The Lost Prince

Chapters

The Return
One Million Years Ago
New Friends
The Letter
Secret Passages

The Return

The sounds of chirping birds filled the air as the town of Ponyville began to rise from its slumber of the night. Windows were opened, blinds were drawn, and the faces of some very excited ponies appeared, breathing in the smell of fresh dew hanging in the breeze. One particular pegasus was particularly excited, bursting out of her residence in the sky, a rainbow-coloured tail flicking behind her. This eager pony flew head-on to the apple farm on the outskirts of the town.

“APPLEJACK!!!” The pony yelled, swooping down low to the house. “WAKE UP! TWILIGHT’S COMING BACK TODAY!!!”

An orange nose appeared by the window, shortly followed by the groan of a pony who only had about two hours’ worth of sleep.

“Golly,” the earth pony said, “I was so excited I couldn’t rest at all… hold on a moment there, Rainbow, I’ll be down in a jiffy – I’ve just gotta buck a few trees for the festivities.”

“I don’t have time for a jiffy!” The rainbow-maned pegasus complained. “Twilight’s going to be here any second and I won’t be the first one there if I have to wait a jiffy! I’m getting Pinkie Pie!” She gave a quick flap of her wings back to the main square, looking for the cake shop.

Eventually, Rainbow Dash found it, flying through the door and charging up to the counter. Nobody was there.

“PINKIE PIE!!!” Rainbow yelled.

“Oh yay, it’s the day!” A mad, pink fur ball bounded down the stairs and crashed into Rainbow, her curly hair jumping around her equally jumpy legs. “Twilight’s returning to Ponyville! Twilight’s returning to Ponyville!” she chanted, jumping circles around Rainbow with an unrealistically large grin on her face.

“Yeah, and we don’t want to be late, do we?!” Rainbow retorted, putting a restraining leg around the pony. “Come on, we’ve got to get to the main street!”

Pinkie Pie came in through the door. Momentarily confused, Rainbow looked under her leg and found an empty space. “I never get how you do that,” she chuckled.

“Well, sorry Rainbow, but I’m helping Mr. and Mrs. Cake bake a welcome back cake for Twilight!” Pinkie smiled. “You could help us – we need, umm…”

“I wish I could help, Pinkie, but I’ve got a procession to watch!” Rainbow said, hurriedly backing out of the door before Pinkie Pie could place an apron on her.

“Ugh, I hope Rarity isn’t busy either,” Rainbow muttered to herself, dusting some stray strands of pink hair off her light blue coat. “Let’s have a look-see…” She navigated her way over the town and found her friend’s fashionable house.

“RARITY!!!” Rainbow yelled.

“No need to be so loud, dear,” A white-coated unicorn called from her workspace on the first floor.

“What are you doing, we have to get to the main street first so we see Twilight get here!” Rainbow shouted.

“If you must know, I’m designing our dresses for the welcome party, although I doubt they’ll last very long with our daft friend Pinkie Pie in charge of it,” Rarity replied, moving her deep purple hair out of her eyes. “I’m just applying the finishing touches; I’ll only be 20 minutes.”

“20 MINUTES?!” Rainbow spluttered. “TWILIGHT COULD ARRIVE AT ANY SECOND!” And with that, she flew off in search of Fluttershy and her woodland home.

Rainbow landed right next to the front door and rapped on the oak, putting a few dents in it. “FLUTTERSHY!!!” Rainbow called. “HURRY UP AND GET OUT! WE HAVE A PROCESSION TO GET TO!”

The door was opened by a timid yellow pegasus with a light pink mane. “Oh, umm, hello Rainbow Dash,” she murmured. “Umm… I can’t come with you yet, the animals are having a bit of trouble in this last-minute rehearsal… if you can wait just a few minutes, I’m sure we’ll be free then.”

“I CAN’T WAIT A FEW MINUTES!!!” Rainbow exclaimed. “WE’VE GOT TO BE THE FIRST TO GREET TWILIGHT!!! We are her best friends, REMEMBER?” and she sped off back to the centre of Ponyville, landing right in front of the fountain to wait.

And wait.

…And wait. Eventually the others arrived, bringing along all of their items for the big day. Rarity shoved a golden piece of woven armour onto Rainbow Dash before she could complain about how heavy it would be – but it turned out to be rather light.

“It’s a wonderful silk they make in Canterlot!” Rarity explained. “It is just the smoothest thing you’ll find anywhere in Equestria!”

“I think you’re right,” Rainbow agreed, stretching her wings. “I could fly through the sky with this for sure!”

Applejack began to set up her apple-bobbing store while Pinkie Pie returned to Mr. and Mrs. Cake to help unpack the cakes. Fluttershy ordered her animals into neat lines for their coming performance. Rainbow flexed a few times while clearing the stray clouds creeping slowly over Ponyville. It would be good to have a clear day for Princess Twilight’s arrival.

Other ponies began to join the five, lining the streets with banners and flags, waiting expectantly. Just as Rarity finished fitting her final costume to Applejack, the faint sound of trumpets reached their ears.

“Here she comes!” Rainbow exclaimed, quickly landing to stand with her friends. “Oh, it’s been far too long!”

“I agree,” Applejack remarked.

Squinting into the sun, the ponies saw a small dot of a chariot approaching their town, which gradually grew bigger until everypony could see the passenger – Twilight Sparkle, their princess. They cheered as the soldiers pulling the chariot touched down on the rough dirt. The princess waved regally to her subjects, taking her time to greet everypony present.

“Twilight!”

Twilight turned and smiled to see her five best friends waiting in front for her. “Hello everypony!” she grinned as she trotted over to them. “So how has Ponyville been while I was away?”

“Nothing unusual in the slightest!” Rainbow reported as they all hugged each other. “The town’s been pretty quiet, and we’ve been doing our best to keep it that way.”

“The harvest’s almost ready to be pulled in,” Applejack said, “and I think that this year’s got one of them bumper-size labels on it! My apples are the biggest we’ve ever seen them – we’ve got our work cut out this time!”

“That’s brilliant!” Twilight said. “Fluttershy, how are all of your animal friends?”

“Oh, they came along to sing for you, actually…” Fluttershy blushed. “They would really like it if you heard them.”

“Of course!” Twilight said. “They can sing while we start the festivities. Which reminds me…” Twilight raised her hoof and yelled,

“LET THE FESTIVITIES BEGIN!”

And Fluttershy’s band launched into their first tune.

* * * * *

While everypony was having fun, Twilight took the chance to reconnect with her friends. Wandering through the town, she talked to as many ponies as she could to find out how things in Ponyville had been going for them – as their princess, it was important for her to know her subjects’ best wishes for the future.

After a circle of the festival, Twilight saw Applejack’s stall was free. She was offering the chance to get a horseshoe encircled around a peg by throwing it. Twilight trotted over and asked if she could have a go.

“Of course!” Applejack said, smiling. “Take your pick of which horseshoe you want to use.”

Twilight scanned over the selection with her discriminating eye. It caught on a blue horseshoe for someone the size of Big Macintosh. She picked it up in her mouth and took her place in front of the peg.

“Go on, Twi!” Applejack urged as Twilight lined up her horseshoe. “Concentrate...”

Twilight looked down her nose at the target, bringing her head down and then flinging the horseshoe to score a perfect hit.

“YES! I did it!” Twilight exclaimed, high-hoofing Applejack.

“Nice work sugarcube,” Applejack said. “How about you go and see how Rainbow’s doin’? I heard she really wants to talk with you. Somethin’ about flying.” Applejack winked. “She’s been dying for a practice partner who can fly at least half her speed.”

Twilight blushed, her natural ability being the only reason she could fly at that speed. “I guess it wouldn’t hurt to,” she said, flying off in search of her blue friend.

* * * * *

“So, feel like busting a few clouds today?” Rainbow challenged, pointing towards a group floating towards the town. “Whoever gets rid of the most, wins. Are you game?”

“I’m game,” Twilight accepted, launching herself into the sky. “Come on then!”

“All right!” Rainbow Dash yelled, pushing off and landing a hit with the first flap of her wings.

Both winged ponies soared through the sky like comets in the night. Other ponies in the street stopped to watch this battle of tallies between them. They began to cheer for their favourite.

“GO RAINBOW DASH!” An orange-coated pegasus with a purple mane said. Scootaloo made sure her voice was heard as she pushed her way through the crowd. Her friends Applebloom and Sweetie Bell weren’t far behind.

“Oh, I don’t know which one to choose!” Applebloom complained, her eyes watching the two ponies. “Umm…”

“COME ON TWILIGHT!” Sweetie Bell roared, causing a few angry looks to be shot her way. “Sorry…”

For every cloud Twilight destroyed, Rainbow destroyed 2. It was obvious who was going to win to Twilight. Rainbow Dash had double her score and she knew there was no way of getting that back. Unless…

No! Twilight chided herself. You’re a princess; you wouldn’t go around creating tornadoes. Instead, Twilight took it like a good sport as Rainbow kicked the last cloud and won the match.

“Come on Twilight, surely you were practising in Canterlot?” Rainbow teased, while she accepted the applause from the crowd below.

That sparked a memory in Twilight’s mind. “I almost forgot!” she said. “I want you and Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy to meet me in the library. I have something very important to tell you.”

“Sure,” Rainbow said, “but really, what were you doing in Canterlot apart from royal duties and stuff?”

“In the library,” Twilight repeated. “I can’t say it out here, there are too many ears.”

This caused Rainbow Dash to look left and right in a suspicious way, causing eyes to be turned. “You’re right,” she said.

“I’ll go find everyone else,” Twilight said. “You head to the library.”

“Yes ma’am!” Rainbow saluted before flying off. “I’ll be there – IN TEN SECONDS FLAT!”

* * * * *

“So Twilight, what’s all this about here?” Applejack queried as Fluttershy closed the library door. “Something terribly important but so secret you can’t tell us in public?”

