the Pegasus whispered, and then she slapped Applejack hard. "I said look at me!" Applejack opened her eyes and the Pegasus held her head tight in her hooves, staring into Applejacks eyes. "You have beautiful eyes, I wish I had eyes like that" the Pegasus gently kissed Applejack "even your lips taste like apples, oh I'm going to have a lot of fun with you…"

"Poison, get off her and stop that monologue of yours, you're freaking me out" Nightshade snapped "bind and gag them, then move into ambush positions, I want Steelflank and Shadowmane in the trees to cut off his escape. Poison ivy and I will hold the centre with the hostages and lure him in. Fleetwing, you stay high and take him down if he tries to fly away. Go" at once the other ponies moved into action, working with methodical skill.

"Nova will never be defeated by the likes of you ruffians!" Rarity screamed as the bound her hooves with coarse rope "who are you?" she managed before a gag was shoved in her mouth. Nightshade gave her a shove and she fell on the floor hard, bruising her chest. Nightshade kneeled down and gave her a wicked smile, and then he drew out a knife, it rasped sharply as he pulled it from its sheath.

"You see this knife unicorn? I used it eight thousand years ago to slice the skin off your princes' body, I used this knife to make him scream and cry like a baby filly" Nightshade gently laid the knifes serrated edge against Rarities cheek "I used this knife to slice off his cutie mark" rarity felt fear dig even deeper into her heart, a cutie mark was the physical representation of a ponies soul, to take it away was to literally strip them of what they were. Nightshade must have known what she was thinking, because his smile grew even more wicked. "I'm Nightshade, and every time your prince screams in his dreams it's because he's reliving what I did to him" Nightshade lifted the knife away from her face and returned it to its sheath "and now I'm about to drag him kicking and screaming back into the fires of hell"

For a moment Rarity thought she could see madness in the pegausi' eyes, madness and cruelty, then there was a call from one of the other ponies that had attacked them and Nightshade turned away, moving to stand with Poison ivy. 'Nova' Rarity thought 'where ever you are, please help us. For love of Celestia help us…for the love of your goddess help us'

≤ΘΘΘ≥

"Welcome Nova"

"Welcome Nova"

"Welcome Nova"

The three voices spoke at once, sounding in tandem. Each one was different to the other, one was higher pitched, one was slightly throaty and the other was deep. Twilight squinted into the darkness ahead of her, but the meagre light that made its way through the distant door way was too feeble to make anything out. She could barely make out Novas flank, as plain and smooth as a newborn, in the blackness ahead.

"You've been waiting for me for a long time Cherub" Twilight couldn't see Novas face, but she could sense him give a small smile to the darkness.

"We've waited for eons"

"We've waited for millennia"

"We've waited an age"

"I appreciate it" there was a dull grinding sound and Twilight turned to see that the door was slowly rising up from the floor, blocking out the light and sealing them within the temple 'how in the name of Celestia are we going to get out now?'

"Don't use that name in this place Twilight sparkle" one of the voices called out, the deep one. There was no emotion in it.

"She is a traitor"

"She is a blasphemer"

Twilight stood gob smacked 'how did they know what I was thinking?' she reached out into the darkness with one hoof, without any light to see by, she was blind. "Nova" she called, her voice echoing away "Nova I'm scared"

"It's okay Twilight, I'm right here" Twilight felt Novas heavy hoof take hers gently "nothing's going to hurt you" Twilight sighed "BUT A LITTLE LIGHT WOULD BE APPRECIATED!" Nova roared into the darkness. There was a scrambling noise, like tiny claws scratching on stone, and suddenly an emerald green fire leapt into life from a torch sconce in the wall. It floated there for a long second, the only source of light in a world of all consuming darkness, and then it leapt to another sconce further down the wall, causing the fire to spread, the radius of the light to grow a little larger. After a few short seconds the whole chamber was lit up with green fire, Twilight heard herself gasp.

The chamber was huge, massive. Its ceiling was hidden by shadows as it stretched high above them, its vaulted detail hidden from her eyes. The floor beneath her was made from a glassy substance, jet black and cloudy, like it was made of frozen smoke. Pictures had been etched into them, hideous monsters swarmed across the floor, each of them facing toward the centre of the pattern. When twilight followed the design she saw they were all facing a pony that seemed to float in the centre of the chaos, a point of reality in a shifting sea of chaos. His armour had been laid over with emeralds and in his hooves he held a massive hammer, its twin heads covered with ruby red gore. Three blades surrounded the pony, glowing softly in the green light. The walls where covered in carvings, the demonic creatures seemed to actually be tearing themselves from the wall, their claws grasping towards a massive statue at the back of the temple. As Twilights eyes grew more accustomed to the light she began to make out more of the statues details and gasped once more.

It was huge, at least ten meters tall. The statue reared on its back legs, a mighty gesture of strength. In his front two hooves he held a massive warhammer, its haft almost six meters long. The haft was carved over with ornate scroll work; the ancient and angular letters had been embossed with rubies. The hammer had a double head and was also covered in scroll work, on each head there was carved a symbol that hurt to look at, as if it where something too powerful for a normal pony to behold. Three blades carved out of the same black substance circled around the statue, held levitating in the air by ancient spells. They moved like clockwork, spinning as they went, a gentle hissing came from them 'their actually cutting the air as they move'.

The statue itself was clad in emerald armour, the stallions' chest was covered with an emerald green breastplate, on its centre, just over the statues heart was a rune of some kind. It was a unicorn horn, with the earth ponies' horse shoe set in the foreground before it. From either side of the two symbols stretched a pegausi wing, completing the trinity. 'Three symbols, three ways of life, the ultimate balance'. She looked at the statues wings and saw that its feathers where made with the same emerald substance as the armour, along the front of the wings ran blades; ancient weapons wielded by the mightiest pegausi during the ascension wars.

"What do you think?" Twilight turned to Nova and saw he was staring at the statue, his eyes seemed unfocused and glazed over, like he wasn't entirely aware of his surroundings.

"Who is he?" Twilight asked, even though she already knew the answer.

"Me, that's me Twilight sparkle. I wore that armour in a thousand battles, I defeated discord with that hammer, with those three blades I eviscerated the heart of Dalktarion the black terror, with my flight knives I sliced off the wings of Dreadbeak the emperor of the griffins" Nova blinked and shook his head, snapping himself back into reality. "But what does it matter now?" he walked up to the statue and stood before it, gazing at the mark on the breastplate "all of these things happened over nine thousand years ago, it's what I do next that'll truly make me a legend. It's my vengeance that I'll write into the book of history with Lunas blood" he saw Luna holding Blossoms cutie mark, he growled quietly "and into my sisters' flank". There was a sound, like fillies whispering and he turned his head to the side of the statues plinth, staring intently at the shadow that resided there. "I see you there cherub, come out so I can see you"

There was a giggling noise and what sounded like a brief hushed conversation. Then three fillies stepped out from the shadow, each of them with identical looks of happiness on their faces. One of them was a unicorn, the second a Pegasus and the last an earth pony. Each one of them was completely grey, their mane, tails, skin, even their eyes where completely grey. "Hello Nova" the said in harmony, and then they leapt at him, giggling loudly. Nova grabbed all three of them into a bear hug and pulled the tight to his chest. He gently nuzzled them and Twilight was surprised to see them nuzzle him back, looks of perfect content on their faces. They hold their embrace for a few moments longer, and then Nova gently stood them on the floor. 'The way he held them like they where his foals, and the way they look at him, as if he's their only family in the world.

"You're bigger then I remember" he said quietly, Twilight thought she could hear tears in the voice, but Nova hid them well.

"I'm a lot more powerful" said the unicorn.

"I'm a lot bigger" the earth pony said.

"I'm a lot faster" said the pegausi.

"I see" Novas eyes sparkled as he smiled, for a brief moment he looked every bit a father figure and the fillies his foals. But then his mind returned to the present, and the danger that hung over Twilights friends. "You know why I'm here, I have returned and my sisters seek to once more banish me to eternal silence. I must fight, I must have my weapons" the fillies nodded sagely in perfect synchronous.

"We can give you your weapons, your hammer"

"Your magic forged blades"

"Your flight knives" Twilight noticed that whenever they spoke it was always the unicorn that spoke first, then the earth pony and then the pegausi.

"But there's a price to pay"

"A steep one"

"With lasting consequences"

"What is this price?" Nova was confused 'the book didn't mention this'.

"You are the goddesses' last servant Nova"

"The last of her herd"

"The last warrior at the end of the battle"

"…that's impossible, what about the cathedrals, the churches?" Nova was beginning to sound worried "what about the priestesses', what about the saints?"The fillies gave him sad looks, and then continued.

"But in her eternal knowledge she has seen this coming"

"She has prepared for the end of the faith"

"And the start of something new"

"What do you mean something new? How can I be the last one?" Nova had moved past worried, he was getting desperate "what happened? Who did this?"

"The princess"

"The sun queen"

"The ruler of fire"

"Celestia…she did this?" Twilight looked from Nova to the fillies and back to Nova 'what are they on about? by Celestia I'm way out of my depth here'

"She came with torches"

"She came with hammers"

"She came with the anger of a hundred ponies calling for blood"

The fillies shuddered, as if even the memory of what happened caused them pain.

"She tore down the tapestries and smashed the statues"

"She took the holy weapons and melted them down to slag"

"She defiled the priestesses with her magic"

"She brought fire and pain to the faith and washed it away with the blood and innocence of its children" they said in unity.

"But the goddess knew this would happen"

"She's made a plan; she's laid apiece on the board that cannot be removed"

"She's made the final move; she's taken the king" the Pegasus made a sweeping gesture "check mate"

"…me…I'm the final piece aren't I?" Novas eyes where wide. 'Something's about to happen' Twilight realised 'something big's about to happen'

"Yes Nova, the prince Starflight must fight for vengeance"

"You will be raised to the level of a god Nova, and when your time is done you will join the goddess as part of the pantheon"

"You will become divine Nova; you will receive the highest honour"

"And all it will cost is your immortality" the said together 'the way they say it' Twilight thought 'as if it's nothing' Nova closed his eyes and sighed, when he opened them there was something new within their fiery green depths, something Twilight had never seen in anypony before.

"My immortality" Nova scratched his chin "for the unlimited years I have left the Goddess will give me the power to fight and triumph over my enemies. For the silence of eternity she will raise me to become a god and be her equal as an architect of reality" Nova smiled, the fire in his eyes burning so bright they seemed to glow "it's a deal" he spat on his hoof and held it out to the three fillies, who did the same with theirs and shook his hoof in turn.

"Nova, are you insane?" twilight practically screamed "you're giving up your immortality, think of everything you're going to miss! The rise of the millennial sun, the storm of unity! These are things anypony would kill for and your throwing them away!" Nova gave her an even stare.

"I spent eight thousand years sealed within a star Twilight, I've already missed so much" he sighed and shook his head "you just don't get it; immortality is a curse Twilight sparkle. Every friend I've ever made had aged and died and not one of my hairs has greyed, I've seen empires rise and fall and foals grow old and die, I don't want to see it anymore. I want to have a family Twilight, I want to get married and have foals of my own" he smiled at Cherub, all three of her. "This is an opportunity I'm not going to miss; I'm going to grow old Twilight. I'm going to get married and have foals, I'm going to buy a house and make it a home. I'm going to age and my mane and tail are going to go grey, and I'm going to die in a warm bed surrounded by my children and my grand children and my great grand children. It's what I've always dreamed of, how could I say no now?"

He turned to cherub, who looked at him with three pairs of eyes. "Let's do this" he said with a fierce determination. Cherub nodded her faces solemn.

"Step upon the rune" the unicorn gestured to the image of Nova set in the floor.

"Try not to resist, it won't hurt" the earth pony told him with her low voice.

"Unless you do resist" the Pegasus chimed in.

Nova nodded and stood upon the rune, it lit up as he did so. In the green light that under lit his face he appeared almost demonic himself, his face sharp and angular. The three fillies stood in a triangle around him, their eyes closed and chanting softly. Twilight stepped back; she could feel power seeping from the walls around her. It was alien to her, it wasn't magic, it was…older, more fierce and stronger than anything she could ever wield.

"Come down upon us divine one" Cherub chanted "give Nova your servant strength"

"Give him purity and honour to do what is right; give him the will and the means to do what must be done. For the night draws near and all must take arms in defence of the faith"

"And in exchange we offer you his immortality, so that you may use his energy to empower him with your virtues"

Nova had begun to levitate slowly into the air, but his wings weren't moving. Slowly green bands of energy rose out of the rune, probing the air around them as they rose. One of the brushed against Novas hoof and instantly it began to climb it, snaking its way up his body. It was soon joined by other bands, they slithered across his body. Twilight saw they were pulling away at his skin, burrowing deep into his flesh, but Nova didn't even wince. His eyes where distant, and the fire that had burned within them was now erupting forth, the emerald flame searing into the air. The bands wrapped over him tight, covering his whole body and even his face. They covered him, leaving only his green silhouette behind.

"FOR THE BLOOD OF THE INNOCENCE THERE MUST BE VENGENCE!" the three Cherubs screamed at the top of their lungs, an intense whirring noise had filled the air, driving through Twilights ears and straight into her mind, she raised her hooves to cover her ears but it was no use. "THE FALSE REGENTS WILL BURN, THE FIRES OF HELL WILL CONSUME THEM AND THEIR SOULS AND THEY SHALL KNOW ENDLESS AGONY!" Cherub screamed over the din. The green bands had begun to whip through the air, creating a storm of emerald green energy.

From within the maelstrom of energy she heard Nova screaming, and then the whirring became a shriek. There was a flash of energy so bright Twilight thought she would go blind, it was too much for her. She fell to the floor and seemed to sink into the frozen smoke beneath her, before the smoke enveloped her she heard a voice speak. It was deep and seemed to reverberate with a divine power.

"I am Nova" it said, every word speaking of the strength within the speaker "and I will have my vengeance"

≤ΘΘΘ≥

Rarity was scared, no not scared, terrified. It had been three hours since they had been set upon and yet Nova hadn't returned, 'where is he?' Nightshade had finally lost his patience and let his squad succumb to their bas urges. Right now the one called Steelflank was raping Pinkie pie, who had tears streaming down her face. The one who was called Fleetwing seemed to be completely mad, and was dancing with Fluttershy in mid air. Or more rather he was dragging her through the air as Fluttershy whimpered in fear. Poison ivy had climbed on top of Applejack and was running her knife down Applejacks body; every now and then she would suddenly tense and drive the knife deep into one of Applejacks legs, licking her lips as she heard Applejack scream. Shadowmane simply sat in a tree cleaning his repeater crossbow, oiling down the mechanism with a small cloth. He was whistling quietly to himself, seemingly unaware of the atrocities his fellow Lunar guard where committing below him. Nightshade sat in silence, deep in thought.

