The Princesses touched down on the soft rolling clouds. They were hidden, for now. Discord turned quickly to them, eyes burning, “ we need to find her. He can not be allowed to win. He can’t have her. He … can’t….have Nova too.”

“Discord,” Celestia raised her hoof and touched his paw, “ He hasn’t won, not yet.”
Luna moved to Discord’s side so he would see her and said, “ remember you are not in this alone Discord. You have Celestia and I, we will not leave you to face this monster alone. This battle is against us all. You said it yourself before, remember us of old Discord. We are not needing your protection. We will fight beside you, we will find her and we will get her back.”

Discord stepped back, “then what happened Luna? Why is she gone? How can you tell me I don’t need to think of you as weaker when you failed to protect Nova?” He went to turn away from the girls and left. He was so angry at them but, not as enraged as he was at himself. How could he have let this monster get the jump on him, how did he not see the trap?

Celestia was suddenly in front of him horn blazing. She threw a bolt of solar energy at him knocking him through the cloud hitting the one below them. She was there on top of him as quickly as he landed. He stared up at her and snarled.

“That’s how Discord, that’s why Nova is gone. He surprised us and he used speed and blind force against us. We did not expect it and we fought back as quickly as we could react. Nova, she tried to shield us, she most likely saved us from great injury if not death.”

She moved to stand beside him as Discord got to his feet she continued, “ he simply overpowered us. We did what we could and I will not be ashamed of that. Now, we can either sit here fight between each other, blame one another for our heartache or, we can fly back up to Luna together and figure out how we can track this beast.”

Discord stared at her for a moment and then snapped his fingers sending a fury of wind at her, knocking her down. He snaked his way to her side and whispered, “ you’re weak Celestia, that’s why you couldn’t save her. That’s why you haven’t saved this damn land from him. He has stolen everything from you, because you are too weak to fight him. I will not leave her fate in your hands.”

“THAT’S ENOUGH! Both of you STOP THIS NOW!” Luna flew down, her night magic crackling around her. “ You are both being needlessly cruel.”

She landed, taking in the situation. Discord’s chest heaved and his eyes were burning with anger. Celestia was below him, head bowed with tears slowly trailing down her cheeks. Luna shook her head and said,” How is any of this going to help bring Nova back? Discord, I agree with you, we have been weak. We have not needed to fight like this in so long it has not come back as quickly as one would hope in this situation. This has cost us the lives of the people who looked to us for protection, it has cost us our home, and it has cost us the elements. Our harmony, our peace, is gone because we could not save the very land we swore to protect.

But, we are still here. Our magic is still as strong as it was in the days of old. You can say what you want of weakness but, you are not going to defeat Grogar on your own. You are going to end up sucked dry and destroyed by your own emotions. If you let him divide us, there is no chance of saving Nova. You are one of the most clever entities I have ever met, don’t you dare act stupid now. Use your head, you are playing right into what he wants. Expend the energy fighting between each other. Break the others confidence all while becoming more and more rash in your choices due to anger. You are acting predictable Chaos King.”

She shook her head and gave them both a fierce glare. “ I am going back up on the next cloud and I am going to use my dream walking magic to see if I can get a glance into Nova’s dreams. If she is sleeping and dreaming I should be able to find her. Once you two figure out what your priorities are and start acting like the immortal beings you should be, come and join me.”

She took off without a second glance and was through the cloud cover in a flash of starlight. Celestia sighed and was startled by a lions paw being offered to her. She took it and stood up staring into Discord’s eyes.

“I’m sorry Discord, I -”

“ Don’t worry about it, moon butt is right. Let’s go see if we can help her.”

He waited for Celestia to raise into the air and together they flew up to where Luna was laying. She had her eyes closed and her forehead was covered in beads of sweat. She was speaking but, only her lips moved. Discord watched fascinated by her ability to dreamwalk. He could do the same to a point but, Luna’s magic was simply designed to let her shift into different dream states. She was a hauntingly powerful Alicorn. Suddenly her eyes snapped open.

“I’ve got her.”

***************************************************************************************************

****************************************************************************************************

Nova had finally fallen asleep. Her body needed her to rest to build back it’s strength. She was alone, scared, and the words Grogar said wormed their way inside her. She couldn’t make them stop from planting the first seeds of doubt.

The dream caught her off guard. She was human again running through a black starless night. She was searching for something she knew that much but, couldn’t remember what it was. She knew without it she would not survive. The fear and urgency made her run faster and faster until she was running not just to find the thing, but to get away from something else. She was terrified. Suddenly there was a hill in her path. She ran up to it and felt the urge to climb to the top. Something was up there and she needed to see it. Slipping and nearly falling back to the beginning it took all she could to climb to the top.