“Exactly,” Twilight confirmed. “Back at Canterlot, I had been talking with Celestia about my recent studies, when she suddenly asked me whether I had read about anything that might happen soon; she said she had a feeling something incredible was going to happen, and asked me and you girls to help look out for it. ‘But no-one else,’ she warned, ‘just in case it’s very bad.’”

“So we’re looking for something incredible?” Rainbow chortled. “I’m right here! The fastest pegasus in Equestria!”

“Rainbow, this is mythological,” Twilight pointed out. “It’s like the prophecy of the stars releasing Nightmare Moon from her prison in the moon.”

“Oh, I see,” Rarity said. “So, something rather impressive that could happen?”

“Ooh, this is going to be FUN!” Pinkie Pie shouted, bouncing round the room. “Maybe it’s a giant ancient fantabulistic birthday party for Discord! Or… flying pigs! Yes, flying pigs! Aww, that would be sooo CUTE!”

“Pinkie… I don’t think it’s going to be an ancient birthday party,” Twilight sighed, “But that’s a good point – when is Discord’s birthday, and I do wonder if he likes partying?”

“We’re going off course here!” Rainbow complained. “We’ve got our task from the royal herself – look out for any interesting things that happen! Come on girls, we’ve got to start searching!”

“It’s almost dinner-time!” Rarity said, shocked. “I’m not going outside just to look for something incredible when I could be eating a delicious cake!”

“Rarity’s right,” Twilight said. “I’m feeling a little peckish myself – the journey here takes so long we had to start early and I missed breakfast. And then I guess we were all too busy at the festivities to think about lunch. Spike?”

Twilight’s purple dragon hopped down the stairs from Twilight’s bedroom. “Hello, Twilight!” he said happily. “How was Canterlot?”

“It was great, Spike,” Twilight smiled. “Now, do you think you could make me and the girls a spot of dinner? It would be wonderful to have some good home cooked food for once.”

“Sure!” Spike agreed, rushing into the kitchen.

“Right afterwards, I’ll probably go to bed,” Twilight remarked. “It’s been so tiring up in Canterlot with all of the royal duties I have to do.”

“We understand,” Rarity said. “After dinner we’ll have a look around town while you rest.”

“Thanks, girls,” Twilight said, “and good luck!”

* * * * *

As the moon rose over Equestria, the citizens of the land each returned home to fall asleep peacefully. Lights were switched off, doors were locked and curtains were drawn. Mothers sang their babies to sleep, fathers returned tired from work and crawled eagerly into beds, and children dreamed of their fantasies. All but one.

Lyra Heartstrings was anxious; more anxious than she had ever been before. She tossed and turned in her bed, trying to rid her mind of the distractions whizzing round in it so she could get some sleep. Pulling her duvet higher up her body, she sighed and tried to relax. But she couldn’t. There was just a nagging feeling right at the back of her head, as if something… incredible was about to happen. She couldn’t explain what, it was just like a primeval reaction. Maybe it was just something in the air.

Lyra stepped out of bed and walked over to her window, opening the curtains and allowing some fresh air to seep into her room. It did no good to her troubled self. Lyra sighed again and leant her head on her hooves, staring outside into the stars and the moon. It was a beautiful night – the clouds were absent and so the sky was completely visible. Lyra envisaged Princess Twilight stargazing at this moment if she hadn’t been so tired from her visit to Canterlot.

Searching the sky, Lyra found two stars that were much brighter than the others. But when she looked closer, they didn’t look very much like stars… then she saw where the light was coming from. Two far mountains in the distance had their summits illuminated by a strange, white light. Lyra felt the ground start to rattle.

“Earthquake!” Lyra gasped, hurrying downstairs and running outside so the house wouldn’t collapse on her. She turned to look back at her house and saw Canterlot Mountain’s summit also glowing white.

What’s going on?! Lyra thought to herself.

The three summits suddenly each fired a beam of intensely white light at each other, forming a perfect equilateral triangle as they clashed. The power reverberated through the ground, the earthquake getting stronger, but no-one else seemed to wake up, oblivious. Then, three more beams fired in between the others and converged upon the centre of the triangle. Within this centre, there formed a ball, pulsating with stored power. And within the ball, Lyra could see the silhouette of a pony starting to take shape.

The three beams connected to this ball slowly lowered the silhouette down to the ground. As soon as the pony’s hooves touched the hard dirt, the beams almost immediately retracted, the mountains stopped glowing, and the night was dark once more.

Lyra walked cautiously up to the white ball of energy, studying it closely. What is that? She wondered curiously, reaching out to touch the surface.

Lyra yelped and suddenly jumped back as the ball of white energy dissolved into the air to leave the owner of the silhouette behind. An alicorn stallion with no cutie mark.

Lyra cautiously approached this strange adult, lying unconscious on the ground. The pony’s coat was a sharp white; it was difficult to look at for too long. His mane was sky blue and red, trimmed short and styled backwards as if the pony was flying extremely fast. Lyra studied the horn – it was pointed at the tip, with the trademark grooves on every unicorn’s horn winding themselves down to the forehead. The tail was like a flowing river, deep blue strands weaving within each other and giving off the effect of a ripple, tipped with gold.

Well, I can’t just leave him out here, Lyra thought. I’d better get him inside. Maybe some hot chocolate and a few of Bon Bon’s sweets should wake him up. Using her magic, Lyra used a levitation spell to carry the pony back to her house. Once inside, she pulled up a chair and settled the pony comfortably in it, draping a blanket over him. Then she went to the kitchen to prepare the hot chocolate.

* * * * *

The stallion began to pull out of unconsciousness, his eyes opening a crack as they adjusted to the bright light in the room.

A room. The stallion instantly freaked out, although managing to contain it within him through supreme self-control. Still, he had no idea how he had turned up here, in a room of all places. The last thing he remembered was him being outside, his vision going whiter as the real world had faded around him…

Another pony trotted into the room and the stallion almost screamed, his eyes widening substantially at the mare’s arrival. The aquamarine pony hesitated as she noticed the stallion was awake, a cup of hot chocolate held suspended with what the stallion assumed was her magic. The mare opened her mouth to speak, but faltered slightly. “I… I brought you some hot chocolate…”

The stallion smiled appreciatively and nodded, still wondering where he was and what he was doing here. The mare moved the cup over to a chair which the stallion noticed he was lying in, and placed it on the table beside it. The mare spoke again, this time with a little more confidence.

“What’s your name?”

The stallion had to think for a moment, which surprised him as he usually could remember his name quick as a flash. “Nova,” he finally replied. “Nova… erm…” And now he was stumped on his second name. Brilliant, the stallion cursed himself. You’ve forgotten your name – a vital part of information for an introduction. That was before he realised he didn’t have a second name.

“Just Nova,” he confirmed, trying to move his hoof so he could pick up the cup of hot chocolate. The hoof stubbornly disobeyed his instructions and stayed put.

Hmm… looks like I need a little more rest before moving my limbs, the stallion thought. Ah well. Actually, why am I so tired?

“Uh, Nova?”

“Sorry,” Nova apologised, realising the mare had been speaking.

“My name’s Lyra,” the pony said, twiddling her light cyan coloured hair into knots. She was quite obviously nervous about this meeting. “Umm… I play the lyre.”

Nova caught sight of her cutie mark – a golden lyre. “You must be very good at it then to have a cutie mark of it,” Nova pointed out. Lyra blushed and turned shyly away.

“It was just a hobby,” she said modestly, “but it turned out to be what I was meant to do.” She looked back at him and asked, “What about you? Why don’t you have a cutie mark?”

Nova began to laugh. “What do you mean, I don’t have a cutie mark? I’ve got a cutie mark, it’s a… a…” Nova had another memory lapse. Lyra sighed and moved the blanket Nova was under away from his flank. There was nothing there.

“…Oh,” Nova said. “I could’ve sworn I had one…”

“What’s strange is that you’re an adult with no cutie mark,” Lyra said. “Can you explain why?”

“Well, I did have a cutie mark, but I have no idea where it’s gone,” Nova responded. “What a mystery…” Nova pulled the blanket back over him as he started shivering, and then it came to him he had just moved. His energy was back.

Nova gingerly stepped off the chair and back onto all fours. He let out a sigh of relief. “Do you know what happened to me?” he asked Lyra.

“Well…” Lyra started. “Three mountains started glowing white and then they made a ball of white light in between them, which you were in, and then they lowered you down to the ground and stopped glowing, and I found you unconscious.”

“Ah, the three shrines,” Nova muttered. “That’s interesting.”

“So anyway, I brought you in and made you some hot chocolate,” Lyra continued. “Oh, I almost forgot Bon Bon’s sweets!” She rushed back to the kitchen, leaving Nova in the lounge.

Nova began to take in his surroundings. The room was covered in pictures framed with oak – pictures of Lyra and a beige-coated pony with curled pink and indigo-like hair. It looked like they had been many places, though Nova didn’t recognise any of them. Apart from Canterlot. Nova could notice those palace spires anywhere.

Lyra came back with a bowl of sweets wrapped in blue paper, with a golden stripe encircling them. “Here,” she offered, handing some to Nova. “Oh, you’ve been looking at my pictures. That’s Bon Bon there. She made these sweets, and they’re a delicious strawberry flavour.”

“Mm hmm,” Nova mumbled, while sucking on the sweet. “Wow, you were right, these are of good quality. Also, it looks like you were in Canterlot in that picture there. What were you doing there?”

“Oh, that was us enjoying the sights before Hearth’s Warming Eve!” Lyra said.

“Hearth’s Warming Eve?” Nova said. “I’ve never heard of it.”

“Really?” Lyra said, astounded. “It’s the legend of the founding of Equestria, when we discovered – “

“Equestria? Where’s that?” Nova asked, confused.

“What do you mean, where’s that?” Lyra was startled. “We’re in Equestria now!”

“Well, I used to rule over the land of Marelon,” Nova said. “I had never heard of an ‘Equestria’ there.”

“Rule?!” Lyra’s attention was captured. “You mean, you ruled over a whole land, like our Princess Celestia and Princess Luna?”