"This is useless!" he shouted, kicking Rarity in the flank "do we have to wait all night for one fucking prince?" he kicked Rarity again and shouted in frustration.

"You should loosen up a bit Nightshade" poison ivy said, stabbing her knife once more into Applejacks leg. The knife went all the way through and pinned Applejack to the floor, she screamed in pain. "This one's good, she's got a lot of fight in her" Poison kissed Applejack, who bit at her lips. Poison kissed her anyway and when she came away her mouth was covered in blood, Applejack spat some more on her "see what I mean?"

"Dammit poison stay in focus!" Nightshade kicked Rarity one more time and then sat on the floor by his weapons "I'm getting angry, when I see Nova I'm gonna bring him in dead, not alive" he stood up and began to pace, mumbling under his breath. There was a grunting Noise and Steelflank threw Pinkie pie to the floor beside Rarity, Pinkie was a mess, the area between her legs covered in blood. Rarity crawled her way beside Pinkie and laid her head next to hers, 'it's okay Pinkie' she wanted to say, but the gag meant it just came out as mumbled noise.

For another hour they waited, the silence broken only by Applejacks screams and the click and whir of Shadowmanes crossbow as he stripped it down for the fourth time. Then there was a sudden screaming noise and the crackling of lighting, Rarity squeezed her eyes tight shut as a bright green flash threatened to blind her. Then there was silence, the air stank of ozone. She looked up and saw Nova rearing on his two hind legs, twilight just behind him.

Nova was wearing green armour, ornate and beautiful to behold. It was covered with swirling patterns depicting scenes of war, and it covered his whole body. He had a breastplate, vambraces, flankmail and iron shod hooves. On the front of his wings where two incredibly sharp flight knives, they whistled as he moved his wings slowly. Around him where three magically blades that slowly spun through the air as they rotated around him, and in his hooves there was a massive hammer, its haft covered in ornate scrollwork carved straight into the metal.

"Did you miss me Nightshade?" there was something different about his voice; it was more powerful, like he was filled with energy. "I've missed you" he hefted his hammer up into a fighting stance. All around Nightshade his comrades where forming up. Poison and Fleetwing had abandoned their distractions and had fallen in behind their leader. In his tree Shadowmane and loaded his crossbow and had drawn and bead on Nova, Steelflank was pawing at the ground over to the right, steam bellowing from his nostrils as he tried to hold back. "Only five of you" Nova smiled, the aggression within him coming out "I'll make this quick".

Steelflank roared and charged forward, aiming to ride Nova down under his bulk. Nova spread his legs and held his ground, staring coolly at Steelflank as he came rushing forward. Just as Steelflank was about to crash into him Nova spun to the left, dodging his charge and he brought his hammer smashing down on Steelflanks head, smashing it open like an overripe melon. Steelflanks body continued on for a few more steps, rolled to a stop and collapsed on the floor, blood squirting from the pulped ruin of his head. Nightshade and the others simply stared on, no emotion showing on their faces.

"Now" Nightshade said, and at once the remaining four of the Lunar guard attacked at once. Shadowmane fired his crossbow, the bolt flying straight for Novas heart. Nova concentrated his magic and with a flick of his tail sent the bolt flying back towards Shadowmane, the pony had but a second to comprehend what was happening before the bolt took him straight through the eyes, pinning him to the tree.

Fleetwing dived from the sky at the same time as Poison ivy leapt at Nova. He dropped down and rolled to the right as Fleetwing came slamming down, Poison ivy just a few seconds before him. There was a cracking sound as Fleetwing came slamming down on Poison ivies back, who hung in mid air where Nova had been only a few seconds before. Fleetwing snapped Poisons back and as he and the now dead Poison crashed to the floor he landed on his neck, snapping it and killing himself instantly. Nova rolled to his feet and cleaned the grass nonchalantly off his armour, and then he planted his hammer along with his magic blades into the grass, where they stood quivering.

"I've waited a long time for this Nightshade" he said as he pulled at a clasp on his back, his wing armour slid off and fell to the floor with a clatter. "I used to dream of killing you, ripping you apart into bloody chunks with my bare hooves" he pulled off his vambraces "and now I've got my chance, but I won't need this armour" he flicked at a set of catches with his tail and his chest piece fell away, he was now without his armour. Rarity who had watched in silence with her five friends as Nova had killed four of the finest warriors in Equestria, now began to scream, the blood was just too much, how could a prince do this? Nova rubbed the back of his neck and then reached down to his flank and pulled out a knife, the same knife Twilight had given him before they'd entered the forest. "I'm gonna maim you with this knife, then I'm gonna ram my horn through your head, into your brains and use that bond you've got with my sister to tell her to watch her back" Nova smiled coldly, and then he leapt at Nightshade.

Nightshade brought up his sword to parry, but he was too slow. Nova rolled under the swords stroke and was within Nightshades guard "that's for my stars! He shouted and he brought the knife slicing down on nightshades left hoof, slicing clean through the tendons and rendering Nightshades left hoof useless, it hung limply by his side. Nightshade roared and tried to punch Nova with his right hoof, but Nova ducked underneath it, grabbed it with both his hooves and snapped Nightshades arm. He savoured Nightshades scream before he wrenched at the broken limb and pulled it clean from its socket "that's for Requiem!" he roared. He brought the knife back out and stabbed straight into Nightshades chest, expertly twisting through his ribs and reaching straight into his heart. Nightshade gasped and slumped into Novas arms, the light in his eyes dimming. "That's for Blossom" Nova whispered into his ear before he lifted Nightshades limp body into the air, he stared at Nightshade for a moment and then thrust his horn straight through the bottom of his mouth. There was a wet sucking sound as Novas horn pierced its way into Nightshades brain and then Nova felt himself within Nightshades dying mind, thoughts fluttered like butterflies through the encroaching darkness as Nightshade died.

'Luna' he thought, using magic to send the thought through the psychic link Nightshade shared with his sister. For a moment there was silence and then he heard Lunas voice in his head, it hadn't changed abit.

'Nightshade, thank the darkness. For a moment there I thought Nova had won, tell me. Is my brother dead, or have you subdued him?'

'Oh Luna, I'm very much alive. Though I can't say the same for your royal thugs, you should pick the members of the royal lunar guard more carefully next time'

'…Nova…'

'I'm coming for you Luna, I'm going to find you and kill you. It was you who convinced Celestia to overthrow me, and you were going to betray her once she'd done the dirty work. But I'm back now Luna, and I'm stronger then you could ever possibly imagine. For your crimes I'm going to rip you to shreds and personally drag you to hell, it's the least I could do'

'Nova, I-' that was as far as Luna got before Nova pulled his horn out of Nightshades brain. Nightshade spasamend and fell still, Nova let his body drop to the floor. Blood and brain matter where slowly sliding their way down his face, but he barely noticed. He walked over to rarity and undid her gag.

"Are you ok?" he asked her, Rarity seemed to shy away from him "Rarity?"

"How could you do that!" she screamed, around her her friends nodded in agreement. Twilight set to work undoing their bonds, magically removing the ropes.

"What the hell are you!" Rainbow dash asked her eyes wide in shock "how the hell did you move that quickly?"

"I…training" he looked at them, they all had looks of fear and revulsion in their eyes "what's wrong with you?" he asked "I just saved your lives and your acting like I'm the monster" Nova stared at them in disbelief "I can't believe you…I trusted you…I thought you understood!"

They hung their heads in shame. "You're no better than my sisters, the lot of you!"

"Nova-" Twilight began, but Nova barged past her and lifted Pinkie pie in his eyes as effortlessly as if she were a ragdoll. "she's been hurt, I'll take her to the hospital" he gently laid Pinkie on his back and spread the wings "I'll meet up with you later" In a tone that stated he obviously wasn't going to.

"Nova!" Twilight shouted as he took the air, the rushing of his wings blocking out her words.

"Nova I'm…I'm sorry"

* * *

><p>Authors note: I'm afraid I was recently issued my GCSE schedule sheet and I'll have to spend the whole of the Easter working and revising to prepare, so from now on I'm afraid that the gaps of waiting between chapters are going to be longer. But I'll be back up to capacity in a few weeks once this is all behind me<p>

Timefather 64, BlasianAsian, foxondragonwings, valourousspectre, the guy who left an anonymous review. Thank you for your reviews and support, you've made logining on to one of the best parts of my day. I promise I'll never let you guys down

and to the other 892 people who've read my story, thank you for reading this, not even my parents know i'm doing this, but the fact you guys out there are reading means the world to me.

Me and my brother are going to a cosplay convention in Manchester in the summer, if anyone else is going, look for the guy with rainbow hair, a blue shirt and a black tracksuit with the words "JDA 10019" on it. He'll have a small kid sitting on his shoulders who's dressed as scootaloo and going mental as they wander around the stalls buying merchandise. If you spot us, just say "Nova says hi" and I'll get what you mean. Hope I see a few of you there, I know at least 177 of you live in the UK.

See you on the other side bronies. Stay true and always keep your pinkie promises.


	11. Chapter 11, the coming storm

Chapter 11, the coming storm

"Nova?" Nova woke with a start and opened his eyes, yawning as he did so. Before him Pinkie pie laid on the sterile and somewhat uncomfortable hospital bed, her face confused "where am I?" she asked as she looked around the room, taking in the white washed walls and the sterile floors. When she saw she had a set of small electrodes running across her right hoof and that she was hooked up to a machine she gave a squeak of fright, her eyes growing wide.

"it's ok Pinkie, they're not going to hurt you" Nova smiled and gently levitated one of the electrodes, it came away with a strange sought of sucking sound "they're held on by glue, the doctors are using them to monitor your vitals is all"

"Oh" Pinkie pie still looked confused "why am I in the hospital?" she placed both of her hooves on her stomach "and why does my tummy hurt?" Nova felt his composure slip.

"There was a…fight between me and some bad ponies Pinkie pie, they took you and your friends' captive and I fought to get you back. I came as fast as I could, I promise but…" Nova hung his head, shame burning on his cheeks "I wasn't fast enough, I carried you here as fast as I could, but Applejack was hurt as well, so I had to go back for her, she's just next door with the doctor" Nova looked her in the eyes 'if I'm going to say it I have to say it to her face' he felt his cheeks heat up again "but…there's something else…Pinkie, you where…you where…" Nova hung his head again "I'm sorry Pinkie, I let you down"

The back of his throat was beginning to hurt, tears where coming. He blinked furiously, trying to hold them at bay. 'Don't cry you idiot, she needs someone to be strong for her' Nova looked Pinkie in the eyes, doing his best to hold her confused stare. "Nova, what's wrong?" Pinkie winced and gently rubbed her stomach.

"Pinkie you where…you where raped…" he managed, his voice felt thick in his mouth, like it wasn't meant to used for saying things like this. Pinkie pie stared at him, still confused.

"I don't…I don't get it…" suddenly realisation dawned on her "am I…am I pregnant?" she stared at her stomach, then she wrapped her hooves tight around it and hugged herself "I don't want to be pregnant Nova, I don't want a little pony living inside me" her eyes had begun to tear over "I can't be a mummy Nova I can't…" then her resolve completely dissolved and she broke down "I don't know how to look after a foal properly, I don't!" her tears had run down her face and where starting to drip onto her hospital gown, which darkened. "I don't want to be pregnant!" she stared at him "you're magic Nova can you fix it?" she reached out and grabbed his right hoof, pulling him close "please say you can fix it!"

Nova swallowed and slowly shook his head "I'm sorry pinkie, but…I can't use magic to end new life…my faith won't allow it" Pinkies mouth was quavering, her tears had caused the whole of the front of her hospital gown to darken with moisture.

"What do you mean?" Pinkie burst into fresh tears "I don't wanna be a mummy!" she clutched at him even tighter and pulled herself close to him, wrapping him in a fierce hug. She clutched to him as if her life depended on it, Nova could feel her tears running down his back. "I can't be a mummy Nova…I don't…I don't know what to do…" run clutched him tighter, Nova winced as she crushed one of him bruised ribs. "My baby isn't going to have a daddy…the other ponies; they'll think I'm…that I'm…" she wept loudly, clutching at Nova.

Nova simply held her close and gently rocked her back and forth, like his own mother had done when he had felt bad. "It'll be ok Pinkie, you don't have to be scared" Nova whispered in her ear, Pinkie simply whimpered. "If you don't want to have a baby you can put it up for adoption…or have an abortion" Nova disagreed with the last option for personal reason, according to the faith all life was created by the Goddess and must be given the chance to prove themselves in life. But right now Pinkie didn't need to hear that, and nopony believed in the Goddess anymore.

"I…I can't" Pinkie pie sniffed and Nova gently cradled her "mummy and daddy always told me you have to look after babies" Pinkie pie pulled away and gently rubbed her stomach, her hooves stroking the area where in a few months her baby would grow. "You have to look after a baby so that when they're born they'll grow up to be a good pony" Pinkie pie gently hugged her tummy, as if she could feel the baby inside her already.

For a few minutes they sat in silence, neither saying a word to the other, there was nothing to say. Pinkie pie was gently cuddling her tummy, trying to let her usual bubbly demeanour cover over her fear and uncertainty of the future. Nova sighed, this was his entire fault. 'You should have galloped faster you fool, why didn't you get to the temple sooner?' the thoughts and guilt's ran riot in his head 'why did you waste time with Cherub? Why did you take Twilight with you? Why didn't you fly? Why didn't you kill them all instantly? Why did you act the hero and toy with Nightshade? Why did you waste so much time?' Pinkie pie had begun whispering to her stomach, a gentle smile on her face, Nova paused for a moment to listen.

"You're not going to be like your daddy" she whispered, her eyes closed and her hooves gently rubbing her stomach "You're going to grow up into a big strong pony and you'll help mummy look after the house and you'll go to school and make lots of friends and I'll throw you the bestest birthday parties and you can bring all your friends…" Pinkie lay down on her side and curled into a tight ball, her hooves still protectively covering her tummy where a small foal was now growing. Within a few moments she was sleeping soundly, her chest gently rising and falling.

