All My Tears

Nova woke up early that morning to find the elements out in the palace hall ready to leave. She yawned and went out to meet them.

“Good morning. Did everypony sleep well?”

They all nodded. They didn’t do anything after that, just stood there. After a moment, Rarity pushed Apple Jack forward.

“What is it?”

“Well, yer highness, Rarity wanted us to help you get ready fer our trip.”

Smiling warmly Nova said, “That would be much appreciated, Rarity. Thank you.”

They all bowed and followed her into the spare nobles bedroom. As soon as the door was closed, Pinkie Pie wrapped her hooves around Nova’s eyes.

“No peeks.”

Nova did not resist and sat in front of the mirror patiently. Twilight pulled something blue out of the closet and set it upon the dresser top.

“You can open, now,” she said.

As soon as Pinkie released her, Nova opened her eyes. On the dresser was a helmet and shoes, much alike to her mother’s. They were carved from a light blue crystal, but looked as if made with metal. The helmet fit her perfectly and she brushed her forelock into her flowing mane. The shoes fit as well and she slipped them on with ease.

“I-I don’t know what to say except thank you.”

“No problem! Now none of those buffoons of Solar Flare’s can hurt your head.”

Rainbow said as if to an invisible cult member.

The mares left shortly after breakfast and headed over the border.

“No offense, Princess, but it’ll take us all day to get to Ponyville.”

“Rainbow, I thought you listened to the meeting last night.”

“I sorta, maybe fell asleep.”

“Ugh… The plan was that I was going to create a portal. It’s like teleportation, but more than one individual can go through it.”

As she said, Nova created a portal and Ponyville was just visible through it. She waited until they had all walked in and then did so herself as the portal closed behind her. They found themselves a moment later in an alley next to town hall. The city wasn’t as busy as it had been two years before, but there were more ponies out and about than say Trottingham and Fillydelphia.

They followed Nova through the backstreets to places marked on Fluttershy’s map. Houses with a red X indicated that the family was on their side. If it had a black N, then the opposite was true. In a little over and hour, they had gathered almost seventy ponies, plus Spike the dragon. The Elements embraced their family and close friends. After a few minutes of catching up on events in this small town Nova stomped her hoof for quiet.

All looked up at her. Some eyes held fear, others joy or hope. She explained her plan to them all.

“I have the location of an ancient country called Cavalia. Some of you have heard of it, other have not. I can make a portal to it, but you must all be brave. As you may well have noticed, these are troubled times. I believe each and every one of will live to see Solar Flare brought to justice, but that can only happen if you follow me,”

She created the portal and then spoke again, “You will be safe. The choice remains before you. Stay or go?”

They were hesitant at first, but eventually they all funneled through to this strange, new country. Nova followed and then spent a while assigning them to houses. Each family was to have a house, since over a thousand filled the city. When that was done, she left Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Rarity behind to help the ponies settle in.

She took the remaining three Elements, and together they went to gather others in Cloudsdale, Manehattan, and Appleloosa. The other cities were too close to Canterlot to be trusted.

Upon her final return, she provided food for the city and uncovered a room in the palace full of sleeping mats. Some stallions spread these throughout the city, and as darkness fell, all were at peace.

                                                             *

“Momma?”

“Yes Lilac?”

“Where’s Lightblossom?”

“She’s with Brightwaters. She can’t stay with us just yet. In a few days, maybe you can go visit her with your father. Although, knowing her, I believe she loves you too much to stay away for long.”

Longshot smiled as he poked the fire. Though the city was protected by the many spells Nova had put up, it still received the cold, mountain air.

Twilight had been right of course, the next day Lightblossom showed up at their doorstep.

“Hi Mr. Sparkle. Is Lilac here?”

Chuckling, Longshot said, “You can just call me Longshot. And yes, Lilac is here. Come on in.”

Lightblossom thanked him and went inside where she was instantly pummeled by Lilac.

“Whoa! Calm down! What gives?”

“I missed you sssoooo much!”

“I missed you, too. Now why don’t we go into the living room and I can give you the picture I drew.”

“For me? Thank you! Thank you!”

Twilight walked in from the kitchen.

“Looks like somepony missed their foal-sitter.”

“You think?”

                                   DING DONG

The doorbell rang and Lilac immediately ran to the door. She opened the door to find Nova standing there. Her horn almost hit the top of the doorframe. Because of this, Lilac ran under Longshot’s legs as her father, mother, and foal-sitter walked in.

Twilight asked, “What brings you here, Nova?”

“The other Elements requested your presence. We are deciding on what to do when we…”

She saw Lightblossom. Lightblossom bowed and asked, “Is something wrong, Princess?”

“You knew my mother, did you not?”

“I did. Why does it matter?”

“I have a question I’ve been wanting to ask. If you will, please join us tonight.”

“Of course! I’ve always wanted to see the palace. I hope I can answer your question.”

That night, the Elements, Lightblossom, and Nova met to discuss their plans.

Fluttershy drew out her map again and all gathered around it. They decided the best way was to portal into the caves that led into the basement of the castle. They couldn’t just portal into the great hall, for Nova was sure Solar Flare had procured protective spells all around it and most of the castle.

“We have our plan ta get into the castle, bu’ wha’ are we gonna do when we face Solar Flare? We can use the Elements, but the miasma would know better.”

“AJ’s right,” Rainbow said, “We can use the Elements as a distraction, but Nova will have to make the final blow—Uh, Nova? You okay?”

“What? Oh, yes. Sorry…I was just thinking. Twilight, you have studied magical history further than I could. Is it possible to destroy Solar Flare and bring Celestia back?”

Twilight pondered this for a moment before she said, “I’m not sure, Nova. It’s possible, but not likely.”

Nova sighed. “I feared as much. I suppose the throne will fall to me if we succeed in destroying Solar Flare.”

They talked for a while before Lightblossom muscled up enough courage to ask, “What was the question you wanted to ask me?”

“Oh, yes!” Nova remembered immediately, “I was wondering if my mother ever talked to you about battle. I remember she’d tell me glorious tales of her encounters with foes. I have a few spells that I use for defense. I’d like to honor her memory and use the proper spells.”

Lightblossom thought for a moment and remembered a few things Luna had told her. She discussed with Nova what she had heard. The meeting lasted longer than she expected, so when Nova laid her head on her pillow, she fell asleep immediately.