“Celestia and Luna, did you just say?” Nova’s happiness could not be contained. He grinned and his face shone like the sunrise at the Summer Sun celebration. “Thank Galaxia they’re alive! I thought my sisters were dead when I went!”

“SISTERS?!” A lot of information had been revealed in the chat, but none as mind-blowing as this. “But – but Celestia and Luna don’t have any siblings! At least, I didn’t think they had any… maybe Princess Twilight knows.”

“Wow, it sounds like I have a lot of catching up to do,” Nova remarked. “New princesses, new land - obviously a lot has happened in such a short space of time. Who is this Princess Twilight?”

“Tomorrow I could introduce you to her,” Lyra suggested. “She might be interested in this Marelon you mentioned. Sounds like ancient history or something.”

That sparked Nova’s mind into coming up with a horrifying, yet incredible theory. “In such a short space of time, I travelled from ancient history to the present?” Nova muttered to himself. “I don’t believe it!”

“Don’t believe what?” Lyra asked.

“Never mind,” Nova quickly said. “Anyway, where are we?”

“Ponyville, of course,” Lyra giggled. “Didn’t you recognise it? Surely you must have been here before.”

“Ponyville, eh?” Nova said. “Yes. It’s where I worked.”

Lyra stepped back, astonished. “I am assuming you’re a prince,” she gasped, wondering why a royal would be doing work in Ponyville.

“Yes.”

“What sort of work were you doing?”

“Well, early in the morning I would head over to the mine for a couple of hours to find some gems,” Nova began. “After that I would head to the farm just off the main road following the dirt track to help with bucking some apples off of the trees at harvest time. Otherwise, I would kick about a few clouds with a pegasus friend boasting a rainbow mane. Then – “

“Woah, hold it right there,” Lyra interrupted. “A pony with a rainbow mane? What was this pegasus’ name?”

“Umm… something like Flowing Spectrum,” Nova said. “She was a quick one. I managed to teach her the Sonic Rainboom during our free time. Have you heard of the Sonic Rainboom?”

“Yep,” Lyra said, “and in fact, we have a rainbow-maned pony living in Ponyville who did it during the Best Young Flier’s Competition.”

“Well, that’s interesting,” Nova said. “What’s the name of – “

“Rainbow Dash,” Lyra interjected again. “She also helps clear away the clouds over Ponyville – unless, of course, there’s scheduled weather that requires clouds to be present.”

“Looks like I’ve got some people to meet as well,” Nova said.

Then there followed an awkward silence between the two ponies – all questions had been exhausted and there was nothing left to talk about. “Shall we… get some sleep?” Lyra said.

“Good idea,” Nova agreed, letting loose a yawn. “I’m drained after that battle.”

Lyra opened her mouth to ask another question, but didn’t, as she felt she had already intruded too far into the strange stallion’s life. Prince Nova… I rescued a prince.

“You can sleep on the sofa if you want,” Lyra said. “You can use the blanket I gave you.”

“Much appreciated,” Nova thanked. “Goodnight.”

“Goodnight,” Lyra said, switching off the lights, leaving the lounge and shutting the door quietly behind her. As soon as she did so, she heard the faint sound of snoring. And surprisingly, when Lyra climbed into her own bed, she fell asleep straight away too.

One Million Years Ago

“Are your nightmares still troubling you, sister?”

Princess Luna looked upon the shuddering form of Princess Celestia with sympathy obvious in her eyes. “I do apologise, but can do nothing about it. Your dreams have a mind of its own – a mind I cannot control.”

Her sister was trapped – enclosed in a never-ending nightmare that haunted her from dawn to dusk to dawn, forever a cycle of misery. Luna squeezed her eyes shut and turned away for a moment as Celestia began to convulse on the floor, rolling around, her limbs spazzing in a flurry of white, eyes wide and filled with pure terror, but she did not wake. Luna had seen this phase come round many times. She covered her ears with her front hooves as Celestia began to moan in pain.

It was possibly the most torturous moment of Luna’s long life, to see her own sister consumed by what she had thought she could control. It was all she could do to stay by Celestia’s side and hope she would rise from the dark pit she had fallen into. It could take days – possibly weeks – for her sister to pull out, but Luna was prepared to remain for as long as it took to purge the foul dream from her mind.

“THE SHADOW!!!” Celestia suddenly screamed, frightening Luna so much she leapt back and bashed herself on her bed. “It’s coming…” Celestia began to whimper, curling into a ball and shivering. Luna picked up the duvet from the bed and draped it over her sister’s body.

“Rest, sister,” Luna murmured to herself, tears welling in her eyes. “It will be over soon.” But deep down, Luna knew she could not believe her own words. If she couldn’t free her sister, nopony could.

* * * * *

Lyra yawned and stretched in her bed as her weary eyes opened to a golden dawn. Beautiful, she smiled to herself as she pulled herself out of bed and onto her hooves. Taking it slowly down the stairs, she knocked on the door of the lounge. “Nova, it’s morning!” she called, as cheerfully as she could with her sleepy voice while stifling another yawn. “I’m taking you to see Princess Twilight today!”

There was no answer. Lyra put her ear to the door, but could hear no snoring. Confused, she opened the door and found the sofa empty, the blanket abandoned. “How DARE he!” Lyra shouted to nopony in particular. “He may have been a prince, but that doesn’t mean he can just take off without a simple ‘thank you’ or anything! Why did I trust him? I shouldn’t have trusted him! I should have just left him in the road when I – “

Lyra’s rant was interrupted by Nova bursting through her front door, breathing heavily. “Good morning,” he panted, desperately trying to stay on his hooves.

“WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?!” Lyra yelled at him, running towards him. “You disappeared without telling me!”

“I left a note,” Nova said with an innocent smile. “Check the sofa.”

Lyra grumpily stalked back to the lounge and immediately caught sight of a sheet of white paper lying on the crumpled blanket. Nova walked up to stand next to her. “Your eyes must have passed over it, you were so tired.”

“True, I feel a little groggy…” Lyra said. “I was up past midnight last night, worrying. I had a feeling that something incredible was going to happen. Come to think of it, that feeling’s gone now…”

Nova grinned and gave a small cough, still a little exhausted from doing whatever he had been doing just before charging inside. “Interesting,” he said. “Anyway, you said you were going to take me to meet this Princess Twilight?”

“Sure!” Lyra said, back to her cheerful self. “Although she’d probably be having breakfast at this moment.”

“Maybe we should follow her example.” Nova turned towards the kitchen. “What do you feel like today?”

“Breakfast?” Lyra said. “Umm… well, I guess some salad wouldn’t hurt today.”

“Hayseed?” Nova asked.

“Sure – “ Lyra began. Nova, quick as a flash, rushed into the kitchen and started to prepare the meal for two. And in just over 30 seconds, it was ready. Lyra’s mouth dropped open in disbelief. “How did you do that so quickly?” she marvelled.

“It was a popular dish when Marelon was around,” Nova answered. “Everypony requested it at least twice a day.”

“You mean you cooked for the citizens?” Lyra said. “But – but you’re a prince!”

“Does it matter?” Nova replied. “Whatever class in society you are, it’s nice to do something nice every so often.”

“True,” Lyra said, settling down in her chair and pulling it up to the kitchen table. Nova placed her dish in front of her and sat down opposite with his own. Then, both using their magic to levitate a spoonful of the food into the air, they took a bite.

“Mmm…” Lyra took another bite. “Delicious.”

“It’s certainly better than others I’ve made,” Nova remarked. “I guess the texture’s a little crispier than usual.”

Lyra let loose a quick giggle and finished her bowl off. “So, I’ll take you to see the princess of Ponyville now then,” she smiled.

“Of course,” Nova grinned. “I can’t wait.”

After both had put their dirty bowls into the sink to wash later, they left Lyra’s house and began to walk to the library. However, Lyra turned to look to the central square of Ponyville and found a large crowd huddled around something. “I wonder what they’re doing over there,” Lyra wondered out loud.

“Hopefully sharing out the gems I collected from the mine,” Nova answered without looking himself. “I guess that explains why I was panting when I returned to your house.”

“You went and collected gems from the mine?” Lyra gasped. The mine’s been closed for Celestia knows how many generations!”

“Back in the time of Marelon is was just starting to be hewn,” Nova said. “I helped out with the digging.”

“Woah, okay. Let me get this straight,” Lyra said. “You cook for the town, and you helped out with digging away at the ground? What sort of a prince are you?”

“One who involves himself with the tasks of everyday life, I suppose,” Nova said. “It’s eye-opening to see how the lives of normal ponies are.”

“How many gems did you collect?” Lyra asked, curious.

“Well, I didn’t count, but I’d estimate about 500,” Nova said. “Not bad for an hour’s searching.”

“500?!” Lyra exclaimed. “Ten miners couldn’t do that in a week! How did you do it?”

“Magical secret,” Nova chuckled, tapping the side of his nose. “It’s an old spell. Anyway, we were going to see the princess?”

“Oh, right,” Lyra said. “It’s just that you’re so… mysterious, I have so many questions! We’ve both got a lot to learn from each other.”

“That we do,” Nova smiled.

* * * * *

“HOW MANY GEMS?!”

“Enough for the whole town, it looked like. Beats me how they got there.”

“Oh Celestia,” Twilight groaned as Rainbow Dash watched on. “Do you think this is the incredible thing we’ve been looking for?”

“Around 500 gems is a pretty large number,” Rainbow Dash said. “I think that’s pretty impressive.”

Twilight sighed. “Rainbow, incredible things have happened around us many times,” she said. “Some were good, some were bad, some were just plain weird – “

“Like Flutterguy,” Rainbow Dash giggled. “Man, I’ll never forget that moment.”

“Yes, like Flutterguy,” Twilight said impatiently, “and also like Rainbow Crash.” That caused Rainbow to shut up. “Anyway, what I’m saying is that I don’t think we should be looking at things that… dull. I think that compared to what the princess is expecting us to find, that measly pile of gems could just be a speck of dust in an old garden shed. We need to look for something much more spectacular if it is to be incredible.”