Nova watched her sleep for a few minutes, and then he got out of his chair and left the room. He walked down the corridor, passing ponies in wheelchairs or with their hooves in slings. He reached the elevator at the end of the hall and rode downwards to the second floor, the doors opening with a soft pinging noise. It was the middle of the night and only a few ponies where up and about in the trauma victims ward, the few remaining where mostly nurses taking notes on patients conditions. Lying on the third bed from the far wall was a mare with orange skin and blonde hair, she was sleeping soundly. Around her where four mares who where gently talking to each other, their voices hushed so as not to wake any of the wards occupants, they hadn't yet noticed Nova enter.

"What are we going to do about him?" Rarity asked to nopony in particular "the way he killed those guards…as if they where nothing…"

"He's dangerous yes, but we can't just betray him" Twilight said, her eyes glanced accusingly at rarity. "He did save your lives after all"

"But the way he moved, so fast" Rainbow dash murmured "nothing moves that fast, nothing even flies that fast. He's too…unpredictable, first he claims to be some noble prince and then he murders five ponies in cold blood"

"I…um…I think we should…erm…let him stay…if that's alright with you guys" Fluttershy piped up in her quiet voice "he did save our lives after all"

"By viciously killing five equally vicious royal guardsmen" Rarity picked up Applejacks hoof gently, it was covered in bandages and small red stains "just look at what they did to Applejack, he could just as easily do it to us"

"Then why haven't I?" Nova asked, the four mares spun around sharply, expressions of embarrassment and shame on their faces. "If you think I'm a killer then why did you take me into your home?" he asked Rarity, whose face turned a deep shade of red "if you think I'm so dangerous then why did you come with me into the forest?" he turned to Twilight, who simply blinked, taken aback. "If I'm so unpredictable then why did you race me?" dash was possibly the only pony to try and make some sought of comeback.

"hey, you watch your mouth" she pushed past Rarity and shoved her face right up to his, anger flaring within her rosy red eyes. She tried her best to be menacing, but Nova was two heads taller than her at the least, she had to use her wings to stare him in the eyes "you think you can just come in here and call us names to our faces?"

"as I recall you lot where the ones calling names" Nova focused his magic and for a second his eyes flashed bright green, dash backed off slightly "I trusted you, each and every one of you" he stared at each of the four in turn "I told you who I was, what I was, what I had done and what I was going to do. I thought you understood what I had to do to find my peace, what was necessary for me to continue living" his let his contempt show "and this is how you betray me? By calling me a thug and a dangerous killer" he turned away and made his way to the door "if I'm such a dangerous pony then why did I save your lives?" he reached the door and stood in it for a moment, silhouetted in the fluorescent light of the hallway beyond "if I'm such a threat why was I the one who told Pinkie she had been raped and the one who gave her comfort when she broke down?" he turned his head back and gave them one last look "the way I see it, I've got more heart in me then the four of you" he left and began to walk down the corridor, but his last statement floated through the door "and I don't need elements or a cutie mark to prove it"

≤ΘΘΘ≥

"they failed" Lunas voice rang loud through the empty throne room, its message ringing off the marble walls "Five of my finest warriors and protectors where viciously slaughtered by Nova and their bodies left to rot in the fields" Luna stared her sister in the eye "we must do something ourselves to resolve this matter once and for all, Nova isn't simply going to vanish into thin air regardless of how much we'd like him to"

Celestia nodded, she'd seen what Nova had done. Only a few hours ago she'd felt the link in her mind that she shared with her brother suddenly flare up with power, threatening her with unconsciousness. 'Nova has found his weapons' she had known that instantly, but when she'd used her powers to search Novas mind she'd found something more. Instead of the usual logic and reason that motivated her brother she had found something new, hunger. It wasn't the same hunger he felt for revenge, it was more powerful. Like her brother had consumed the heart of a stare and it now raged within him, screaming to be let loose.

But that wasn't all, within the temple her brother had found something else, something more precious to him then his weapons. 'He found Cherub, a link to his past' Nova had only met the Filly Cherub once, and only for a few moments. But somehow the pony had made a profound impact on his life, something she'd said or done and changed him, who he was. 'I built the temple yes, I sculpted the statues and the detailing myself with my own two hooves. But the filly, she wasn't part of my design, she wasn't part of the plan' Nova had worshipped a deity called the goddess who was the creator of all things, or so he had claimed. At one point the faith her brother had followed had been the largest in Equestria, but after the coup her ad Luna had been forced to purge the faith and cleanse it from the world. The faith would never had accepted that Nova was a traitor, for over a thousand years he had been their living saint. He had been a source of divine power, a manifestation of the goddess and her energy 'the priestesses would have known, they could tell if you where lying, there was something in their eyes, like they could see into your soul…'

"I warned you that direct action would never succeed, Nova is far too powerful" she gave her sister a measured stare, keeping her features neutral "we have no choice, we must condone the use of diplomatic action if we plan to ensure the safety of the realm"

"For fucks sake Celestia, screw the realm! I don't give a shit if I have to butcher the ponies myself; I'm not letting him come within an inch of me" Lunas face had almost turned Feral, her elegant features twisted into a snarl "Nova must die, I will have retribution for what he did to Nightshade!"

"Why do you lie to me sister?" Celestia stepped down from the throne and joined her sister at the bottom of the dais "You and I know full well that Nightshade was just a thug from off the streets who warmed your bed when you where in heat and butchered your victims when you where too tried to kill them yourself" Luna stared at her, outraged.

"And how is Titus any different?" she gestured to the heavy set guardsmen that stood to attention at the bottom right side of the dais, eyes forward and unresponsive to the world around him. If he knew that Luna had mentioned him at all, he gave no indication. "Is he any different? Just because he's from some noble family that's eight thousand years old it doesn't mean he's any different. At least I have the guts to look ponies in the eyes when I kill them, you just send Titus and act as if nothing happened" Luna smiled evilly "and I know you took him to your bed as well only a week ago, do you normally scream that loud when you're being fucked?" Celestia reddened, by the dais Titus tensed, sensing his ladies discomfort.

"This isn't the time for petty insults" Celestia quickly changed the subject "we need to take a more diplomatic course of action if we're going to pacify Nova" Celestia trotted to one of the lit hearths that lined the hall, its flames burning brightly and it crackled loudly. "why did we even do this Luna, we should have known Nova would return, we should have known that he would come for us if we left him alive" Celestia sighed and sat down before the flames, staring into their flickering depths "Nova told me once that if you stared long enough into the flames you would see how you were going to die" she levitated a poker from the side of the hearth and gently stirred the embers, causing the flames to glow a bit brighter "he was locked in the heart of a star for eight thousand years, did he see how he was going to die" Luna sat by the fire with her sister, also staring into the flames. For at least an hour they sat before the flames, Luna had rested her head on Celestias shoulders.

If anyone could have seen this, they would have seen one of the few moments of tranquillity between the siblings for almost two weeks. Novas return had caused the divide between them to grow, but now, staring into the gently crackling flames, peace settled upon them. Celestia let her mind go adrift as she stared into the fire, thinking about Nova. She had missed her brother; more then she could ever let Luna know. When they had first locked Nova away she had spent centuries revelling in the power she had stolen, but slowly, very slowly, she found that it was a hollow victory. She hadn't realised until one day, as she'd been idly wandering the castle, she'd stumbled upon Novas old bed room.

Nova had always been a simple alicorn, never really one to delight in such comforts as silk or satin. He'd never really liked the overly soft four poster beds or the exquisite cooking they were served each day, it was something she'd never understood. Nova had always seemed happiest when he slept with the open sky over his head and simple food in his stomach. His room had been no different, small and simply decorated. The single bed had seemed to fill a quarter of the bed, a desk another quarter and a chest of draws the third, leaving barely any room to move around. She'd sat down at the desk and remembered how Nova had spent whole days and nights working at this desk, writing letters to dignitaries, essays on ancient rulers for his tutors and filling in massive maps of the heavens, plotting the courses of stars as they moved across the void.

In that one moment she'd realised how much she'd lost and how little she'd gained. From then on she'd made herself a promise, the commons might have forgotten Nova, but she would ensure that some small part of him always remained. Secretly every night for almost two years she came up to Novas room and sat at his old desk, writing out his exploits on stacks of parchment. The finished book seemed so small when it was done, like somehow, when she'd condensed her brothers' whole life into the pages, she'd made him seem so insignificant. It wasn't enough, so she'd turned her attention somewhere else. One night, whilst searching through the ancient vaults underneath the castle for something, she'd stumbled upon his weapons, sealed with a magical vault.

The weapons where perfect, the ideal way to set her brothers memory in stone. Under the cover of darkness she'd had the weapons smuggled out of the castle and into the everfree forest, to the small clearing where Nova had first met Cherub. There she'd raised a temple to Nova and the goddess he worshipped, using nothing more than her magic. Single hoofed she'd raised the temple from the earth itself, using her magic to form it from the world around her in a single night. Within she'd built a statue of her brother, and within it she'd magically sealed his weapons, immortalizing him for all time.

But in a way, she still felt hollow. No ponyelse had ever read her book, or seen the temple she had raised, save for Nova himself. 'And now I'm at war with my own sister over what to do next' Nova had to be dealt with, there was no lying about that…but still, Nova was her brother, her own flesh and blood. By her side Luna gently began to snore, Celestia smiled at that, it was the one imperfection Luna had, save for her personality of course. "Nova will never forgive me, will he?" she said to nopony in particular, her voice echoed around the hall. By the base of the dais Titus still stood to attention, he hadn't as much as moved an inch. "You're relieved from duty Titus" she told him, Titus simply nodded and made his way to the barracks. "We'll be fine here" Celestia lay on the floor, Lunas head fell on her back, but she didn't wake. For a few minutes Celestia lay in the darkness, the only light coming from the fire that was slowly dying. "Good night Luna" Celestia gently Nuzzled Luna, and then she stared into the fire. "Good night…Nova" she whispered, and then she drifted off to sleep. Her dreams where filled with fire, and Nova waited for her, a look of hatred on his face.

≤ΘΘΘ≥

"Celestia" Nova jerked upright in the plastic chair. In the bed beside him Pinkie pie lay asleep in a tight ball, gently murmuring in her sleep. Nova shook his head and tried to rid his mind of the violent images he saw in his head, but it seemed impossible. In the dream he'd been torturing Celestia in a realm filled with fire, letting her skin melt and run like candle wax. Her screams had been high pitched and filled with agony, her eyes filled with fear. Nova stood up and paced across the room restlessly, he was too agitated to sleep again.

"It'll all be over soon" he whispered to himself "you have your weapons and you have your armour, you're ready to fight" he stopped and shook his head again, Celestias screams where still rolling around in his head. "Then why are you still so pent up?" he glanced at Pinkie pie, when he saw her curled up into a ball she reminded him of Rarity when they'd shared that night together. 'What are you? Sick! She's just been raped and you're thinking about Rarity in that way? What the hell is wrong with you!' he sighed and walked out of the room into the dimly lit corridor, the staff had turned most of the lights off, and the hall was lit by only a few flickering florescent lights. He made his way to the elevator and pressed the top most button, taking himself up to the roof.

It was cold night, the wind whipping through his floor length mane. After the rush of blood lust he'd felt when he'd killed Nightshade the sudden stillness made him feel sick, as if the world had ground to a stagnant halt. "What am I going to do?" he asked himself as he stood at the railing, staring out at slumbering ponyville. "They'll never accept me after what they saw me do, I don't belong here" 'but where am I going to go? Am I just going to run with my tail between my legs?' it was a hopeless situation, he couldn't run, but he would never be accepted here if he stayed. 'the world has moved on since the discord wars Nova, nopony needs warriors anymore, just accept that' being a warrior was all he'd ever been, it was a part of him, as much as his weapons and his now gone cutie mark. "You don't belong here Nova, you never did and never will. It's time to run, you're never going to face Luna and Celestia about what they've done, and there will be no vengeance for the fallen"

"…that's not true" Nova turned his head and found Rarity standing behind him, her face red with the cold. "You do belong here, nopony's going to force you to go" she stood beside him at the railing, the wind causing his mane to blow against her flank, as if she was on fire.

"I'm dangerous remember" he sighed "I'm a vicious killing machine from an age nopony even remembers" he gestured to the town below them "if you took me to the town square and showed me to all the ponies in ponyville they wouldn't see a prince, they'd only see a monster"

"I don't see a monster, I see Nova"

"And who is Nova? Just a story for colts when they go to sleep. I'm nothing now, no more than a vaguely remembered myth" he hung his head "I'm nothing Rarity, and I'm a failure. I failed to protect my people from my sisters, I failed to protect you and Pinkie pie and Fluttershy and Applejack, I'm going to fail in my quest for vengeance" a single tear ran down his cheek "I'm going to fail Blossom" he whispered.

"Nova…" rarity gently nuzzled him "it doesn't matter what you where, it matters on who you are, who you're going to be" she stared into his eyes "you aren't going to fail" and with that she slowly leaned in and kissed him, her lips tasted sweet. "You're going to stay here…with me" and then the barrier between them completely feel away, and Nova felt something in his heart open up. A part of him he'd left locked away and buried under his memories of the past. An emotion he'd abandoned on the lonely road he'd travelled his whole life.

It was love.

* * *

><p>Authors note: this march 31st I'm going to a brony get together in Leeds, I might be cosplaying twilight, but that remains to be seen.<p>

Thank you for your support, Erol out


	12. Chapter 12, a release

Chapter 12, a release

"Luna" Celestia nodded as she greeted her sister. Luna nodded back and turned to face out the wide window, staring at the valley below them. They were in the sliver tower, a spire formed of white marble that stretched into the sky over the city of Canterlot. Below them the ponies moving in the maze of streets seemed like ants, minute and worthless. "You mean to go through with it?"

"Of course, I have the armourers waiting for me below" Luna turned back to Celestia "I must do this, if you have come here to try and stop me then you're wasting your time" there was grim determination in Lunas voice, Celestia knew she would never back down now.

"You can't kill him Luna, he's too strong. After all you've done your presence will only serve to fuel his anger" Celestia looked Luna in the eye "the longer you fight him, the more likely he'll kill you"

"What makes you so sure Celestia?" Luna gave her a contemptuous look, arrogance on her face. Outside the sun was shining bright, but within the well lit chamber, ice had taken the place of warmth.