Panting, she looked around and saw Luna. She was lit from within, she glowed as if the moon were inside her. She was so beautiful. Nova ran to her and Luna pulled her into a tight embrace. As soon as she touched the Alicorn, Nova’s human form shattered and she was once again in her Alicorn body. She sparkled and shimmered with her own astral beauty.

“Luna, are you real?”
“Yes, sweet Nova. I am here with you in spirit. My body is being safely taken care of by Discord and my sister. Child, where are you?”

“ I don’t know. I’m in a room, it’s stone and it’s cold in here. There’s no windows - I think it’s underground. There’s one door, it leads to a hallway, it’s stone as well I can hear them walking.”

“Are you hurt? Has he hurt you?”
“ No, he hasn’t hurt me. He’s talked to me. Luna, do you hate me? Do you hate who I am? Do you wish I would perform my magic, and then be done with me? Looking at me, do you think of the souls inside me? Do I make you feel death?”

Luna’s eyes grew wide and she went to touch Nova but the dream shattered and instead Luna was left staring into the worried eyes of Discord.

“I’ve got her. He’s manipulating her. We need to hurry he’s trying to turn her away from us. She’s not hurt but, her soul is losing it’s grip on who is friend and who is foe.”

Celestia nodded, “ where do we need to start looking.”
Discord waited. Watching Luna think about what little clues Nova had given her. “ He’s someplace cold. He’s under the ground. We need to look for death. Maybe a burial ground, an unmarked mass grave…. Something like that. It’s in stone. From what I could gather from her description maybe.. Limestone?”

Discord gave a dark chuckle. He flew straight into the air and started to fly to the North. Celestia and Luna glanced at each other and quickly followed him. Luna prayed he would hold his sanity together long enough for them to reach Nova.

*****************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

Nova woke up sucking in as much air as she could. She knew that the dream had been in part real. Luna had been there, she was sure of that. They were looking for her. They were coming to save her. Although, were they trying to save her so she wasn’t trapped within this hell or, was it simply that they needed her to destroy this madness and then be done with her. She watched the candle on the night table flicker, it was almost burnt out. She must have been asleep for hours.

Was Grogar right? Did she simply exist to be a weapon. What would happen after she was done her duty. He had mentioned the idea of the girls souls being taken out of her. Could he actually do that? Would she die? Did it even matter if she did, if her life really wasn’t even hers to begin with, did it matter if she were separated from their souls and didn’t last?

She felt Fluttershy moving inside her mind. She was desperately trying to speak to her. Nova didn’t want to hear a thing from the girls right now.

Fluttershy managed a whisper, “ you are loved so much more than as a weapon Nova. Think of Discord, think of the night you spent together. You mean so much more to him than a vessel for us. You are so much more than that, please…. don’t believe him. Grogar is trying to hurt you. He’s evil.”

Nova shot back, “what if he’s right though. I am made of some sort of necromancy. I am a product of your deaths. Your bodies were taken from you. Your breathing, living bodies, they are gone. This whisper of a voice is all that is left of six of the most powerful ponies in this world.I am all that’s left of you. What if I could give it all back? What if I could use him to bring you back to this world? Solid, and alive if he could do that, if he could be tricked into believe that having the six of you back is the weakest option …. I could give you back to Equestria.”

Nova shut down the link between Fluttershy and herself. She whispered sorry to the night air. She didn’t want them to know what she was thinking what she was planning. She knew he couldn’t give them back their bodies. He didn’t create things, he stole them away. He was a destroyer but, her magic might be enough. Fluttershy never said it couldn’t be done. In fact, as Nova was speaking she never said a word. The girls knew there was a possibility it could be done. She could not only save Equestria she could save them from their fate. She just had to figure out how to do it. She would not quit on this world. Her fate was already written she could either cry and stay hollow, defeated, and let Grogar take over. Or, she could embrace what she was, how she came to be in this world and use it to her benefit.

Grogar was right she was created using souls of other beings. Their magic coursed through her body. She was here breathing, moving, being, because of them. She was more than that though. She was Nova. She needed to stop thinking of what everyone wanted her to do and be, she needed to think about who she wanted to be. She could be the hero. She could save this world, she could save the girls. She needed to be brave. She needed to convince Grogar to give her the magic so she could let the girls free. When they were free, with Discord and the Princesses nothing would be able to stop them.

She stood up from the bed and walked to the door. She was ready to face him, she knew what she had to do. Damn him for putting the thoughts in her mind, for giving her a reason to doubt herself. She would not let him destroy the part of her that made her Nova. She vowed there in that room, that she would be his downfall.

Author's Note

This chapter was harder to write and I ended up scraping a few pages and just starting again. It just didn't feel right to me. I hope everyone is enjoying the story so far! Thanks for reading!