“…I guess you’re right,” Rainbow said. “I’ll go tell the others.” But just as she was about to open the door, a knock came from the other side.

“Who could that be…?” Twilight muttered as Spike rushed to open the door for the visitors. Standing behind it was a mare Twilight had never noticed before – a light aquamarine pony with a pale greyish cyan mane.

“Your Highness,” the pony said, bowing low as the custom decreed.

“Good morning,” Twilight responded. “What brings you here… umm…”

“Lyra, Your Highness,” the pony told her. “Lyra Heartstrings.”

“Lyra,” Twilight finished, relieved.

“Well, there’s someone here who wants to meet you,” Lyra said.

“But there’s no-one accompanying you?” Twilight pointed out, the space behind Lyra empty. Lyra turned around and snorted in discontent.

“He’s run off again…” Lyra muttered.

“Who’s ‘he’?” Twilight queried.

“Oh, ‘he’ is Nova, apparently the former Prince of a land called Marelon,” Lyra answered. “He appeared last night in the middle of the road.”

Rainbow Dash and Twilight both took one look at each other and knew that they should follow this lead. Who knows, Twilight thought, this could be the thing we’re looking for.

“So where has this ‘Nova’ gone?” Twilight asked.

“No idea, Lyra grumbled. “He disappeared this morning to go and collect some gems which he then left in the central square – “

“One pony did that?!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed. “How?!”

“That’s exactly what I asked him,” Lyra said. “Apparently he used some form of old magic.”

“Old magic?” Twilight said. “How old is this magic?”

“I guess it was before Equestria existed.”

“Oh, right. Marelon. Erm, where is Marelon exactly?”

“Oh, I think he says it was right here, in this very same place as Equestria. And Ponyville was also a town back then.”

“Well, task complete,” Rainbow quipped. “We can report back to Celestia now, Twilight. Twilight?”

“Lyra,” Twilight whispered.

“What?” Lyra said.

“There’s someone behind you…” Twilight looked straight into the light blue eyes of a bright white alicorn stallion.

Lyra turned and sighed. “Where did you go this time?” she asked, annoyed.

“There were a few clouds about, and I got the feeling it wasn’t supposed to rain,” the stallion replied, smiling. Twilight was slightly taken aback by his powerful, yet kind and wise voice, a touch of nobility obvious in its tone.

“Oh… right,” Lyra said sheepishly. “Umm… Your Highness, I have the honour of introducing you to Prince Nova of Marelon.”

Lyra stepped out of the way to let the alicorn in. Nova walked inside and gestured for Lyra to follow.

“Oh, no, I couldn’t,” Lyra protested. “I have some rehearsals to do with Octavia for a lyre and cello duet. I’ll see you in an hour, I guess.”

“Sure,” Nova replied. Lyra shut the door and left Rainbow Dash, Nova and Twilight alone – except, of course, for Spike, who rushed around dusting up the books on the shelves as quick as the small dragon could without tripping over, grumbling all the time.

There was an awkward silence as the three ponies present tried to decide what to say to each other. Nova began to rifle through some books lying around. “What are you looking for?” Twilight enquired.

“Something on the history of Marelon,” Nova replied. “I want to find out how long I’ve been gone for.”

“I know almost all of these books inside out,” Twilight told him, “and none of them contain information on this ‘Marelon’ you come from.”

“Ah.” Nova stopped searching and looked back to the two ponies, Rainbow Dash giving him the ultimate quizzical stare.

“So…” Rainbow Dash said. “What’s Marelon like?”

“Well, it had quite a rocky terrain, but the topography is very similar to Equestria here,” Nova said, “and I recognised Canterlot Mountain. It still is Canterlot Mountain, right?”

“I… guess so,” Twilight said. “So Canterlot existed in Marelon as well?”

“It sure did,” Nova responded. “I lived there with my family until I was old enough to travel by myself.”

“And who was your family?” Twilight asked.

“Well, I had two sisters, who Lyra told me are both alive and well, ruling Equestria at this moment, and – “

“You’re related to Princess Celestia and Princess Luna?!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed. “Huh. I guess it’s true you learn something new every day.”

Nova continued. “My parents are called Queen Galaxia and King Cosmos, although I have no idea where they are.”

“Well, those are two ponies I’ve never heard of before,” Twilight remarked. “I don’t think we’ve ever had a king and queen.”

“So how come you just turned up last night in the middle of the road?” Rainbow Dash questioned.

“Lyra said something about me descending in a ball of white light,” Nova said. “Oh, and by the way, are you Rainbow Dash?”

“Ha! Obviously!” Rainbow confirmed. “The only pony in the history of Equestria to execute a Sonic Rainboom!”

“Well, it’s good to meet you, Rainbow,” Nova said, walking up to her and shaking her hoof. “I was friends with somepony who looked almost exactly like you.”

“Really?” Rainbow said. “Wow…”

“Yeah, Flowing Spectrum was her name,” Nova said. “I think the only difference I can see is your coat is a little darker than hers.”

“Could she do the Sonic Rainboom?” Rainbow asked smugly.

“I taught her how,” Nova replied, grinning back at Rainbow’s now astonished face.

“You – you can’t just teach somepony to do a Sonic Rainboom!” Rainbow protested. “It took me months to learn it myself! How many times did she do it?”

“I lost count,” Nova said. “She reached the right speed many times, but it was the second stage she couldn’t quite get past.”

“Second stage?” Rainbow said.

“The Double Rainboom,” Nova explained. “It happens when you fly at twice the speed you require for the normal Sonic Rainboom.”

“The Double Rainboom…” Rainbow’s voice was full of wonder. “You mean, you can teach that too?”

“What, are you interested?” Nova winked.

“Why wouldn’t I be?” Rainbow Dash laughed, stretching her wings and giving a quick flap so she hovered in the air. “We should start right away!”

“Rainbow…” Twilight growled. “We haven’t quite finished yet. After this you can head outside and do your super-fast stuff.”

“Fine,” Rainbow agreed grumpily, falling back to the floor and sitting down, pouting.

“So, where were we?” Twilight thought out loud. “Ah, yes. What was life like back in Marelon?”

“Quite busy,” Nova admitted. “Because the land was covered in rocks, progress in the agricultural department was slow, but eventually, we managed to populate the land with trees and rivers, hills and towns – whatever you’d care to name.”

“So everything turned out alright then!” Twilight said cheerfully.

“No, it didn’t,” Nova said. “Not at all.” His ears fell and he stared down at the floor, a painful look in his eyes.

“…What happened?” Twilight asked.

“A monster,” Nova said, his voice hoarse as tears began to form. “A shadow from another world. Everything was destroyed. Everything, including Canterlot Palace, where my family were. I had been in Ponyville when he suddenly attacked them. I thought they were dead…” Nova choked on his words as his tears began to soak the wooden floor below him.

“I alone stood up to him. The rest of the ponies in Marelon were consumed by his power and turned into his evil slaves. And when I eventually defeated him, I used a spell with my last dredges of magic, just before I could die. I sent myself forward in time. I wouldn’t have had the strength to see if my family was all right if I had stayed. I couldn’t have coped with seeing the destruction all around me. All of our hard work was gone, and the land had been turned back into its old rocky self.

“Well, now I know my sisters are alive. At least all was not lost.” Nova sniffed and wiped away the water still collecting in his eyes. He looked back up at the two ponies who had listened to his story. “All I can guess is that another group of ponies came and cultivated the land, turning it into what it is today.” He smiled faintly.

“So… Flowing Spectrum died?” Rainbow asked.

“I would have to assume so.”

“That’s terrible…” Rainbow sidled up to Nova and put a hoof around him. “But hey, you can just imagine me as Flowing Spectrum if I look almost exactly like her!”

Nova’s smile returned to its full beam. He chuckled. “That I would love,” he said, returning the hug. “So, is that it, Twilight?”

“I guess so,” Twilight said. “I don’t have any more questions, so feel free to go outside and do your flying practice with Rainbow while I read up on a few things.”

Rainbow Dash grinned at Nova. “Let’s see how fast you really are, then!” she challenged, flapping her wings and zooming out of the door. Nova quickly followed.

Twilight sighed and began to study the bookshelves. “Flowing Spectrum, eh?” she muttered to herself. “I’m sure I’ve read that name somewhere before… hold on a moment. Was that alicorn missing a cutie mark?”

* * * * *

“Right!” Rainbow Dash said as she flew slow circles around Nova. “I usually do this with Twilight, but now it looks like I have a challenge on my hands, so this should be fun!” She rubbed her forehooves together with glee. “It’s who can clear the most clouds!”

Nova looked up at the clear sky, void of clouds. “Well, maybe we should go somewhere where there are clouds,” he pointed out.

Rainbow laughed. “Right… yeah, we should probably collect some clouds first,” she said. “Umm…”

“How about over there?” Nova suggested, pointing to the Everfree Forest.

“Are you crazy?!” Rainbow exclaimed. “That’s the Everfree Forest! Nopony should venture in there without some reasonable excuse!”

“The Everfree Forest, huh,” Nova said. “I see nothing wrong with it. It’s just a little dark and spooky, that’s all. We can move the clouds back here if you feel like it.”

Rainbow gulped. “One flyby, and then I’m not going back to collect more clouds. Got it?”

“Sure,” Nova grinned, pushing down with his wings and speeding off towards the forest. Rainbow gulped again and followed.

From just one flyby, they managed to gather roughly 100 clouds in one massive ball. Rainbow split them up and distributed them over Ponyville. “Ready?” Rainbow said.

“Start the countdown,” Nova said.

“All right then,” Rainbow grinned. “3, 2, 1, GO!”

The pegasus and the alicorn both set off at the same speed, breaking off in opposite directions. Rainbow went left, busting a cloud almost immediately. She smiled triumphantly and turned around to see Nova smash through 3 more. “Come on, Rainbow!” Nova shouted, smiling from ear to ear. “Concentrate!”