"Nova was once immortal like you and me; he was the greatest of us. Do you really think that after eight thousand years of living in a star he isn't angry? His fury will burn so bright he'll incinerate you"

"Needless to say, this must be done. I won't sit idly by whilst a threat to my life walks in the very valley below us" Luna moved over to a huge cartographers map that hung on a frame on the wall, it was exquisitely detailed, covered in spidery lines mapping out trade routes, highways and settlements. "for over a eight thousand years I have looked at this map and been safe in the knowledge that out of the whole of Equestria there was not a single being who could end my life, nothing can kill an immortal Celestia" she gestured to the window, not even turning from the map "but out there is something more than an immortal, a threat that will kill me and grind my bones to the dust. Sending in guards won't deal with this problem; the only solution is face to face confrontation. I will find Nova, and I will kill him"

"And if you die, If Nova does kill you and grind your bones into dust? What then Luna, what will happen then?" Celestia shook her head "you're a fool if you think you could last ten seconds in a fight with Nova. He fought discord and smashed his face in, he met Dalktarion the black terror with only his hammer and three blades and he ripped the creatures' heart out, he chopped the wings of Dreadbeak off with a flick of his wings and barely an ounce of effort. He'll kill you Luna; don't fool yourself into thinking you can win"

"He is weak! I am strong!" Luna rounded on her sister "I am Luna! I am a goddess of the night and darkness! Nothing can harm me, I am immortal!" Celestia could tell her sister was teetering on the brink of insanity, the tiniest push and she would descend into madness. Luna had never been entirely the sanest pony, ever since birth her obsession with the night and the darkness that formed its heart had lead her down the wrong path. Looking at her now Celestia could tell the Nova had brought her to the abyss, to the edge of sane existence. Luna had never paused to look back on the past, and now the past had come to her. There was no running from what she had done, the only thing she could do was turn around and fight like a cornered animal.

"Don't do this" Celestia did her best to keep her composure "I'm begging you Luna, don't throw your life away like this" Luna sneered and pushed past her to the door.

"You're weak Celestia, you're nothing. You hide in this castle cowering in fear, believing that nothing can hurt you within these walls. I'm not as big a fool as you, I know what must be done, and I'm not afraid to do it" Luna disappeared down the stair well, leaving Celestia in the ice cold room. Celestia sighed and made her way to the window, looking at all the ponies below.

"I'm not weak Luna, I'm stronger then you know. But this is wrong, Nova returned for a reason, and he won't give up on his quest. He returned to the world wrapped in flames and vengeance, falling from the sky with murder in his mind. In his heart there is nothing but despair and hatred for what we've done. But give him the chance and he will let go, leave him to his fate and Nova will change. Like a flower in the spring he will grow and when the summer sun comes he will unfurl and become something greater then you or I will ever know"

But it was useless, there was no pony to hear her and Luna would never heed her advice, she was too busy locked within her mind. Celestia stared at the smudge of ponyville in the far distance '_go easy on her Nova, she doesn't know what she's in for'_

≤ΘΘΘ≥

Twilight sparkle watched with her friends from the high balcony as Nova trained in the empty gym yard below, oblivious to his audience. Nova swung the hammer in a wide arc, causing it to blur as it moved. It came into contact with the wooden post he was using as a target and it shattered into a hundred splinters, each flying across the empty yard. Without even pausing for thought he moved onto the next move, leaping into the air. The hammer was still spinning as it completed its arc, and Nova moved with it, spinning through the air. He touched the ground with his back hooves and planted the hammer haft first into the ground, immediately he flipped over it, using his momentum to leap over the hammer and land on the other side with it to his back.

His wings flashed out and caught the head of the hammer, pulling it from the earth and sending it rocketing into the sky. As it flew upwards Nova did a back flip and the launched himself into the sky after it, as the hammer reached its zenith he caught it and slammed downwards towards the earth, using the hammers weight and his own to send it slamming into the earth. There was a shockwave as he hit the ground and dust flew outwards in a circle, marking his landing spot. Before the dust even settled he was already moving, forward rolling across the ground. The hammer had been left planted head first into the ground behind him, its haft quivering. He rolled to his hooves in front of another wooden post and began lashing out with his hooves, moving so fast he seemed a blur. His right came in high and as he pulled it back his left came in low, causing a deadly stomach blow. He leapt in the air and spun round, bring his hoof our in a deadly kick that caused the pot to shatter as the previous one had. He landed on his back hooves and immediately began to back flip his way across the yard, still oblivious that six mares watched.

Pinkie had been released from the hospital last night after the doctors had diagnosed her medically fit to return to normal life, though not without an impressive list of anti-depressants and hormone control drugs to ensure she stayed sane, or a sane as Pinkie ever was. Applejack had fared just as well, but her right hoof was wrapped tight in bandages, ugly reminders of what Poison ivy had done to her. Applejack still winced every time she moved though, and despite her insistence she was fine, Twilight was certain she saw something in her friends' eyes.

"he moves so fast" Rainbow dash stated as Nova spun the hammer around in his wrists, as they watched he flipped through the air, the hammer still spinning in his grasp as he spun and twirled, his every move both deadly and elegant.

"he's so strong" Rarity whispered "look at the way he moves, like liquid" the others including Twilight nodded in agreement "and look at his muscles" Rarity blurted out, but then she realised what she had just said and covered her mouth, her cheeks flushing. Twilight giggled, but she couldn't help but agree. Over the two weeks he'd been with them Nova had seemed to stuff himself with food, eating everything he was offered and always asking for seconds. At first she'd thought it was because he hadn't eaten for so long, but a week ago, when he'd recovered his weapons, he'd suddenly begun exercising continuously.

Every morning he could be seen in the skies above ponyville, moving faster than the eye could follow as he shot through the sky. Loops, spins, barrel rolls, sharp dives and steep climbs, Nova had done it all. Even dash, one of the fastest flyers she'd ever known, had problems keeping up with him. "he's like a bullet!" she'd exclaimed when she'd came to the library for a Daring-do novel "it's like as soon as you reach his pace he changes his mind and does a roll or something, he's mad"

But it wasn't only flying Nova practiced; he worked around the town by day. Sometimes doing heavy lifting for the construction workers, pulling the apple wagon for Applejack whenever she went to market and even challenging Big-Macintosh to an hoof wrestling match. The whole town had turned up to watch, ever pony screaming and shouting. At first the two challengers had barely moved, Nova with his look of determination as he stared at Big-Mac and Big-Mac with his usually nonchalance. But slowly, excruciatingly slowly Nova had pushed Big-Macs hoof downwards towards the table. And when he'd won the crowd had gone wild, everypony shouting and clapping him on the back as Nova had stood up and shook Big-Macs hoof and offering to buy him a drink.

The end result of his hard working was showing though. Novas body had hardened, ever muscle in his legs, wings and back and grown and increased in size. As she watched the muscles in his back hooves tensed and then flicked outwards as he performed a devastating buck to an imaginary target, she could see the power within them, and within him. He'd also managed to attract ever single mare and filly in ponyville, and they followed him in a loud group, tailing him where ever he went. Twilight could only watch in exasperation whenever one of them would sneak ahead of Nova, cut in front of his path and then suddenly swoon as he passed by. He caught them of course, just like they wanted him too, and all it did was to ensure his following persisted him everywhere.

"I'm so sorry about this" he'd told twilight when he'd come into the library "I don't know what it is about them, it's like they've never seen a stallion before" Twilight wasn't sure if Nova was joking or actually ignorant to his situation. Nova was a strange character; he was well verse in the stars, celestial bodies and arcane studies. He could recite poetry and ancient verses from texts that weren't even written in common, tell you a hundred stories about the discord war, provide a synopsis on the epic poem Iron born and make the most delicious breakfast of pancakes and fresh bread anypony had ever tasted. But when it came to mares he was ridiculously naïve, like he'd never talked to one in his life. And when it came to sex he blushed at the very mention of it, as if it made him uncomfortable.

But right now he was in his element, his mind focused on the hammer and the hammer only. He swung it round in another vicious arc, raised it high above his head and brought it slamming down in a brutal finishing move, causing the earth to crack as the blow connected. Nova set the hammer down and stood tall, his chest rising and falling as he gulped down air. From the balcony the mares whooped with delight, Nova spun around, his cheeks blushing a brighter red as he realised he had been watched the whole time. "NICE ONE NOVA!" Rainbow dash shouted, and she laughed as he turned his eyes to the floor, feeling embarrassed.

"it was nothing" he mumbled as he picked up his hammer "I'm going for a shower" and with that had quickly, almost too quickly, made his way towards the door of the yard that lead back into the locker rooms. Twilight watched as he went, noticing how his step was evenly measured and every flick of his tail subdued. '_He knows where watching, and he doesn't want to look foolish or slip up'_

"Wow" Rarity said as they made their way from the balcony to the lobby down on the ground floor of the gym "I can't believe that, did you see the way he moved! Incredible, so graceful, so elegant, such finesse" Twilight rolled her eyes.

"And that buck" Applejack said, a grin on her face "ah was impressed with that for sure"

"Screw the buck; did you see that thing he did with his wings when he threw the hammer? I can't believe anypony could do that, the thing must way a ton and he just picked it up!" dash exclaimed "I like a stallion with strong wings, shows they're strong in other places too" she winked and the others giggled. Twilight had never had sex before, and she'd never even considered a stallion in the way the others where describing, but after watching Nova train she felt something stirring between her legs '_I can tell the girls I'm going to the ladies room and be in the shower block in five minutes' _she thought. Twilight didn't quite know it yet, but she'd just made a very big decision

≤ΘΘΘ≥

In the locker room Nova placed his gear in one of the lockers, grabbed the towel Rarity had given him, and made his way to the shower block. When he'd first arrived he'd been confused by the strange dial and taps that seemed to dictate water temperature, but Rarity had swiftly taught him how to use them, and now he faced no difficulty using a shower 'I still prefer using a river though' he thought. In Canterlot the servants had prepared a warm bath for him every morning, but Nova had always found the scents and oils they'd poured into the water sickly, and he'd never liked dipping himself into the water. So every day before the sun had been raised he would open the single window in his room, double check nopony was watching, and fly across the city to a small stream that flowed down the side of the mountain where Canterlot nestled.

The waters where always ice cold, and the river crystal clear, he'd taken a while getting use to the cold, the way it took his breath away and made him gasp every time, but after a while he'd begun to relish the sensation. He would land, strip off and plunge head first into the icy waters, savouring the sensation as ice cold water ran across his skin and washed away the dirt. Bu the stream was gone now, and when he'd tried to go bathing in the river outside of ponyville Rarity had caught him and chastised him severely, saying over and over that a prince shouldn't have to go bathing in a river and that there was something called a decency law which prevent ponies bathing in public areas. She'd dragged him back to her place and run him a hot bath, scrubbing him with a brush covered in thick bristles. He'd whined like a young colt at first, but when Rarity had decided she wasn't doing a good enough job and had joined him in the tub so she wouldn't have to worry about getting her gown wet, he'd quickly shut up. He still disliked the soap she'd used though, something about the stuff and the way it make his skin slippy made him feel weird

He ran the taps, testing the water to make sure it was hot. When he was happy with the temperature he took off the towel, hung it on a peg and stepped in, shivering as he felt the warm water run over his body. For a while he just stood there, letting the water run over him and wash off the sheen of sweat that had covered his body. He tilted his head up into the spray of water and let it run down his back, letting it run along the length of his body and through his tail. After a while he rubbed his mane to make sure it was completely soaked, and then he pulled out a bottle of the stuff Rarity had called shampoo and squirted a dollop of it onto his mane. He gently rubbed it into his mane and ran his hooves through it, making sure he'd rubbed it through his whole mane and then he simply stood there for a while. Enjoying the sensation of the running water, at first his mind was blank, but for some reason the smell of the shampoo reminded him of Rarity, and she sprang into his mind.

Nova felt his pulse rise, and his blood flow begin to circulate to a different area of his body '_well isn't this great Nova, you kept your composure and now a bit of warm water gets you excited'_ Nova did his best to try and block the image of Rarity from his mind, _but_ it proved futile '_well if you wanna go there lets go there'_ Nova thought '_so…sex, what's all the hype about?'_ Another part of his brain answered.

'_Well we both know what it's about Nova don't lie to yourself'_

'_I have no idea what you mean'_

'_Do I really have to spell this out for you? YOU WANT TO FUCK RARITY! Is that so hard to understand?'_

'_I don't want to fuck Rarity!_ _She's invited me into her home and her life without even asking a single question and you're thinking like that! What's wrong with you?'_

'_well the way I see it the mare actually wants you in her, you saw the way she stroked your chest after that nightmare, and coming into your room without covering up, even I'm not stupid enough to misread that'_

'_Neither of us is stupid…but I guess you might be right'_

'_There we go; we've broken through the ice. But there is that one small problem'_

'_Oh…yeah…'_

'_You think she'd understand?'_

'_I doubt it, she'd probably just laugh'_

'_And wouldn't that be embarrassing'_

'_We were doing the right thing at the time'_

'_But it isn't that time anymore, they don't think like that these days'_

'_We could give it a shot, if she really does like us like that I don't see why not'_

'_But what if we don't pull through? We both know we're lacking for experience here'_

Just then there came a knocking noise and Nova heard the door opening '_shit I bet that's Rarity' _Nova pulled back the shower curtain and leaned out of the cubicle to found Twilight staring wide eyed at him. For a moment he saw her eyes wander downwards, and then he realised he'd leaned out too far when she blushed. '_Well isn't this cliché' _Nova immediately disappeared back into the cubicle "oh…hi Twilight" he managed "erm…I don't know how to tell you this, but this is the stallions shower block…"

"Nova, I…um…well…" Twilight stammered '_well this is great, you just flashed one of your friends, who's a mare as well, and now she doesn't know what to say, way to go Nova' _"the girls where just wondering what was taking so long…but now I get it, I'll just be going now and tell them what's up"

'_She sounds kinda scared, or is she hiding something? Oh goddess, what if she thinks I'm weird. What if…she doesn't think it's small does she? I don't know I've never used it, think Nova think! You gotta say something!' _"Please don't tell anypony!" he blurted out.

"Pardon" Twilight sounded confused; he heard her hooves on the tiled floor.