Rainbow frowned and flew off again, this time with more vigour. She ignored what Nova was doing and just concentrated on the clouds on her side. Before Nova came charging through and busted them for her. He destroyed about 5 clouds a second, compared to Rainbow’s 3. It was obvious who was going to win.

The crowd that had been surrounding the pile of gems now watched the skies, awestruck, as their fastest flyer was bested by a new pony they had never seen before. Not just any pony – it was an alicorn! The crowd began to cheer for Rainbow, hoping it would spur her on to win. Pegasi began to bring in new clouds from everywhere, trying to help Rainbow get her score level with the alicorn’s, but Rainbow knew she couldn’t do it. Her opponent was much faster than her – and if he could teach someone how to fly at twice her top speed, she had no chance.

Rainbow grunted, and then remembered that Nova was an alicorn. He must be using magic to help him win! Rainbow thought. What a cheater! As Nova flew past, she stared angrily at him.

“STOP CHEATING!” she yelled. “QUIT USING YOUR MAGIC!”

Nova sped back to face her and paused for a moment, pointing to his horn, which was just sitting there on his head like it had in the library. “No glow, no magic,” Nova explained. “Nopony can bypass that; it’s just the nature of our kind.”

“Right… sorry,” Rainbow apologised. “But we’re still on!” And she flew off and busted another cloud, while Nova suddenly destroyed every other cloud in the sky above Ponyville. Rainbow Dash turned for her next cloud and noticed it wasn’t there. She looked for Nova and found him breathing heavily, but grinning wide. Rainbow Dash’s jaw dropped.

Nova gave a few flaps of his wings and came level with Rainbow Dash, offering his hoof. “Well done,” he said, in between his gasps for air. “Even though Flowing Spectrum could fly fast, she didn’t have that kind of agility you possess.”

Rainbow took the hoof and shook it. She was equally exhausted from all of that flying. They both touched down on the ground and smiled at each other.

“Wow,” Rainbow said. “That was impressive.”

“Thanks,” Nova panted. “It requires strong yet quick flapping of the wings. It tires you out like the end of a full day of running.”

“You have to teach me how to do that,” Rainbow pleaded.

“I can teach you all that and more,” Nova chuckled, placing a steadying hoof on Rainbow Dash as she wobbled slightly. “But I think we need to rest now. And maybe get a bit of food.”

* * * * *

“You called me over, dear?” Rarity said, stepping through the door.

“Yes,” Twilight said, “as well as the others, who don’t seem to be here on time. Anyway, Rainbow and I think we’ve found the incredible ‘thing’ Celestia tasked us to look for.”

“And where is Rainbow Dash?” Rarity asked.

“With the incredible ‘thing’,” Twilight grumbled, “which turned out to be an ancient alicorn prince with no cutie mark and also the brother of Celestia and Luna.”

“Rainbow Dash is with a PRINCE?!” Rarity screeched. “I’M SO JEALOUS I COULD JUST – “

“Calm down, Rarity,” Twilight scolded. “The thing I’m worried about is why this prince has no cutie mark – “

“What’s his name?!” Rarity interrupted.

“Uh, Nova – “ Twilight began, trying to continue.

“Nova! Such a noble name!” Rarity swooned. “I would really love to meet this prince and see what he’s like; who knows, maybe he will be my Prince – “

“Rarity, quiet!” Twilight shouted, continuing the chain of interruptions. “As I was saying, Nova has no cutie mark, and I find that suspicious.”

“Oh, Twilight, he’s the brother of the princess!” Rarity said. “Have you ever been suspicious of royalty before?”

“Rarity, just listen,” Twilight groaned. “I just want to make sure Rainbow Dash is safe and that Nova isn’t some kind of mutated changeling or whatever. I’ve had quite enough of changelings since my brother’s disastrous first wedding.”

“Well, don’t jump to conclusions too quickly,” Rarity warned. “You don’t want to offend a prince.”

Twilight sighed. “Don’t worry, I’ll be fine,” she promised. “Tell the others if you see them.”

“I will do so, you can count on that!” Rarity giggled, blushing and leaving. Twilight rolled her eyes. Rarity and her romantic fantasies, she thought, returning to a book. Whatever next.

New Friends

As the thousands of ponies left Canterlot palace, half-asleep, sick, or even wounded, they gasped as they saw what their once beautiful land had become. It was ravaged – a sea of rocks, a useless land of misery. Fires still raged where previously industrious towns and cities had stood proud and strong. The citizens of Marelon had thought they could protect themselves against anything. They had not expected this.

The princesses were almost dead – their parents having left them as they transformed into the sun and moon. The prince, their final chance of survival, was lost – whipped up by the expansive oceans of time and thrown away from their present. But at least he had rid the land of The Shadow.

Even so, Nova had not managed to save everything. He had protected the citizens, hiding in Canterlot palace in their thousands, but the rest of their work was gone, swept away by the ghostly hands of their worst nightmare. The legend had come true.

Some ponies began to recite the legend, to calm their terrified minds. Muttering under the breath of the almost silent wind, they said to themselves:

One pony alone shall stand against all,

His breath ragged from battle, yet he shall stand tall,

The Shadow may take the sun and moon,

But the controller shall free them from Time’s typhoon.

The fight will be tough, and the controller will fall,

But peace and harmony shall reign above all.

What the future then holds is for others to decide,

Marelon’s fall, Equestria’s rise.

Their prince, Nova, was the controller. He kept the fundamentals in line with the rising of the celestial bodies. He had brought the people of Marelon the best lives they could ever wish for. Yet now he was gone, and his personality could not be replaced. They had to cope without him.

The princesses could still raise the sun and the moon – they had enough power for that – but the worldly functions and their responsibilities had to be taken on by somepony else. It would be a unanimous decision – the High Council of Magic would continue Nova’s duties until the princesses were fit enough to take them on themselves.

From the balcony of the throne room, Archmage Silver Vortex stared blankly into the space where his teacher had disappeared in a flash of light after defeating The Shadow. He sighed and put his head in his hoofs, sobbing gently. Life had been so unfair to him at times, but this was the worst thing to happen to him.

Silver Vortex could remember Nova mentioning the spell he had used to defeat the Shadow in one of his final lessons. Overdrive. Where the user would allow his or her magic to completely engulf their body and fuse physically with them, giving them more power than it was perceived possible. With use, it had a fatality chance of 100%. Nova was gone, and Silver could do nothing about it.

Silver looked away from the sky, still full of black clouds. His tears fell in their masses to the ground, where they remained, forming a puddle of salty water. Silver cried harder as the main emotions hit him like a train. Gone. And all Silver could do was cry.

Stop it, Silver chided himself, shaking his head to try and stop the flow of tears. Nova would not like to see you in this state. Be strong. Be strong and cope with it, in remembrance of him. For Nova’s sake, I shall pass on his legacy.

Silver walked out of the throne room and down the stairs into the wrecked main courtyard. The grass had been burnt to the roots – nothing could grow again here for a very long time. Silver activated his magic and tapped his horn on a partially cracked statue of the Lord of Chaos, Discord. The statue glowed once and fixed itself. Silver sighed and continued downwards.

The city was empty – nopony had remained, wishing they could forget all that had happened. Silver hoped that he could too, but he knew that Nova was too important to him for him to just use a memory spell. He had to find the High Council of Magic.

He applied a levitation spell to himself and flew all over the city, searching for the leaving ponies. Eventually, he found them, taking a dangerous rocky path down the mountain, escorted by soldiers and the rest of the High Council of Magic. Silver Vortex set himself down at the back and used another spell. He tried many frequencies until he found the frequency the High Council were using for telepathic communication.

The members felt Silver’s presence and were quiet to let him speak. Please return to the back of line. I will be waiting. He felt their minds leave the communal thoughts and approach him. Satisfied, Silver left himself and waited for his fellow unicorns to arrive.

At last, the final mage arrived and Silver began to speak. “We must decide between ourselves who is to take on which of Nova’s responsibilities. He has taught me all of the spells, and so I shall pass them onto you. I suggest we return to Canterlot palace and to our hall to discuss this further. All in favour, say ‘Aye’.”

The congregation each said ‘Aye’ one after the other, in accordance with the order of their own register. “Then it is settled,” Silver said. “Let us go back.” His horn began to glow, and then he used a group teleportation spell to send them quickly to Canterlot palace.

* * * * *

Lyra was now used to waking up and finding Nova was missing. It seemed to be part of his lifestyle back in the time of Marelon, and Lyra didn’t really want to mess with that. After all, it may help him relive his old life, which he must have enjoyed, Lyra would say to herself. Besides, I shouldn’t really…. miss him every morning.

Whenever Nova left early, he would always prepare breakfast for Lyra, be it a salad, sandwiches, or even a plate of hay. And every time that happened, the food was delicious. So whenever Nova took a break from the work he was doing, Lyra would take the chance to say thank you.

During this free time, Nova would usually tutor Rainbow Dash on her Sonic Rainboom. Through these lessons, Rainbow could now take off and break the sound barrier in under a second. Nova was trying to teach her how to take off and immediately execute the legendary trick. Unfortunately, it was proving rather difficult.

“You have to push off hard with your forehooves,” Nova explained, going slowly through the motions, “and then when you’re completely stretched out vertically, you extend your bent hind legs and blast off.”

Rainbow Dash tried again, bending down and then following Nova’s instructions to the letter. But still she couldn’t do it.

“I can’t do it!” Rainbow complained, falling back to the ground. “I’ve followed your instructions, but it’s impossible!”

“Try again,” Nova urged. “It took me many times to get this right.”

Rainbow groaned and got back up. She bent, she extended, and she pushed with all her might… but still failed. Rainbow yelled something in disappointment to the skies.

Nova sighed. “Okay,” he said, try starting with your wings stretched as far up as possible.”

“You forgot to mention that,” Rainbow muttered.

“Yeah, sorry.”