"I don't know if it's small or not, please don't laugh! I've never had se… I mean…I didn't mean it! Honest I never meant to flash you! And now you think I'm weird! Goddess I'm such an idiot!" Nova slumped to the floor of the cubicle "I never meant it I swear, I'm not a pervert!" there was the clopping of hooves on tiles, and suddenly Twilight pulled back the shower curtain. Nova leapt to his hooves, his wings gave a startled flap "WHAT ARE YOU DOING!" he shouted, wrapping his wings around him to try and cover himself.

"What do you mean 'never had sex'?" she asked, her eyes glinting '_oh shit Nova, what the hell have you just gotten yourself into?' _

"Well I…" he felt his face redden, he suddenly became distinctly aware that his blood flow was rising dramatically "erm…nothing?"

Twilight gave him an irritated look "come on now Nova, don't make me take out the soap"

"What! Who told you that?"

"Girls share a lot of things" Twilight dropped her eyes, Nova tightened his wings "and it seems Rarity wasn't lying about this one"

"Well…I…" '_What the hell am I going to do?_' he asked himself '_don't ask me kid' _replied the other side of his mind '_I ain't got a clue, just sit back and enjoy the ride' 'dear Goddess'_

Twilight stepped into the cubicle, closing the curtain behind her. There was a sly grin on her face "Rarity called dibs, but I think I'll have the first bite" Nova became acutely aware that Twilight wasn't wearing anything…and that his damn blood pressure was still up. "so you've never had sex before? I think I can do something about that"

'_just sit back and enjoy the ride'_

* * *

><p>Authors note: this chapter was mainly a sought of interlude between Novas realisation of himself and his fight with Luna. To anyone kinda disgusted with the sex scene I apologize, the writings shoddy and needs some desperate improvement, but I wrote it at the request of a certain user (you know who you are) please leave a review for this latest chapter if you could, it's the end of term and I have literally nothing else to do then be on this website.<p>

Also I would like it if you could provide me with some OCs and story suggestions, I'm running low on creative juice and after this I don't know what I'm going to do

Sorry if I sound arrogant

Erol


	13. Chapter 13, the beginning of the end

Chapter 13, the beginning of the end

Nova scrubbed his back with the towel, rubbing it against his body as he dried off. His mane was soaked through and through and it clung against his back, its flames doused out by the water of the shower. He gasped down air and started to dry his right leg, rubbing the towel fast against his leg, back and forth, back and forth, back and forth, until he could feel the heat of the friction. His heart was hammering in his chest as he moved onto his other leg and repeated the process, his mind blank as he went through the simple movements.

Behind him he could hear twilight scrubbing herself down with a towel she had magically spawned from nowhere. He could hear her movements as she dried her back, the gentle clopping noise her hooves made on the tiled floor as she dried her legs. He could hear her breathing, just as hard as his. She was drinking the air like a desert traveller at an oasis, sucking it into her lungs. "Wow…" she said, Nova didn't turn around, but instead he grabbed his long mane and wrung the water out of it, letting it splash to the floor noisily. "That was you're first time? That was…wow"

Nova felt the blood rising to his cheeks "thank you" he mumbled, flicking the water from his tail. Twilight paused when she heard the tone in his voice '_I don't get it, what's wrong with him? I thought he would enjoy it'_

"Nova…is something wrong?" Twilight trotted up beside him, watching his wings tense as she came closer. She laid a hoof on his shoulder and Nova tensed, flinching away from her slightly. "Nova, tell me what's wrong" Nova stared at the floor, his eyes distant.

"That was…that was my first time Twilight. I…feel kinda…weird" Twilight was confused _'weird, but it was sex, sex isn't weird is it?' _Twilight certainly hadn't felt anything weird, other than the strange sensation she'd felt when she'd started screaming. '_I enjoyed it, it was just like the book said it would be' _Twilight had found a book hidden at the back of the library in the 'personal interests' section, it was thick and heavy and filled with pictures of ponies in imaginative poses. '_I don't get it; I did it exactly like the book said, he should have loved it'_

"What do you mean weird? Sex isn't weird, it's perfectly natural" she frowned '_this guy doesn't make any sense_'

"I know it's natural, of course sex is natural…but it didn't feel natural. I mean…it was awesome, but…I feel weird now, like I shouldn't have done it" Nova flicked his wings, sending a shower of water drops flying across the room and splattering across the wall. "We should be getting back now, the others will be wondering why we've been taking so long" he crossed over to the locker where he'd packed away his hammer. He took it out, gave it a quick spin in his hooves, watching as it painted a sliver arc. "I'm guessing you don't want me to tell them what's just happened between us" he said, he still hadn't met Twilights gaze.

"No…I guess we shouldn't" Twilight trusted her friends with her life, and would have done anything for them. But she had no idea how they would react to her having sex with an Alicorn in the stallions changing room of the local gym whilst they waited outside for her, Rarity especially. '_But I want them to know' _from what Twilight had read, having sex with somepony was meant to be a bonding thing, something that made the two halves become a whole '_he's my whole now, right? I mean, I had sex with him and everything. So he's mine now, right?'_ or was that taking things abit to far? She'd only had sex with him once, so she guessed she didn't totally own him.

Nova simply nodded, strapped the hammer to his flank, and walked across the changing room and out the door. Twilight was left alone in the changing room; the only sound was the slow drip from the shower she had just shared with Nova. She sighed '_this is going to be awkward'_ and walked out of the door into a small corridor, she turned to her right and walked the length of the hall and pushed through the door at the end into the brightly lit lobby. Light streaming through the huge sky lights set into the roof. By the reception desk she saw Nova handing over some bits to the ridiculously thin mare, who gave him a sly smile, Twilight felt absurdly jealous.

"well you two took your time" Rarity said as they approached the group of mares waiting by the revolving door "if I didn't know any better I might be suspicious" she smiled, and Twilight laughed. '_If only you knew Rarity'_ Nova simply nodded to the group '_why's he being so quiet?'_

"I need to get some fresh air, I've been training for too long, I need to relax" he said, his voice seemed hollow. Like his body knew what to say and do, but his mind was distant and unfocussed. Rarity smiled at him.

"Tired? Just come back when you're done, the girls and I are going shopping, and we'll meet you in the square" Nova nodded and pushed his way through the revolving door into the blinding sunlight outside, Twilight watched as he spread his huge white wings. He planted his hammer haft first into the ground, and it seemed it sink into the earth. For a moment longer Nova simply stood there, wings extended and his body soaking up the sun light. Then his legs bunched up and he launched into the sky, leaving a small cloud of dust and a trail of fire that followed him across the sky. He climbed up and up into the clouds, and then he was gone.

"So awesome" Rainbow dash said, and then the six of them made their way down the road into town. "Hey Twi" dash came up beside twilight "why was Nova something so quiet? Did something happen?" she whispered, Twilight felt the blood beginning to go to her cheeks.

"Nothing happened dash" she said brusquely and she moved ahead of Rainbow dash and the others, so none of them would notice the redness that was burning on her cheeks.

≤ΘΘΘ≥

As Nova shot across the sky, he silently kicked himself '_you idiot! What the hell did you just do?'_ he thought as he flew through a thick patch of clouds, landing on one and leaping from to the next with barely a pause to consider the movements his body was making '_sex with Twilight? In a shower? In the middle of the fucking changing room? What the hell is wrong with you?'_ he leaped from the last cloud and dropped from the sky like a stone, rocketing towards the earth '_what the hell would Blossom think? What the hell would you're mother think?'_ As the ground came shooting up to meet him Nova gritted his teeth, at the last possible moment he opened his wings. He felt the air push against his wings, and for a moment they threatened to break. But then he pulled up from the dive, barely a meter above the ground.

He was shooting across an empty field of tall grass, his trail setting alight to some of it as he past, but then the moving air blew the fires out before they could start a blaze. Ahead of him he could see the small lake that sat at the edge of the everfree forest, its waters sparkling blue and serenely calm. Nova pulled up and shot in the air, when he was directly above the lake he closed his wings. For a brief second he hung in empty space, and then he began to fall. The air screamed through his feathers, ruffling them and causing his mane and tail to fly out behind him.

He closed his eyes, feeling the air run over his skin, and then there was a sharp lance that went straight to his heart as he dived into the ice cold water. He held his breath as he plunged through the water, his eyes still closed. The water was ice cold; it worked its way through his feathers and against his skin. He gasped and the water ran into his mouth, it was cold and clean. He felt his flank touch the bottom of the lake, the silt and mud sucking at him. He opened his eyes and saw the water around him was a deep blue; the bottom of the lake was dotted with small aquatic reeds. He looked up and saw the sun as a gentle yellow dot up above him, its beams of light filtered their way down to the bottom of the lake.

It was silent, he could hear nothing. His let a slow stream of bubbles run out of his nose, slowly breathing out. His mane and tail where gently floating in the water around him, their flames seemed to wrap around him, out of place in the dark blue of the water. '_Why Nova why? You had it all planned out, get your weapons, fight Luna, save the world and get the girl. Why the hell did you have to mess it up by having sex with Twilight?' _he gently laid his head down on the soft silt, and closed his eyes.

He began to count how long he could hold his breath, using the simple exercise to focus his mind on something other than his recent coupling with Twilight. '_One, two, three, four, five'_ he felt his mind go blank, he sank deeper into the mud '_ten, eleven, twelve'_

'_You shouldn't have done it'_

'_Fifteen, sixteen, seventeen'_

'_Rarity wants you, you know that'_

'_Twenty one, twenty two, twenty three' _

'_And now you've betrayed her with one of her best friends, you're disgusting Nova, what would Blossom think?' _

'_Forty eight, forty nine, fifty'_

'_Blossom told you to live, she told you to forgive and forget. She told you to live and to love, to find a family and settle down. But after this what the hell are you going to do?'_

'_Seventy four, seventy five, seventy six'_

'_You're an idiot, you're a real idiot. You betrayed your friends and Blossom'_ an image of Blossom appeared in his mind. She stood there on a field of darkness with her back to him, blood dripping from the cuts and holes Luna had cut into her skin. On her flank was a gaping hole where her cutie mark had once been, the gouge was deep and rough, blood slowly running from it and down her legs. She turned her head to face him, and Nova screamed when he saw it. Blossoms face, perfectly framed within her pink mane, had been destroyed. Her eyes had been ripped out, and within the empty sockets that had been left behind there was an eternal darkness. She opened her mouth and trendils of black smoke snaked out, reaching towards Nova. One of them brushed against his skin and his eyes shot open, screaming in pain. He could feel them, trendils of inky blackness trying to hold him down, trying to drown him. He pulled and pulled but they wouldn't yield, his lungs burnt, he had to breathe.

As his vision began to darken he felt a muffling silence fill his ears, washing away the sounds of his struggling. He caught a glimpse of the sun light above the water before his vision went totally black, and with the strength only a drowning pony could summon, he gave one final pull on his bindings. There was a muffled snapping noise, and he pushed against the bottom of the lake, pushing up to the surface. As he broke through he gasped for air, filling his lungs with precious oxygen. He swum to the bank and pulled himself onto the soft silt and mud, once he was out of the water he managed to get to his knees before he wretched up the water he'd swallowed. He gasped for air, and then rolled onto his side, his head sinking into the mud.

He felt something against his leg and looked down to see one of the reeds from the _bottom_ of the lake was wrapped around his leg '_only plants, it was only plants'_ he stood up, his legs trembling and he shook off the reed. '_You're ok Nova, you're ok'_ he told himself, before he was violently sick again.

'_It was a lie Nova' _a voice in his head said, but he couldn't tell who's it was. Once it sounded like Luna, and then Celestia, then Rarity, then Twilight and finally Blossom. '_You shouldn't have told the lie'_

"I'm sorry!" he screamed, overhead the sky was perfectly clear the ideal summer weather only adding to the strangeness of his situation "I'm sorry! I won't lie again, I promise!"

'_Not good enough' _he felt pain running through his mind like fire, his skull felt like it was about to break '_that's just not good enough Nova'_ Nova opened his eyes and saw ponies in front of him. Twilight, Fluttershy, Pinkie pie with her belly huge with child, Rarity, Rainbow dash, Applejack, Celestia, Luna, Blossom, Cherub and Nightshade.

"What the hell do you want from me!" he managed to shout before his legs gave way

"What do we want?" they all said in unison "we want you Nova"

"I want you" Twilight said.

"I want you" said Fluttershy, '_how can she say that? I've only talked to her once'_

"I want a father for my child" Pinkie said, her hooves wrapped around her tummy.

"I want you" said Rarity.

"I want you" said Rainbow dash.

"I want you" said Applejack.

"I want your forgiveness" said Celestia, tears running down her cheeks.

"I want you dead" said Luna, venom dripping from every word.

"I want you to live" Blossom told him, no emotion showing in her voice.

"I want a father" Cherub said, all three of her.

"I want my vengeance" Nightshade said "for me and my ponies"

"I can't give you those!" he screamed, he felt like he was about to be sick. What the hell was happening? Why was he seeing this over one lie?

"Then you gain nothing" Twilight said, stepping forward. "You can't steer away from you're set path Nova, the consequences are too dire to comprehend"

"Why the hell am I seeing this?" he shouted, his mind in agony. The sun was too bright, it was burning his eyes. "I don't understand, it was just one lie, just one!"

"Hearts will be broken Nova, broken and never forged anew" the apparitions voice was hollow and without emotion.

"I didn't break any hearts, it was just sex!" Twilight shook her head.

"You don't understand do you?"

"No because it makes no fucking sense!" Nova screamed "I'll confess ok, I'll go and tell Rarity what happened. Just please leave me alone, do away and never come back!" the apparition stared at him, looking at him with Twilights violet eyes. Then a breeze blew up from nowhere and she started to dissolve, flakes of purple essence floating away into the wind until there was nothing left. The last part to disappear where her eyes, and they watched him until the last moment. When the ghost was gone Nova collapsed to the floor '_what the hell is happening to me?' _he thought as the murky cloud of pain slowly lifted from his mind '_am I going mad? Is the power inside my soul killing me?'_ whatever the reason, Nova had to tell Rarity what had happened. Nova rolled to his hooves and shook himself; a fierce pounding was starting to drum up in his brain. He shook his wings dry and then took off into the sky, leaving the lake far below him.

From the darkness of everfree forest, the apparition of Twilight watched Nova fly away, a smug smile on her face. She let the sense of exultation run its course, before summoning her magic. A light golden glow covered her body, starting by her hooves and slowly running up her legs and across her body. Where ever the light touched, Twilights skin began to glow slightly, bleaching from the pink hue of her skin to a pure snow white. When it ran through her mane the light caused each hair to glow individually, and turn from their deep purple to a lighter pink. Her eyes turned from their magenta hue to a deep shade of gold, and on her flank where her cutie mark had been, there was a small circular mass of scar tissue, as blank as a foals flank.

"good bye my sweet Nova" the mare said, her voice was quiet, barely louder than a whisper "I have laid down your path, now you must walk it" Blossom smiled and her skin began to glow once again, the light growing brighter as it intensified. Then there was a final flash, and for a split second the sound of an angelic choir echoed through the forest. Then Blossom was gone, leaving nothing in her place save for a small red rose, its petals as bright as blood.

≤ΘΘΘ≥

"This is cute" Rarity said, holding out a bright purple scarf for Twilight to see. Rarity wrapped the scarf around her neck and compared its colouration to that of her mane, she made a whining noise "but it's the wrong shade of purple" Rarity placed the scarf back and made her way deeper into the shop, Twilight reluctantly following behind. '_I don't get it' _she thought, as Rarity began babbling to a confused shop assistant about the varieties of purples that she would find an acceptable match for her mane '_I did everything the book told me to. I came on to him, I did that foreplay thing with my hoof' _she reflexively shook it slightly '_I put him in charge, I moaned, I screamed, I did that thing with my tongue, where in the name of Celestia did I go wrong?'_ Rarity sent the shop assistant on his way with a stern warning to bring back the right set of colours, and then once more began selecting hats, scarves and other pieces of somewhat useless clothing from the shelves.

'_Maybe when I did that thing with his wing I hurt him a little…no, the book said pegausi like that sought of thing, because of the nerve cluster' _she scuffed her hoof on the wooden floor '_was I too aggressive? Maybe I screamed to loud…or maybe the clop job was sub-standard to what he was use to, no that's not it he'd never had sex before'_ the shop assistant had come back, a stack of purple cloth on his back. With him came a mare, obviously the owner of the establishment, who soon began holding out the various colours of purple for Rarity to compare. _'If it wasn't me, maybe it was something to do with him' _no that didn't make any sense either '_Nova seemed alright with it, and that thing he did with his hoof' _Twilight felt a shiver run over her body '_so then what was it?' _from the majority of the reading material Twilight had kept hidden under her bed, she'd gained the understanding that all stallions liked sex. So why was Nova being so different? He'd enjoyed, she could tell. But the look in his eyes after would, so distant and far away. And the way he'd flinched away from her, as if he couldn't stand her.

In her current non-sex related novel that she kept on display for other to see, so that they wouldn't think her to be some sought of weirdo. "a dark ordeal" by P. reword, the heroine mare had taken in a lost stallion and given him a home, but when one of her friends took the stallion from her, the mares world had slowly begun to breakdown, until she was left with nothing but insanity and loneliness '_is that what I'm doing now, am I stealing Nova from Rarity?'_ Twilight tried not to think about the idea, though she had the feeling there could be a certain amount of irony in the situation, she wasn't sure. Rarity was comparing roughly the twenty seventh shade of purple when a sudden thumping noise ran through the shop, followed by screams. _'oh great, and now we've got something terrorising the town'_ Twilight ran to the window and looked out, expecting to see some sought of dragon or other monster, but instead she saw a crowd of mares clustered to together in the middle of the small square outside. They were all trying to reach something, and when Twilight saw a pair of huge white wings suddenly rise up out of the crowd she knew what was happening.

She left the shop quickly, oblivious to Rarities callings of what was wrong, crossed the square and began to push her way through the crowd of mares. She got elbowed more than once, and did a fair bit of elbowing back, before she finally reached the centre of the crush of ponies. Nova was stuck in the middle of a ring of mares, his face bewildered with slight undercurrents of fear. As Twilight reached the edges of the circle one of the mares, a young creature with orangey yellow skin and curled orange mane and tail, held out a book. "Is it true you're a prince?" she asked, her eyes wide. The others cried out the same question "Tell us, tell us, tell us" Twilight caught a glimpse of the book and saw it was the thick black tome detailing Novas exploits, her throat seemed to close up. She'd left the book on her desk and had been meaning to lock it away, but somepony must have found it and taken it before she'd gotten round to it.

"Well I…erm…" Nova stuttered, there was fear in his eyes. Not the kind of fear a pony gets when their life's at risk, but the kind a colt gets when he's talking to a filly '_dear Celestia Nova, why do you have to be so awkward around mares?'_

"IT'S TRUE!" the mare squealed with delight, and at once the throng seemed to push towards Nova, Twilight became caught in the current. Nova had a split second to comprehend the hoard of mares descending on him.

"Please, no, it's nothing" he managed before a pegausi filly leapt onto his back and hugged his mane. Nova became distracted and tried to flick her off with one of his wings, but then the wave crashed over him and he fell onto his back. One mare began asking for his autograph, but her voice was blocked out by a hundred other ponies asking exactly the same question. Twilight pushed her way through and stood before Nova, who looked up at her with wide eyes.

"TWILIGHT!" he shouted above the din "PLEASE GET ME OUT OF HERE!" Twilight nodded and focused, her horn beginning to glow. There was a sharp popping noise, a flash of bright pink and the stench of ozone, and then they were back in the shop standing by the window. Barely twenty meters from the crowd of mares, who were looking around them in surprise, one filly had begun crying.

"Get down" Twilight whispered, pushing Nova to floor. The crowd was starting to disperse, murmurs of disappointment on everyponies lips, and some of the mares went straight past the shop window. One of them, the orange mare with the book, paused to look into the window, but then she shook her head and kept walking. On the floor Nova was panting, his eyes still wide.

"Thank you" he managed between breaths "I don't think I've ever been that terrified in my life" he got to his feet and dusted himself off, taking in his surroundings "how'd they get the book? And why are we in the clothes store? And how did you manage to pull off a quantum matter shift?"

"the book they got from my desk in the library, the clothes store because this is the only place I could think of in a hurry, and how do you know what that spell is? It's extremely rare, only a few unicorns know it"

"I may or may not have helped pioneer teleportation spells in the discord war as a method of mid-battle squad deployment" Nova said idly, making his way further into the store. He disappeared behind a shelf full of brightly coloured shirts, and then there was another squeal of delight, followed by a thumping noise that sounded to suspiciously like two ponies landing on the floor. Novas voice drifted over to Twilight "Hello Rarity, it's good to see you too"

"You've come to go shopping with me!" Twilight heard Rarity say, her voice excited. Twilight sighed and walked round the shelves to find Nova once again lying on the floor, this time with Rarity on top of him. "We'll go get you that suit I promised you and I'll take you to the salon whilst we're at it" she ran a hoof through his mane, Nova shivered, Twilight felt something angry stir in her heart. "We have to get some conditioner in this mess, and you should shave too" she sat up, still astride Nova, but at least now he could prop himself up on his elbows, which he did.

"That sounds great Rarity" he paused and swallowed the apple in his throat bobbing. "But there's something I gotta tell you…I…" Twilight knew what was coming next, she just knew it. '_Oh Celestia, please don't Nova, please!'_ "I…I did something wrong…I…" that was a far as he got before there was another thumping noise, this one deep and booming. It sent a wave of sound echoing through the tightly packed streets, reverberating through the back alleys and causing windows to shatter. There was a moment of stunned silence, and then screams, loud and piercing in the quiet.

"It's her!" somepony screamed in a shrill voice "run for your lives!" and with that a pandemonium seized the streets. Twilight ran to the window and peered through it, trying to catch a glimpse of whatever had frightened the populace, but a thick cloud of dust was rolling by outside the window, she couldn't see a thing. Outside she could barely make out the silhouettes of fleeing ponies as they ran from whatever threat had presented itself.

"NOVA!" a voice cried through the dust. It was deep and booming, ringing with power. "SHOW YOURSELF COWARD!" '_I know that voice' _Twilight realised. From the back of the shop Nova recognised it as well.

"Rarity, you have to let me up" he said, in a tone that brooked no argument. Rarity nodded and stood up off him, Nova rolled to his hooves and made his way to the window to stand by Twilight. "It's begun" he whispered.

"Nova, what's happening?" Rarity asked as she joined them by the window, outside the dust had begun to swirl, blowing round and round in a whirlpool current.

"No matter what happens I don't want either of you to leave this store, you understand me? If I die here then you run, you gallop as far as your legs take you and never look back" and with that he made his way to the door and pushed it open, letting a storm of dust into the shop. Heedlessly he stepped through it and out into the street, the door slamming shut behind him.

"What is he doing?" Rarity shouted "and where has this storm come from?" outside the dust was dissipating, slowly drawing into a vortex in the centre of the square. Overhead dark storm clouds had appeared from nowhere, their skin black and occasionally crackling with electrical energy and lighting ricocheted with them. They blocked out the sun, turning the brilliant summer day as dark and black as night. At the centre of the town square the vortex had gone from a browny dust colour to a midnight black, it to crackling with lighting. The thing was huge, stretching up into the low hanging storm clouds. A screaming wind roared around it, catching and pulling at Novas fiery mane and tail as he approached.

"HERE I AM!" he roared, his voice barely carrying over the wind. "I'M RIGHT HERE LUNA! LET'S FINISHED THIS!" from the storm there emerged a pair of immense yellow eyes, their irises where slits like that of a dragon, and they cast their malefic gaze upon Nova. He met the things gaze and held it with one of his own, his face set with grim determination. For a moment the storm screamed on, and then the eyes disappeared, retreating into the maelstrom. There was a final crash of lighting and the vortex disappeared, swirling away into nothing. Twilight felt the breath catch in her throat as she saw something emerge from the settling dust.

It was an alicorn mare, slightly shorter then Nova. Her skin was a bluish black and her tail was jet black, her mane was hidden under a domed helmet. Her wings where black, and she was covered in midnight blue armour, on the chest piece was a symbol of a crescent moon. She smiled, revealing white fangs, razor sharp. Within her eyes there was hatred and malice. "Nova" she said in a deep oratory voice, it echoed through the suddenly still square. From shop windows and behind bushes terrified ponies watched the spectacle unfurl "I've been waiting for you"

Nova nodded and his horn began to glow, a beacon of light in the oppressive night like gloom. Trendils of green energy rose from the earth around him and slowly crawled up his body, as they moved they clumped together into segments. The glow spread to his wings and with a final flash their light vanished to reveal Novas majestic emerald armour, his body enamoured in green and his wings encased within steel. From the ground beside him his hammer erupted from the earth, floating into the air. Nova plucked it from the air and held it with his two front hooves, rearing on his back one. He spread his wings and from the emerald that covered the wings emerged three blades; they floated into the air around him and began to slowly rotate, circling in the space around him.

"Luna, I have waited millennia for this moment"

And with that Nova roared and charged forward, his hammer moving in a blurring arc of quicksilver as his magical blades swept forward, stabbing toward Luna. Twilight managed to catch a glimpse of his eyes, deep green, fierce and burning with hatred, before the storm broke. Lighting came crashing down, blindingly bright as two gods met in combat.

* * *

><p>Authors note: as I write this very note I'm waiting for my mother to pick me up from boarding school, the time is 4:45 GMT on the 27th of March and my final lesson of the term finished only an hour ago. From here on I face three weeks of gruelling revision for my gcse's. I would like to thank everypony who's left a comment or a review, everypony who's read this story. When I started this I felt isolated in a sea of writers, with no idea what I was doing, but now I feel ready for anything. I'll try and finish the final chapter and an epilogue over the Easter, and work on my second story 'the last train home' which I would like to dedicate to Timefather64, who gave me the inspiration and support to continue onwards. Thank you bronies, you've made my year.<p> 


	14. Chapter 14, the end

Chapter 14, the end

Nova brought the hammer swinging down in a quicksilver arc, putting all his strength behind the blow. Luna leapt back but immediately had to contend with her brothers magical blades, they lashed at her, keeping her on the back foot as Nova brought his hammer up for another strike. Luna leapt over the first as it came in for her hoof, as she jumped the air the other two came forward, circling like buzz saws. She wrapped her wings tight against her and the blades ricocheted off them, the armour of the wings shielding the delicate feathers and bones underneath.

Luna opened her wings with a bang of energy and send the blades scattering, the release of energy causing the fields that allowed Nova to manipulate the blades to overload and collapse, rendering the blades useless and unresponsive. She came rushing down on Nova, using the momentum of her fall to bring her knives to bear. Nova hefted his hammer in both hooves and brought the haft up, using its metal bar to stave off Lunas weapons. Luna brought one knife snaking in on his right; Nova swung the haft round to ward it off. The blow was just a feint however, and as Nova swung his main form of protection to right he was only left with his wings to protect his back.

Luna showed her feint at the last moment, using her magic to bring out another brace of knives from her flank. As Nova completed his spin, but as he realised his error he turned himself back around. His armour was too heavy though, designed to be used to block brute force attacks and guard against heavy weaponry, and it slowed him down, its immense weight making him bulky. Luna could easily out manoeuvre him, and she did. Luna rolled to the left and stabbed down, her knives sliding easily through the chinks in the plate metal and reaching into Novas flesh.

He grunted and spun round, swinging his hammer with him. Its bulk added momentum to the spin, and he shot round. Luna easily dodged back however, her armour unrestrictive compared to Novas. She flapped her wings and moved backwards about ten meters; Nova finished bringing himself to bear and faced his sister, his breathing had barely changed. He stared at his sister; he felt a fierce hatred burning in his heart for this evil thing in front of him, a fire that would only be quenched with Lunas blood. "Nova, your...different then i remember" Luna magically sheathed her knives, Nova saw her flanks where lined with bandoliers of sheaths, she'd drawn at least twenty, but there had to be a hundred more at the least. A gracious smile came to her lips as she looked him over.

Nova hunkered down low and launched himself forward in another bull charge, roaring as he did so "I'M MORE POWERFUL THEN YOU COULD EVER KNOW LUNA!" he brought the hammer down, so fast that it couldn't be glimpsed by the naked eye. But Luna was too fast, she was away like a bolt. As Novas hammer came smashing down Luna danced back and one of her knives flashed out, licking at his cheek. There was a streak of fire along his cheek and then a stream of blood flew from the wound on his cheek, flying through the air and landing in the dirt. Luna gracefully jumped back and performed a mock curtsy, a smile on her face. Nova swung his hammer again and this time she leapt into the air and pirouetted over the blow, she leapt over him and landed behind him and his back. Nova felt her step up behind him and stand in the small gap between his wings, an intimate gesture that pegausi reserved only for lovers.