Rainbow returned to the starting position. Bending down on all fours, she stretched her wings, pushed off with her forehooves, extended her hind legs, and pushed against the air with her wings, using all of the strength she could muster.

And there it was. A Sonic Rainboom immediately from a standing start. Rainbow shouted in delight. “I did it!” she shouted. “YES!”

Nova grinned and flew up beside her, keeping pace easily. “Well, now what, hmm?” he asked. “Double Rainboom?”

“You bet,” Rainbow said, putting on an extra burst of speed. The two ponies flew half a dozen times around Equestria before landing in the central square, exhausted from the practice.

“You wanna come round to my house sometime?” Rainbow suggested, panting. “We could go someplace where there’s a wide open space.”

“That’s a good idea,” Nova agreed. “The Double Rainboom does have a few destructive capabilities…”

“Well, that’s settled!” Rainbow smiled. “Tomorrow?”

“I’ll check with Lyra,” Nova said. “She said she would take me to one of her concerts with Octavia soon.”

“Octavia?”

“She’s a cellist,” Nova said.

“Oh, right,” Rainbow said. “Heh, I could’ve guessed she was a classical musician. So, see you soon then.”

“See you soon,” Nova said, waving goodbye as Rainbow returned to her cloud home. He chuckled and turned round to see Twilight’s face blocking most of his vision.

“Found you at last,” she said, still staring him down. “I have a few more questions to ask.”

“Really?” Nova said. “Well then, back to the library, I presume.”

Twilight’s frown grew larger. “I should have known that was too obvious a place,” she muttered. “Erm, yes, come to library. NOW.” And then she teleported away. Nova sighed and began to walk back to Twilight’s residence.

* * * * *

“You have no cutie mark.”

“I know.”

“But WHY?”

“Beats me. Lyra said she didn’t see one when I appeared.”

“Yeah, okay, but why is your flank blank?”

“As I said earlier, beats me. I did have a cutie mark before I travelled to Equestria.”

“Yeah, okay, okay,” Twilight said impatiently, ruffling through some of the books on her desk. “My problem is that I found something on changelings which states some cannot copy their target’s cutie mark, and so their flank is blank!”

“Well, firstly I don’t know what a changeling is, and secondly, I had a cutie mark!” Nova insisted. “You can’t just blame me for not being what I know I am without some proper proof!”

Twilight grumbled and shut the book she had feverously been reading through again to double-check there was nothing else. “Question time is over,” she growled. “GET OUT!”

“That quickly?” Nova remarked cheekily.

“OUT!”

Nova stayed put. “I don’t know what your problem is with me,” Nova said, “so could you just tell me?”

Twilight sighed. “I’m a little edgy today,” she said. “I haven’t received a letter Princess Celestia said she would send to me. She’s never missed sending a letter before, so I’m worried.”

“There were some times when Celestia was a little bit… off,” Nova said. “I’m sure it’s nothing much.”

“I hope so,” Twilight said. “Anyway… bye.”

“Goodbye,” Nova replied, leaving her home as the night began to set in. Twilight sighed again and returned to the mess of books on her desk. She quickly looked through them and found the right one. She opened the book at the contents page.

“Page 13…” Twilight muttered to herself, flicking to the right page. “’What Came Before Equestria’…”

* * * * *

“This council has been called to order to decide on the roles and responsibilities that must be bestowed upon each member in the event of His Royal Highness Prince Nova’s death.” Silver’s strong voice echoed around the high-roofed hall, bouncing off the bookshelves lined with tomes on magic and mystery. The 14 mages joined with him in a circle each sat straight in their red leather seats. “Let us start with the register, so that we may know all are present. Starlight Dew.”

“Present.”

“Red Star.”

“Present.”

Silver trawled through the list of mages, all answering ‘present’ to their names. Morning Glimmer. Sunset Loom. The list went on until the last mage’s name had been read out and marked with a tick. Silver lay down the scroll and quill he had been levitating and brushed a few stray strands of deep blue mane away from his light grey face.

“We have 15 unicorns to split these roles between. Let us begin.” Silver began to read out Nova’s duties that had to be taken on by somepony else. If a mage wished to do the particular duty, they would raise their hoof and volunteer. If there was more than one volunteer, the rest of the mages would vote on the right pony for the job. There were many jobs, and some were much trickier than others. Silver found that most of those tasks were voted for him to handle.

Once they had finished, Silver wrote down the mages next to their selected job on another scroll. Rolling it up, he sealed it with a powerful magical seal. “And so it is done,” Silver announced. “Your tasks begin today. In order of register, I will see you in my room to teach you your spells. Good luck, and may the sun and moon shine gratefully upon us.”

The mages muttered the response necessary and dispersed, apart from one, who was to be first to learn her new spell. “Come forth, Starlight Dew,” Silver said. “Let us return to my chambers.”

The mage nodded silently and followed Silver up the stairs. Silver illuminated his horn as the stairs became darker – Starlight did the same. Eventually, they reached the top of one of the destroyed spires of Canterlot – except this spire had not been destroyed. Nova’s protection spell had succeeded in preventing The Shadow’s attempt to kill Silver as the Archmage had watched on in horror, before rushing down to the throne room and helping the citizens of Marelon to get inside safely.

Silver put the few things that had fallen back in their place and then turned to Starlight, about to say something. Then he felt a familiar touch on his magical senses. A remnant of a magical spell. It was only there for a second before disappearing again, but it was enough for Silver to know what it was.

“Starlight,” Silver said, “it may be that that entire meeting below was pointless. I have just detected that Nova used a spell to allow his duties to continue by themselves. We no longer require the temporal, spacial and gravitational spells we just assigned the mages. You may tell them that they do not have to come to me to learn these spells.”

“Yes, Archmage.” Starlight Dew bowed before him and turned to leave, but not before asking a question. “How can you only know now that Nova used this spell?”

“Whenever you use a magical spell, there are remnants of the spell left behind; it’s like when you step in sand, you leave a hoofprint behind you,” Silver explained. “Prince Nova taught me how to recognise these ‘hoofprints’ and work out what spell was used, when it was used, and where it was used.

“Of course, these prints will fade over time, and so it usually takes a day for these detectable prints to go away. There is one problem with detecting these, though, and that is that some ponies can make their print to be so small and insignificant other ponies will simply wash over it and not notice. Nova taught me how to keep my magical sight open for these prints, even if they are tiny. And Nova’s prints were the smallest.

“Unfortunately, due to these recent events, my own feelings got the better of me, and so I never realised Nova had used a spell until now. That is all.”

Starlight Dew bowed again. “Thank you, Archmage,” she said, before taking the stairs back down to the throne room. Silver chuckled and stared out over the horizon. You never cease to surprise me, he thought to himself.

And then a scroll bearing the signet of Nova appeared out of nowhere and landed on Silver’s head.

* * * * *

“Lyra?”

“What is it, Nova?” Lyra looked up from her book to see the alicorn standing in front of her.

“Do you remember mentioning that concert where you and Octavia would be performing?”

“Oh, that one!” Lyra smiled. “So you are coming then! Brilliant!” Lyra clapped her hooves together in joy, beginning to wonder about all the sorts of things she could do with him.

“Well… it depends,” Nova said. “Rainbow Dash is dying to learn the Double Rainboom, and she said we could go somewhere wide and open to practice tomorrow, so...”

“I understand,” Lyra said, sighing to herself as she returned to her book, her smile disappearing. “Our concert is tomorrow as well.”

“Ugh,” Nova groaned. “Just my luck. When does the concert begin?”

“Well, first we’ll have a large dinner party before the music kicks off at around 8 o’clock,” Lyra said, calling the details to her mind. “Then it all finishes at around 10 o’clock.”

“An evening concert? That’s not too bad, I suppose,” Nova said, pondering. “So… erm… head over to Rainbow’s at sunrise, head off around 10, practice until 5…” Nova muttered his plan for tomorrow under his breath as he tried to work out what would probably work best for Lyra and Rainbow Dash.

“Okay,” Nova said. “I think I’ll be able to come, so long as Rainbow Dash doesn’t mind tagging along. It takes a while to teach the Double Rainboom.”

Lyra felt a short pang of jealousy at the mention of Rainbow Dash being with Nova for the concert, but she knew that wasn’t professional and tried to put it out of her mind. She switched back to a smiling face.

“I’ll see you two there then,” she said. “Goodnight, Nova.”

“Goodnight, Lyra,” Nova said, exiting Lyra’s house. Lyra knew he was going to find a comfortable tree to lie in – he never asked anypony if he could sleep in their house for the night. It was strange, to see a prince roaming Ponyville as if he was just a homeless stallion, but Lyra knew it was how Nova had lived, and she would respect that. Settling back into her book, Lyra slipped away into the land of pleasant dreams.

* * * * *

“What to do!” Luna cursed, trying to write a letter while looking over her insane sister. “I know that telling Twilight Sparkle is right, but will it break her to find out her own teacher is trapped in a nightmare? Will she get mad at me, thinking I created this as revenge for my thousand years locked away in the moon?”

Thousands of troubling thoughts buzzed persistently around Luna’s upset mind as her quill scratched against the rough parchment, controlled by her dark purple magic. Many wondered what would happen when Twilight found out the news. Others wandered back to Luna’s time on the moon; a time when Luna had met the most insane pony she had seen. An alicorn, wings like black gas, a coat illuminated by stars that seemed to be part of his body. A necklace; a royal jewel, the crescent moon encrusted upon its dark metal.

Luna sighed, signing off with her signet at the bottom of the scroll. “That ‘god of the moon’ insisted that he knew me; that I was his daughter, along with Celestia and another alicorn called Nova. He ruined my entire time on the moon with his non-stop ranting over this and that – things he said I should know, but I did not.”

Celestia cried out again from her bed. “THE SHADOW!” she screeched, then resolving to a whimper. “It’s coming…” Luna shrunk back at the whimper, now not much louder than an ant’s footsteps, yet still applied with force and meaning.

Luna rolled up the letter and tied it with a ribbon. “No matter what happens to me, Twilight must be told!” Luna said. “Even if she wishes me dead!” And with that, Luna used her magic and the letter was sent, containing information that, unbeknownst to all but one, would warn of the Next Coming…

The Shadow was coming.

* * * * *

As Nova searched for a good tree to rest in, he didn’t expect to be hit by a light bluish-grey pony with crossed eyes flying much faster than one normally would after a tiring day. As the dust cleared after Nova crashed into the dirt, the pegasus fell down and landed awkwardly on top of him.

“Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry!” the pegasus exclaimed, offering a hoof to Nova. “I guess I just wasn’t looking where I was going…”

Nova took the hoof and the pale yellow maned pegasus helped him up. “Nah, it’s okay,” he reassured. “I should’ve been more alert.”

The crossed-eyed pony grinned. “Okeydokey!” it said. Nova judged from its voice that the pegasus was a female. “I’m glad you’re okay!”

Nova sneaked a quick peek at the pony’s cutie mark. Lots and lots of bubbles. “Erm, thank you…”

“Derpy,” the pony said proudly. “I’m Derpy Hooves!”

“Uh, okay, hi Derpy,” Nova stuttered, surprised that a pony could have such a name. “Uh… my name’s Nova. It’s good to meet you.”

Derpy enthusiastically grabbed Nova’s hoof and shook it warmly, although the amount of force used was a little over the top as Nova felt his bones begin to dislodge from all of the shaking. Derpy finally relinquished her grip and Nova immediately gave his forehoof a fast magical check-up before being satisfied. “It’s nice to meet you too, mister!” Derpy said cheerfully. “Hey, are you new? I can show you around!”

“Don’t worry, Derpy, I’ve been around long enough to see all of the sights,” Nova chuckled. “Now I just need to find a good tree to rest in.”

“A tree?!” Derpy exclaimed. “No no no no no, you can’t sleep in a tree! You can come round to my house and sleep! I’ve got a guest bed and muffins and EVERYTHING!”

Nova considered it for a moment. “I suppose it wouldn’t hurt… it that really okay with you?”

“No problem!” Derpy grinned, her golden eyes still managing to remain cross-eyed, which Nova couldn’t explain how. “Come on, I’ll show you the way!” And she took off, just like that. “Come on, we haven’t got all day!”

Nova looked once at the night sky, sighed, and flew after Derpy across the fields until they reached a dirt track crossing beneath them. Derpy landed, and Nova followed her example. “Okay, turn right!” Derpy instructed, turning left.

“Uh, Derpy, are you sure that’s right?” Nova asked.

“Well of course I’m right!” Derpy giggled. “Why would I not know the way back to my home?”

“Well, it’s just… never mind.” Nova walked next to Derpy along the dirt track. Eventually, Nova caught sight of lights hovering in the distance. As the duo came closer, it became obvious that the lights were part of a house. It wasn’t too big – a good size for maybe a family of 3 or 4. The straw roof was in good condition, and the wooden walls were well protected against the weather.

“Welcome to my house!” Derpy announced. “Two floors and lots of cupboards filled with delicious muffins! I’ve got loads of different kinds of muffins, like blueberry, raspberry, apple… ooh! And also I have a muffin-flavoured muffin! Mmm, those ones are the best!”

Nova smiled warmly at Derpy’s hospitality as they entered. “Thank you very much,” Nova said. “I… didn’t expect this.”

“Oh, nopony ever does!” Derpy said. “That’s why they never come over! They think I’m weird and deranged and all sorts of stuff, but at least I know they’re wrong.”

“And I know they’re wrong too, right?” Nova said. “You’re not weird – just a little awkward.”

“Thanks mister!” Derpy grinned, suddenly hugging Nova. “It’s good to finally have somepony who understands!”

Nova laughed as Derpy’s hooves tickled him. “All right,” he said, trying to stifle his laughter as Derpy stepped back, laughing with him. “Let’s get some sleep then.”

“Yeah!” Derpy agreed, pointing to the stairs just through a doorway. “First door on the left. Have a good night, and sweet dreams!”

Nova thanked Derpy and found the guest room. It wasn’t very large, but it had enough space for a bed and cupboard. Nova assumed that the cupboard was filled with muffins, like Derpy had said. Cuddling into the soft covers, it didn’t take Nova very long to settle into a deep, comfortable sleep.

The Letter

“Nova Nova Nova wake up wake up WAKE UP!!!”

Groaning, Nova tried to shake off the pony rattling him awake. “What?” he grumbled from under the sheets.

“It’s half past 4!” Derpy said cheerfully.

“In the morning?”

“Yup!”

“And?”

“Surely you must have heard of the Summer Sun celebration?” Derpy asked, shocked. “We’ll be late if we don’t hurry! Now come on!”

“So what’s this celebration?” Nova asked, still sleepy and unable to fully open his weary eyes. He tried to step out of bed, but his legs collapsed beneath him and he fell to the floor. Derpy pushed up against him and lifted him back onto his hooves.

“Oh, it’s where Princess Celestia raises the sun for the longest day of the year!” Derpy explained. “We did once host the celebration before, but that didn’t go too well…”

“What happened?” Nova asked.

“Well, Princess Luna came back after being locked away for something like 1000 years trapped in the moon, but as her evil self, Nightmare Moon.” Derpy shuddered. “It was kinda scary, her trying to shroud the world in eternal night.”

“An eclipse,” Nova muttered. “Well, Luna’s certainly improved in her magical ability to be able to counter-act my gravitational spells…”

“Er, what?” Derpy said.

“Nothing.” Nova hurried down to the front door. “Anyway, I can’t wait to meet my sister after so long, so I’d like to get there as quickly as possible!”

Derpy giggled. “Finally,” she remarked, flying after Nova’s receding form, already charging far into the distance.

* * * * *

Nova wasn’t the only one who was reluctant about getting up. Spike the Dragon, self-proclaimed Number 1 Assistant of Twilight Sparkle, was snoring louder than a timberwolf as the princess tried to stop him from faking sleep and get him out of his basket. “Spike, come on!” she pleaded. “The Summer Sun celebration is going to start soon, and we have to be there to greet Celestia!”

“Uh huh,” Spike mumbled, still trying to return to his dreams. “No thanks, I think I’ll stay here and – “

Twilight yanked him out from under his blanket by his tail and threw him unceremoniously on the ground. “Strange to think that last time the Summer Sun celebration was held in Ponyville you were partying downstairs having the time of your life!” Twilight pointed out angrily. “Now come on!”

Spike groaned and muttered a few curses as he pulled himself back up to his feet and up onto Twilight’s back. “Fine…” he said, “but don’t blame me when I fall off you halfway through the ceremony.” And then he burped, and a letter reassembled itself from the green flames that followed it.

“A letter?” Twilight said to herself, picking it up with her magic and studying the wax seal. “From Luna?”

Spike snatched the letter from Twilight’s levitation spell and unravelled it. “Ahem,” he coughed. “I am sorry to tell you this, Twilight, but my sister is unable to attend the Summer Sun celebration?!”

“What?!” Twilight grabbed the letter from Spike and read the words herself.

“I hadn’t finished,” Spike grumbled as Twilight began to hyperventilate.

“Why can’t Princess Celestia come to the Summer Sun celebration?!” Twilight gasped, astounded. “That’s just unthinkable! What do you think, happened to her, Spike? Do you think she got in a fight with the changeling queen? Or maybe she – “

Spike again took the scroll back. “I hadn’t finished,” he repeated, straightening the crumpled paper and clearing his throat once more. “She is at this very moment trapped in a never-ending nightmare – “

“How dare Luna do that!” Twilight suddenly yelled to the night sky. “How dare you, Luna!”

“TWILIGHT!” Spike shouted at her. “You continue to interrupt me and so I can’t tell you the whole story! Just let me finish!”

“Sorry…” Twilight sheepishly sat back on her haunches. “Carry on.”

“Thank you. As I was saying, she is at this very moment trapped in a never-ending nightmare which I am unable to control,” Spike continued. “As the celebration cannot go ahead, I want you and your friends to come to Canterlot and use the Elements of Harmony on Celestia, to see if that is powerful enough magic to free my sister. Yours sincerely, Luna.”

“So who will raise the sun?” Twilight asked, exasperated.

“Umm… hold on, there’s a PS!” Spike noticed. “I will raise both the sun and the moon until Celestia can return to her normal duties.”

Twilight breathed a sigh of relief. “No eternal night this time,” she said happily. “But enough about that! We’ve got to get the others!”

Spike groaned. “You’ve got to get the others,” he said, sliding off Twilight and crawling back into bed. “I’m staying here.”

“Fine.” Twilight rolled her eyes and used her levitation to put Spike on her back. “Sleep there.” And so she rushed out of the library towards Fluttershy’s cottage – although she never got far, as a blue-grey lump smashed right into her side and sent her flying.

“Oops!” Sorry Twilight!” Derpy apologised, quickly trotting over to help the mare to her hooves. “I didn’t see you there.”

“What are you doing, Derpy?” Twilight asked angrily. “It’s half past four!”

“Yeah, but it’s the Summer Sun celebration! Everybody’s up at half past four!” Derpy pointed out.

Twilight cursed herself for forgetting so soon after reading about the tragedy associated with it. She opened her mouth to tell Derpy what had happened, but then shut it quickly as she thought about the consequences. Being the bearer of bad news wasn’t the greatest job in Equestria.

“Morning, Twilight.”

“Hello, Nova,” Twilight groaned as the white pony flew in behind Derpy. “What sees you up and early?”

“Actually, this is later than usual, but today I thought I might get away with a little more rest,” Nova said matter-of-factly, folding in his wings as he landed next to his grey-blue escort. “Turns out there’s a ‘Summer Sun Celebration’ which my sister Celestia’s a large part of, and Derpy here told me to rush over to the town hall early in the morning.”