"My you have changed" she whispered in his ear, her breath smelt sweet. Nova dropped his hammer and got onto all fours, getting ready to buck. As the muscles in his legs bunched together so did Lunas and as he bucked she once more leapt over his attacked. As he finished his buck and came down on all fours Luna alighted on his back. He was at least half again her size and she easily stood on his back. Nova reared but she didn't even shift, her grip on his wings was like iron. Luna laughed lightly and nipped at his wings, pulling a feather from his wing.

"LUNA, THIS IS WRONG! GET OFF ME YOU BITCH!" he roared and bucked and reared rapidly in succession, trying to get her off his back. At the moment he didn't care for his revenge, or for the wrongs he had to set right. What Luna was doing was wrong. It was wrong, sick, taboo...forbidden. Luna flew off his back and landed a few meters away from him, Nova took a second to shake himself. Trying to remove the sick feeling that crawled under his skin like worms where burrowing through his skin, he suppressed the urge to be sick. He got back on his hind legs and lifted his hammer, making it comfortable in his grip before facing his sister, who stood watching him with a smile '_after what she's just done, how can she just stand there like that?'_

"You're bigger to say the least. Your stronger, decidedly faster and i believe i sense more power within you, I'm impressed" Nova gritted his teeth, if only she knew. "Are you aware of the ancient rituals of our kind?" she asked, her horn beginning to glow. There was another flash and her helmet was gone, her star studded mane of blues and blacks streaming out and blowing in an ethereal wind. She was beautiful in a cold sought of way, her body radiating cold and darkness. Her features had a timeless perfection to them, perfectly set with high cheeks bone and icy blue eyes. Her wings where delicate, her feathers looked soft and gentle. Her horn had been delicately filed, and the natural spiralling grooves that ran along it had been exacerbated and over leafed with some sough of blue crystal, too dark to be sapphire but too light to be tourmaline.

"Enough of this Luna, stop babbling" He said through gritted teeth, his lips pulled back in a snarl. Over head the storm had died down, the world was still covered in darkness but now the wind had died down and the world was still and serene.

"Oh? I'm babbling?" once more she smiled and once more her horn began to glow. Overhead the storm clouds began to circle once more and slowly descended to touch down on the perimeter of ponyville, forming a wall of cloud that reach up into the sky and blocked the whole town off from the outside world. "just answer the question Nova, only one of us is leaving this place alive" she flicked her mane "that'll be me of course, but still" she gave him yet another smile, this one sweet and innocent "i just want to catch up with my brother before i kill him, so answer the question. Do you know?"

"Yes, i do"

"Then you know what tradition dictates?" Luna smiled, showing off perfect teeth.

"Yes i know that too"

Luna held out a hoof, a simple gesture, but the words that followed suddenly turned it into the door way to a new world. A reprieve from the world of revenge, hatred and uncertainty he found himself in, but with a great price to pay.

"Then take me, body and soul, and join me as a prince of the darkness" her smile became cruel, her lips pulled back slightly further to reveal razor sharp fangs "this is the only offer I'll ever make

≤ΘΘΘ≥

Within the shop, Twilight sparkle hid behind a mannequin and watched the spectacle unfurl out in the square. It was ridiculous, one moment the two Alicorns had been staring each other in the eyes, and within the blink of the eye a flurry of blows had been launched back and forth. Within a few moments Nova was bleeding from a light cut in his cheek, and a few moments later she'd seen something she would never have believed. Luna had stepped into the gap between Novas wings and pulled out a feather, an ancient pegausi ritual.

The implication was disgusting, so revolting it made her skin crawl and beside her Rarity had turned a deep shade of green. What Luna had done was an ancient rite of the pegausi, and it had been handed down the generations and also utilised by the Alicorn race too. The taking of the feather was originally the physical representation of the signing of a binding contract, the recognition of service. But over time it had been taken and changed, moving from a binding contract to a representation of physical binding. The taking of the feather represented two souls becoming one, the binding of two lives.

But Nova and Luna where brother and sister, they were of the same flesh and blood, the thought of the two of them binding...it was disgusting. There was no frivolous way to say it, what Luna was suggesting was incest, an abomination against correct path of life. Twilight shook head and watched as Nova held his ground, his grip unwavering as he held firm in the face of powerful odds.

≤ΘΘΘ≥

"You're disgusting"

"Am i? The ancient Alicorns of the past married brother and sister, to keep the blood lines pure. What I'm suggesting isn't disgusting at all Nova, its tradition" Nova spat at her feet, his eyes alive with fire.

"And when I'm yours what are you going to do with me? Make me your slave for the rest of eternity?" he adjusted the hammer in his grasp, his breathing slow and steady. In his heart he was fighting a war of instinct, trying to suppress the urge to attack, and currently he was losing. The desire to rip Luna to shreds was rising, and it wouldn't be put back in its box.

"Oh Nova no, once your mine i will treat you as an equal in the pantheon" Luna blinked seductively '_she really is a desperate creature, trying to seduce her own brother, disgusting'_ "and I'm impressed with what I'm seeing here" she gestured to him "i would always make use of you"

"Shut up"

"Pardon?"

"I said shut up" Nova planted the hammer in the earth "do you think you can beguile me into giving in Luna? Do you think you can use your tricks to deny me my vengeance?" Novas voice was becoming deeper; his body seemed to be expanding. From his eyes there came an unearthly glow as he summoned the power his Goddess had given him, dipping into the pool of strength in his heart. "No I've waited too long for this to back down now; I've come too far to give in. I've lost everything Luna, I've lost my home, my family, my friends and my love" the glow in his eyes became brighter, it was starting to outshine his usual emerald green "you took everything from me and left me to the silence to slowly die, and now I'll have my vengeance. I'm going to avenge requiem, I'm going to avenge the Astral guard" he levitated the hammer from the earth and back into his grasp, his legs spread apart into a fighting stance "I'm going to avenge my stars and their song, I'm going to avenge the faith for what you and Celestia did to it" the glow had spread from his eyes and was running in lines across his skin like molten lava, brilliantly white in the darkness "I'm going to avenge Cherub and Blossom" he charged forward, bearing down on Luna in an avalanche of thunder and fury "but most of all" he whispered and then his voice rose to a roar of pure hatred "I'M GOING TO AVENGE MYSELF!"

Luna had a split second to dodge before Novas hammer came down on her, leaping backward. She slipped into a war dancer's stance and lightly stepped around him, flowing like liquid. Where as previously Novas armour had slowed him down he now spun round with lightening reflexes, much to her surprise. His hammer came swinging in on her side and caught her squarely in the flank, sending her flying. She crashed through a shop window and rolled through one of the aisles, sending hats and scarves flying and smashing shelves to pieces. She stood up and as she shook herself off she heard screams, and as she charged back out of the wreckage to face Nova she caught sight of a familiar coat of white and mane and tail of purple.

Outside Nova was waiting for her, standing his ground as he faced her charge. Luna grinned at him and then focussed her magic, a whining noise filling the air. Nova swung his hammer to meet her, but as the head was about to impact with his sisters' flank yet again Luna blinked out of existence with a pop. Nova immediately hunkered down to the ground, his head turning warily as he circled, checking his back at all times. A teleportation attack was one of Lunas favourite tactics he remembered, a personalised attack style she had named 'blinking' and Luna was skilled with it. She could blink in and out of existence at will, and he had no way to tell where her attacks where coming. He was now helpless to his sisters' onslaught; the only thing he could rely on to survive was his reactions.

With a pop and gracious laughter Luna flashed back into existence right behind him, a wicked smile on her face. Nova spun to bring his hammer to bear but Luna was too quick. As he completed his swing she blinked once again and appeared at his rear, her knives flashing out and slicing into the flesh at the base of his wings. Nova hissed and spun yet again, but Luna was already gone. She appeared above him and lashed again at his wings, cutting out feathers and tufts of soft fur. As he bucked she disappeared and reappeared on the ground beneath him. She winked and then one of her knives lashed out and stabbed through a chink in his stomach armour, hitting with deadly precision. Nova grunted and leapt off her, dropping his hammer and laying one hoof on his chest, even with his armour on his hoof came away covered in blood. Things weren't going well, Luna had inflicted him with more than five wounds for the single hammer blow he'd given her, at this rate he'd be dead before he'd even drawn blood.

"You bitch!" he shouted and leapt at her again, pulling the hunting knife Twilight had given him from his flank. The knife was light in his hoof compared to the weight of the hammer, and he easily sliced at her, using his reserves of strength to cause it to flash out faster than the eye could comprehend. He slashed in high in a downwards stroke and then in a low blow across the stomach and finished with a thrust. Luna dodged every attack and blinked, leaving him alone once again in the dark square. Nova searched around him warily.

"Nova!" he looked across the empty space to see Twilight and Rarity standing in the shattered shop window, their eyes where wide with fright. Rarity began to pick her way through the rubble towards him.

"I said stay inside Rarity!" he shouted across to them "it isn't safe out here"

"Who said it was safe _in_ here?" Luna flashed back into reality behind Rarity and wrapped a hoof round her neck, forcing her head back, with her other hoof she held a thin stiletto blade that she pressed against Rarities throat, a malicious smile on her face. "You shouldn't have turned down my offer Nova, or precious Rarity here wouldn't have to die" Luna licked the side of Rarities neck, she whimpered. "Such a waste, she's a pretty thing" Nova stood stock still, watching, waiting. Her locked his gaze with Lunas and held it, staring deep into her eyes. Without her helmet they had reverted to their usual light blue, and from their azure depths he saw bloodlust. Nothing happened, the two of them staring at each other as the storm hovered overhead, unnaturally silent. And then Nova burst into action.

He focussed his magic and used a teleportation spell of his own, flashing out of existence and reappearing beside Luna, using a quantum bending spell to alter the speed of the flow of time. The world slowed and slowed until everything seemed to crawl past like honey as he leapt at Luna, Twilight jumped back in surprise, but her movements where slow and sluggish compared to his. He felt alive, energised with power as he moved '_battle fever, this is what it's truly like to be alive'_ his actions where fast and those of his opponents where slow. He was full of energy, but Luna could barely life her hooves in defence. But it wasn't enough, Luna was prepared for this, she'd out manoeuvred him yet again. She brought the knife raking across Rarities throat, its razor thing blade easily slicing through the mares' neck.

Nova opened his mouth in a wordless scream as he watched Rarity fall to the ground lifelessly, her life blood pumping from the wound across her throat. He lost focus and the quantum spell dissipated, speeding time back up to its normal pace. Nova felt some small portion of his mind flutter off into oblivion, lost to him for eternity. As he continued his charge and came crashing into Luna with a rattle and clank of metal meeting metal his mind was still and serene '_i should have told her, i should have told her the truth'_ he thought as he got Luna in a headlock of his own, his superior strength giving him the advantage, Luna was too weak to escape. '_and now i never will, I'll never get the chance...what I've done...I'll have to live with it for the rest of my life' _for a fraction of a second he considered his sister, squirming pitifully in his embrace '_and it's all...your...FAULT!' _he brought a hoof smashing down on Lunas face, hitting her dead centre in the nose. Luna shrieked and clawed at him, but he barely felt it. He punched her again and there was a crunching noise as the cartilage of her nose collapsed.

Luna screamed as blood went flying, she shook at Nova but he wouldn't relinquish his iron grip. Nova punched her once, twice, three times and then her bodily threw her through the remains of the window and back out into the cobbles of the square. Luna hit the stones hard and rolled, her face whacking against the cobbles and exacerbating the mess Nova had made of her nose. She gingerly picked herself up and stared in shock as she watched blood run from her muzzle and drip to the earth, where it left a bright red stain. She looked up and saw Nova was coming through the rubble towards her; he'd never looked this terrifying to her before. Luna closed her eyes, opened her wings, and shot into the air, shooting straight into the low lying storm clouds in the sky above.

Nova gritted his teeth and took off after her, launching himself into the sky. Up and up he went, bolting through the air and straight through the storm clouds into the heart of the maelstrom. All around him the ink black clouds spun and spun in a great vortex, but within the column of air in the eye of the storm everything was still. "LUNA!" he roared, his voice easily carrying within the stillness "WHERE ARE YOU, YOU WHORE!" he spun, looking around himself. There was nothing but jet black clouds, occasionally flashing brightly as a lightning bolt ricocheted within the clouds. "COME ON YOU BITCH! SHOW YOURSELF!" the words where barely out of his mouth before a black mass slammed into his back between his wings. Nova screamed as there was a splintering sound and both of his wings shattered.

"HERE I AM BROTHER!" Luna screamed into his ear as they begun to fall, tumbling through the air. Nova stared up at Luna, she was laughing manically. He looked down to see the earth rushing up to meet them, the ant size buildings of ponyville growing larger and larger as they fell. He opened his broken wings and screamed as the wind caught them, but he wouldn't give up. With a flap he rolled and now Luna was underneath him, she would be the first to hit the ground. Luna wasn't going to give in though, and she fought back, her hooves punching at his face. One of her blows caught his eye and he could feel the bruise coming already, he was going to have a mean black eye after this.

"It's over" he whispered as they fell, ponyville couldn't have been more than thirty meters below them.

"NO!" Luna screamed "I WON'T LOSE" and before Nova knew it she'd opened her wings and copied his roll, leaving him underneath her. His wings hit the ground first, the impact shattering the fragments of bone into dust. As his back hit the ground a shock ran through his spine and he felt one of his legs break, he hissed through gritted teeth. And then his head hit the cobbles and he felt his head threaten to split; he barely managed to retain consciousness. As the dust settled around them Luna rolled off him and got to her feet, her legs shaking. Nova groaned and watched as his sister levitated a knife from her flank, came back to his body, and rolled him over. She placed a hoof on his chest, pressing down hard; Nova felt his broken rips press against his heart.

"CITIZENS OF PONYVILLE!" Luna screamed in a loud voice "I...PRINCESS LUNA, I CLAIMED VICTORY OVER THE TRAITOR NOVA" she raised the knife over his chest and brought it slicing down, it burrowed through his broken ribs and into his heart. Nova was vaguely aware of Twilight screaming his name and the shrieks of the other ponies as they watched, but his whole world had shrunken down to the pain he felt pounding through his head and burning him every time he took a breath. "I AM THE GREATEST!" Luna was screaming, she brought her face down and glared at Nova, her face inches from his. "I am the rightful ruler of Equestria Nova, not you, not Celestia, me!" she hissed. Nova blinked and his head slumped back, his vision was becoming murky. Over by a bush where a group of fillies where hiding, an orange pegausi, a light yellow earth pony and a white unicorn, he saw a glint of light reflecting off steel. It was one of his blades, lying where it had landed after Luna had dispelled his manipulation spell. '_Come one Nova, one last show'_ his horn glowed as Nova focussed. The blade twitched slightly as his magic reached out and took it in its grasp; he lifted it into the air and sent it stabbing through the air towards Luna.

There was a shriek and the wet sound of steel thrusting through meat. There were the collective screams and shouts of the assembled crowd. And there was Twilight, screaming over and over "Nova, Nova, Nova" Nova raised his head to see that the blade had gone straight through Lunas armour and into her heart, piercing out her back. Luna stood there for a moment, staring at the steel going through her chest before she fell over on her side with a thump. Nova laid his head on the floor and stared at the storm over head, it was dissipating, and through the gaps in the clouds he could see the stars twinkling on the black backdrop of deep space.

"Nova?" Twilight appeared in his field of vision, concern written all over her face "Nova, you have to get up, come on, Rarities dying" She propped one of his arms over her shoulder and tried to lift him, straining with effort. Nova used his one good leg to get himself up, and leaning on Twilight for support he first made his way to Lunas side. Luna stared up at him with eyes that where wide with shock, their crystal blue depths where confused and lost.

"Nova..." she mumbled, Nova got down on one knee and leaned in to listen to her words "I'm scared Nova, so scared" her voice was barely a whisper, her breath was no longer hot, but cold "I'm so cold Nova, so, so cold" she feebly reached up to him and placed a hoof on his shoulder, Nova made no move to shrug it off "Please don't let me die..." her voice trailed off and her eyes closed "...please..." Nova stood back up and stared at the body of his sister, so small and weak '_look at her'_ he thought '_my sister, my own flesh and blood on the verge of death...and yet i sense nothing'_ it was true. Nova hadn't known what to expect once he'd had his revenge. Exultation, happiness, peace, rage, something like that at the least...but looking down at Luna now all he felt was grief '_how could i do this to my own sister, my own precious little sister?'_

But what of the fallen, what of those who had died because of Lunas actions? What about Requiem and Shock? What about the astral guard and Cherubs mortal form? What about Cherry blossom? '_Live for me Nova'_ Blossom had told him '_live and have hopes and dreams, i didn't bring you back to give you your vengeance'_ "Nova? Rarity, we've got to go to Rarity" Twilight said at his side. She sounded distant and far off, her words reaching him as murmurs through a thick fog of confused emotion. Nova knelt again and gently cradled his sisters' head in his hooves. His horn glowed and a soft light began to run across Lunas skin in trendils, mapping out across her body like veins. As they moved the glow expanded and soon the light covered her whole body, leaving only her silhouette formed of light. There was a soft glow and the light began to drift off in flakes like ash, and just like that Luna was gone, returned to the palace. In a single moment Nova felt something in his heart soar, as the oppressive grip his thirst for vengeance lifted.

He stood up and nodded to Twilight and made their way back to the shop, picking through the rubble to Rarities side. The wound on her throat wasn't as deep as he'd originally guessed, and blood still poured from it, pumping out in a gentle current to form a pool around her body, staining her mane and tail a deep crimson. She was in the care of the earth mare that ran the store, but as nova approached she backed off to a respectable distance. Nova looked at her and she shook her head sadly, Rarity wasn't going to make it. Nova knelt by her side and gently lifted her head, cradling it in his hooves as he had done with Luna. "Hey" he felt tears begin to prick at his eyes, and the back of his throat was starting to hurt "hey, it's me. Everything's going to be ok Rarity" he took one of her hooves and gently kissed it. Rarity looked up at him with unfocussed eyes and smiled a warm smile that touched Novas heart.

"I'm not going to make it Nova, i know that" she said, her eye lids slowly closing. She hugged closer to his body; she was growing cold and fading fast. Soon her heart fire would gutter and die, and she would leave him forever.

"don't talk like that" the first of the tears escaped his eyes and rolled down to his cheek, where it hung for a moment before dripping down into the pool of blood he was kneeling in.

"It's ok Nova" she laid a hoof on his cheek "I'm ready for this" she coughed, and blood came from her mouth and the wound in her throat. "Maybe I'll meet your goddess on the other side" her hoof fell down to her side, the shallow rise and fall of her chest ceased "goodbye...Nova..."

Nova could barely whisper the word "no" he gently shook Rarity "Rarity, oh please Rarity no!" he choked and then began to sob "RARITY NO!" he screamed, tears flowing freely down his cheeks and falling into the blood, diluting it and causing it to run like water towards a dent in the floor, where it began to pool and congeal. "PLEASE NO! DON'T GO! PLEASE!" he begged "I DON'T WANT TO LOSE YOU RARITY, PLEASE I DON'T WANT TO LOSE ANYONE ELSE!" he hugged Rarities body to him "i don't want you to go" he whispered. Twilight laid a hoof on his shoulder, but he barely felt it. _'No'_ his mind thought '_no this isn't how it was supposed to end'_ there had to be a way to fix this, there had to be. There was a spell, he knew. But there was a chance it could fail and kill him too.

He closed his eyes and laid the tip of his horn against Rarities, forming a bridge between their two souls. Thin thread of energy reached out from his horn and gently wrapped around Rarities, wrapping round into the spiralling grooves on her horn. "Rarity" he whispered, his voice almost silent "I'm not going to give up on you, this isn't how it was supposed to end" he focussed on the spell and reached out with his mind, moving along the threads of energy and into Rarities body, animating it with a temporary form of life. He opened his eyes and found he was looking at himself through Rarities eyes, behind him over his shoulder Twilight gaped, her face a deathly pale and she was in tears.

From her half living mind Novas essence flowed through Rarities body, using her still moving blood to make his way along her veins and arteries. He reached her heart and found her soul; the essence of life was still within her. Nova pushed out the threads and seized around the essence, grabbing it to him tightly. He gritted his teeth and sent a pulse of his own energy through the threads and into Rarities soul, grunting as part of his own life left him for the almost empty vessel of Rarity. For a second Rarities soul flared and then it dulled once again, the energy wasn't enough to rejuvenate her.

Nova sent another pulse, this one bigger than the first. With Rarities eyes he watched himself stagger, blood began to run from his closed eyes, escaping from his eye lids and running down the paths his tears had formed. But it was useless, it simply wasn't enough to hold Rarity with him, and Rarities soul was fading fast, he could feel his grip on it weakening. Nova gritted his teeth, closed his eyes tight shut and focussed. Forming power within his soul, Nova brought his entire being together into a single pulse of energy and released it into Rarities body in a single pulse of energy so powerful he felt it dislodge a part of his soul.

Within Rarities body her soul flared brightly, absorbing Novas essence and using it to imbue itself with life. With Rarities eyes Nova watched a golden glow come from his eyes, his mouth opened and light poured out from it in a cascade of gold. Behind him he saw Twilight reel back in shock, the ethereal light from Novas body bathing her in a golden glow. Nova felt the threads that bound him and Rarity together begin to weaken and break; piece by piece his mind left Rarities form and returned to his own. This was it. He'd pulled his entire being together, every shred of his soul, and given it to Rarity in order to give her new life. As he regained the sight of his own eyes he had a brief moment to comprehend the emptiness he felt within his chest, he'd given his soul to Rarity so that she might live. If she lived, he lived. If she died, he died. Dark clouds where appearing in front of his vision, and before his succumbed to their cold embrace he saw the gash along Rarities throat begin to glow and knit back together. And then he couldn't feel anything, and sank into a black world of emptiness and loss.

'_Please live Rarity, please. It isn't meant to end this way_'

The end


	15. Epilogue

Epilogue, five years later

It was a beautiful day at the ponyville hospital, just as everyday was a beautiful day. Nurse Tender heart sat at the reception desk going through paper work, signing forms for ponies being discharged from the hospitals care and filing away patient analysis papers in the cabinets under the desk. As she went through this normal routine the front door to the hospital suddenly burst open and an Alicorn stepped inside, out of breath and with flushed cheeks. Tender heart smiled, he'd made it just in time.

"Am i..." Nova huffed "Am i late? Did i miss it?"

"No, but you will if you don't get moving" she said with a smile "floor three, ward five. Get going, quickly now!"

Nova nodded and was off like a rocket, blurring through reception. He headed for the elevator, but realised that would take too long and changed his course for the stair well. He took the steps four at a time, dashing up three stories in a matter of seconds. He burst out into a long corridor on the third floor and immediately made his way to the door with a sign saying 'five' over it, panting heavily from his burst of energy. By the door there stood a purple unicorn, two earth ponies, one pink and one orange, and two pegausi, one cyan blue and the other a light yellow.

"Come on Nova!" the purple unicorn said "get in there!" Nova raced down the hall to them and gave each of the mares a nod before entering

He came through the door and was greeted by the sight of a white unicorn with a purple mane and tail lying on a hospital bed. By her legs there knelt a doctor and standing off to the side a team of three nurses.

"Nova..." his wife said from the bed, her eyes twinkling with happiness before she felt another contraction and shouted in pain. Nova quickly crossed the room to his wifes side and knelt beside her, taking one of her hooves in his.

"i came as soon as i heard" he told her, his cheeks still flushed red.

"nearly there" the doctor said, his voice slightly muffled by the mask he wore over his mouth "one final push now"

Rarity grimaced and felt her body contract as she pushed, she screamed in agony and gripped Novas hoof so tightly she could have broken it. Then there was a sigh, a gasp for breath and more screams, these ones high pitched. One of the nurses stepped forward with a blanket and took the new born from the doctors hooves, wrapping it in the warm blanket.

"it's a colt" she said with a warm smile "a healthy colt" she gave the child to Rarity, and as the child was passed into the arms of its mother his screams subsided into gurgles.

"He's so beautiful" Rarity whispered, Nova nodded and felt a tear run down his face. The colt was beautiful, his son was perfect. His skin was snow white like his parents, his mane was the same mixture of flaming oranges, reds and yellows and his fathers and when he opened his eyes they were the same deep blue as the twilight sky. By the door there came an 'awww'ing sound from the assembled mares. "what are we going to call him?" she asked, handing Nova his son.

Nova held his child in his hooves and gently rocked him back and forth, tears where running from his cheeks. He took in the sight of his son, knowing he would grow into a strong stallion. And then he looked at his hair, alive with flames. and then it came to him, the perfect name for his perfect son.

"Blaze, we'll call him Blaze"

* * *

><p>Authors note: and so ends the tale of Nova, and the beginning of Blazes own story. from here the world is open and wide, and Blaze and Nova are free to make their own choices. a thanks to Timefather64, Backupmoth, valorousspectre, BlasianAsian, Foxondragonwings and the anonymous guy. All of whom left reviews and comments for this story. Thank you for your support, you've all pushed me on to bigger heights.<p>

Whilst i'm working on a story for Blaze and in time Novas next tale, i have no idea what to do next, if anypony has a request, please don't hesitate to send it in, i take every suggestion to heart.

Thanks once more for everything

Erol


	16. alternate epilogue

A tale of Nova, Alternate ending.

The autumn winds where cold against his flank, they blew through his mane and tail and whipped the flames out, causing them to trial out to his side. Nova sighed and laid a red rose on the simple grave stone that stood before him, its white marble veined with pink. Behind him Twilight sparkle watched with a heavy weight in her heart, watching the defeated Alicorn before her. The wind gave another blow and with it came a mournful groan, as if the sky itself was mourning his loss. Nova shed a tear, which rolled down his cheek and landed beside the rose, sinking quickly into the ground.

"goodbye my love" Nova whispered, barely controlled anguish lay behind the voice "i...i wish it hadn't ended this way" he hung his head and let the tears begin to flow, a sob escaped him. Twilight came up to his side and laid a hoof on his shoulder.

"come on Nova, the others are waiting for us" she said quietly, not daring to raise her voice.

"it should never had turned out like this Twilight" Nova said through the tears "i should have saved her, i should have been strong enough to save her" he shuddered, his breathing was heavy "i wasn't strong enough...i...i couldn't...i couldn't..." his voice failed him, words weren't enough to describe what he felt.

"She's at peace now Nova, she's in a better place" many believed that when a unicorn died their souls returned to the great pool of energy that all magic was derived from, to become one with the energies that permeated the bodies of unicorns.

"she should have a better grave then this" Nova said "she shouldn't be out here on a hill, she should be some be somewhere...somewhere beautiful" it was true, the hill upon which the grave stone stood was at the far boundary of Sweet apple acres, looking out upon the rolling plains that lay beyond the valley of ponyville. It was an empty space that seemed to stretch on to the horizon and beyond it.

Twilight knew that nothing she could say could comfort Nova, not now, not ever. So she simply said "It's time to go Nova" Nova gave a simple nod and with a final sorrowful glance towards the grave stone turned away from it and made his way down the hill, Twilight gave one glance to her friends grave stone and followed after him, leaving the hill top in silence, not even the wind made a single sound.

Time continued onwards, the seasons changed. The autumn leaves fell from the trees and snow came down from the sky and blanketed the world in its own form of mute silence. The days became shorter and the world grew dark, and then slowly the sun began to rise higher and higher in the sky. Spring came and new life came back into the world, the trees growing their leaves again and the snows retreating to reveal the grass that lay slumbering underneath. Summer took its place and the days became long and warm, the sky a bright blue azure during the day and a warm twilight glow by night. The cycle went on and on, never stopping to rest.

Years past and one by one the mares and stallions of the generation went to their own graves, sleeping within the confines of their earthen graves. Years became decades, decades became centuries and centuries passed on into millennia. All the while the stone kept its vigil at the top of the hill, facing out into the great plains. Upon its surface where words that had been enchanted to stand the test of time, and even thousands of years after the deaths of Nova and Twilight and their children and grand children and great grand children, the words could still be read, as clear and precise as the day they where chisled.

'here rests Rarity, she will always be missed'

* * *

><p>Authors note: this ending was requested by a user who wished to remain anonymous. When i wrote it i couldn't help but feel sad, like i was feeling what Nova felt, it just didn't seem right. It was exactly like Nova said "it isn't meant to end this way" and the sentence just kept going over and over in my head. It didn't end this way thankfully, but i can't help but wonder, what if it did?<p> 


End file.