“Yeah, about that…” Twilight trailed off as she remembered Derpy was present as well. But Nova simply gave a knowing smile and nodded.

“You can give me the whole story later,” he said. “I’ve got a pegasus to teach the Double Rainboom to. Derpy, how about you go make some muffins for the celebration?”

“Muffins…?” Derpy’s face shone like the fast-approaching sun. “Yippee! I love muffins! They are just my favourite treat in the world, you know?”

“I sure do,” Nova grinned. “You named to me every single type of muffin in your cupboard. Why would one do that if they didn’t have a unique obsession over them?”

Derpy smiled back and took off back to her house. “I’ll see you later, okay?” she shouted to him.

“Sure thing!” Nova replied as the pegasus hurtled into the distance. He turned back to Twilight, whose face was a complete mess of emotions. Surprise, anger, and maybe a touch of wonder all flickered over Twilight’s features before she regained her composure. “I’ll tell you the whole story now, inside,” she said calmly. “Follow me.”

“I have a feeling this concerns your friends as well,” Nova said. “Shouldn’t we go and get them?”

Twilight stopped just before the door back into the library. “Actually, that’s a good idea,” she agreed. “Why don’t you fetch them with your ‘awesome’ speed?”

Nova pretended not to pick up on the intended sarcasm. “Sure,” he said, preparing to take off.

“I don’t think you know where my friends live!” Twilight told him.

“I think I do,” Nova responded. “I’ll be back in a few minutes, maybe less.” And with that he flew off towards Rarity’s Carousel Boutique. Twilight shook her head in confusion as she tried to think how he could know things he had never been told. Giving up for the moment, she went back inside and sat down in front of her reading desk. “Five more chapters to go,” she muttered, continuing her studies of the book, ‘What Came Before Equestria’.

There was a knock at the door. Back already? Twilight thought incredulously as she warily approached the handle. Quickly pulling it open, she found a muddy Spike dripping muck all over her recently polished floor.

“Don’t leave me outside again,” Spike warned, “or you’ll be sorry.”

* * * * *

“This emergency session has been called to order to discuss the matter of a letter sent directly to me from His Royal Highness Prince Nova, having travelled through time from the future.”

There was a bemused muttering from all corners of the High Council of Magic. Most couldn’t believe that Nova had survived – defying a prophecy had never been successfully carried out, and so some members were suspicious.

“How do we know this letter was from Nova?” a golden unicorn with jet black hair objected. His blue eyes darted quickly around the room, daring anyone to challenge. Even though his gaze only settled on each pony for a few milliseconds, most were intimidated to not answer. His horn glowed slightly as he added magic to his intimidation.

Silver Vortex noticed and chided the unicorn. “Do not use any spell within the Council Room’s walls except low-level levitation, Bright Spyre,” he said. “We know this letter was from Nova since it carried his seal and his magical print. Surely you were taught about a nobleman’s seal in Novice?”

Bright Spyre winced inwardly at harsh memories associated with the youngest form of magic school, but hid it from his peers. “And the fact that it was from the future? It could just have well been sent from the past, as if it was His Royal Highness’ will.”

Silver Vortex sighed at Bright Spyre’s obvious questions, which held obvious answers, but Bright was a rather ‘unhinged’ pony that required particular care when dealing with him – one wrong move and he could have you locked in a magical duel within seconds. “I tracked the magical footprint and identified it as a time spell,” Silver explained. “I then looked closer and saw the magic was a reverse time spell. Had it been more… forward, the letter would have been from the past. And no, it does not contain any will of any sort.”

“May we hear the letter?” Starlight Dew asked from across the room.

“A good notion, Starlight,” Silver agreed. He brought out the scroll of parchment from behind his chair. “Although addressed to me, it will do no harm for others to hear what our prince has to say.” Silver cleared his throat.

“I trust you thought me dead,” Silver read. “Of course, with the appearance of this letter and your certain curiosity on how it arrived there, you will have realised that you were wrong. I am alive and well in the future Ponyville, which you will know as one of the many towns across Marelon. Equestria does indeed exist – I have witnessed the result of the slow transformation of what is now in your time a rugged landscape of stone into a shining world of grass, plants and civilisation. You have no doubt tracked down how far I am into the future through my magical footprint, and that is why I am writing to you – I have no idea how far I am into the future, and I wish for you to send a reply to me telling me ‘when’ I am, and how what was previously Marelon is doing. As always, your proudest mentor, Nova.”

“Is that it?” Bright questioned angrily. “All he can say about Equestria is ‘a shining world of grass, plants, and civilisation’?”

“One must be careful when writing a letter to be sent through time,” Starlight explained calmly. “If you meddle with too much, it can have disastrous consequences.”

“Meddle with what, may I ask?” Bright retorted. “I highly doubt any damaging information could come from the future.”

“You never know, Bright,” Silver said. “Some things can hide themselves from us until it’s too late. Taking the risk is far too dangerous.”

Bright scowled and leant back into his chair. He had finished his protest. Silver cleared his throat.

“I will study this letter to find when and where it was sent from. As soon as I have done this, I will call up a small group of unicorns from this Council and a few soldiers from the Marelon Army to travel to the point in time and space at which Nova is.”

“Pardon me for interrupting, Archmage, but didn’t you just lecture me about meddling with time?” Bright snapped. He didn’t say Starlight had a part in it, but he gave her an angry look.

“Travelling forwards in time is different to travelling backwards,” Silver said. “Fewer mistakes are made – in fact, it is difficult to make mistakes in the future at all. Our journey will be safe, so long as we return just after when we left.”

Bright grumbled under his breath, but was slightly relieved that it wasn’t another lecture.

“So, for now, the High Council of Magic is dismissed.” Silver waved his hoof and signalled for the mages to leave. They bowed and followed in single file up the staircase to the courtyard.

Silver grabbed the letter under his levitation spell and hurried towards his wrecked quarters. Spreading it out on the flattest surface he could find, he readied his magic. “You wouldn’t hide anything from me, Nova,” Silver muttered. “Would you?”

* * * * *

“The Summer Sun Celebration is cancelled.”

The faces of most of the ponies in the room were extremely similar – all of their jaws had dropped and their ears were trying to process the words they had just heard. “W – why?!” Rainbow Dash asked. “What happened?”

“According to this letter I just received this morning from Princess Luna, Celestia is trapped in some sort of uncontrollable nightmare,” Twilight explained. “Because of this, she is unable to attend, and if she is unable to attend, what is the point in hosting the Summer Sun celebration?”

“Uh, Twilight?” Applejack said.

“What?”

“Who’s the alicorn?”

“…Oh, Nova!” Twilight said, waving a hoof in the stallion’s direction. “From a land called Marelon in the past.”

“Oh. Right,” Applejack said, not understanding at all.

“He travelled through time to get here,” Rainbow Dash added helpfully. “But he’s not sure how far he went.”

“Rarity, are you listening?” Twilight enquired to the oblivious unicorn. Rarity sighed happily and continued to stare at Nova with wide eyes.

“Rarity?”

The white-coated pony ignored her again.

“Rarity?” Nova asked her.

“Y – yes, Your Royal Highness?” Rarity said, trying not to swoon as he said her name.

“Twilight would like your attention.”

Having been told by the pony she was mooning over, Rarity snapped back to reality. “I’m all ears, darling,” she said to the frowning Twilight. “What was the problem?”

Twilight groaned and repeated herself. “The Summer Sun Celebration is cancelled.”

“Cancelled?!” Rarity gasped. “But that simply cannot be!”

“Princess Celestia is under the influence of an uncontrollable nightmare,” Twilight said, “and Princess Luna wants us to try and use the Elements of Harmony on her to see if our magic is powerful enough.”

“The Elements of Harmony?!” Nova explained. “You managed to revive them?”

“What – is that hard?” Twilight said, puzzled. “I found them in the broken down castle in the Everfree Forest with the ponies you see before me. We’re the only ones who can use the Elements.”

“You must tell me everything about how you managed to come across them and use them,” Nova said, looking very excited and sitting down.

“Not now,” Twilight said. “We have a bigger problem than how we six can use the Elements of Harmony. We need to go to Canterlot at once.”

“But what about everyone here in Ponyville, and the ponies coming to visit the celebrations?” Fluttershy asked. “Won’t they be upset that it’s not on?”

“We’ll leave a short note with the mayor,” Twilight suggested, not taking any more questions. “Now, to the train station!”

“Actually, I’d prefer to fly,” Nova said. “I’ll see you on the other side.” And just like that, he was out of the door and in the sky, already hurtling towards the mountainside city.

Twilight groaned once more. Then, using her levitation, she retrieved a chest and the Elements of Harmony, storing the precious magical items in the padded interior. Locking the chest with a secure magical code, she opened the door. “Come on, girls!” she said determinedly. “We’ve got to try and save Celestia!”

Twilight turned back to the door and saw that Nova had felt like returning and was now standing back in the library. “I need to make a letter,” he said, not tired at all from his short flight.

“Quills and ink at the back, parchment on your left,” Twilight told him. “We’ll see you when you get to Canterlot.” And so, packing their saddlebags for the trip, they hurried to the station.

Nova closed the door behind them with his magic and chuckled. “I’d better let Silver know what’s happened,” he said to himself, taking up the quill with his magic and beginning to write.

* * * * *

Although knowledge of Princess Celestia’s affliction had been contained within the palace walls so far, eventually word would get out, and Princess Luna knew it. Even so, she tried to keep anyone she saw at least 50 metres away from her sister’s chambers. That was how a royal guard found her, eyes darting from corridor to corridor. Quickly pressing his back against a wall to avoid being seen, he strained his ears to hear if she was saying anything. Eventually, he noted her receding footsteps and the closing of her sister’s door.

Returning to the middle of the corridor, the guard warily approached the chamber. He had some idea of the castle layout, but that mental map had since faded, and there were unknown patches dotted about. One could never be too careful – one false step and you could be in view of a guard rather suspicious of what you had been doing.

The guard shuddered as he relived that fateful day, when his hunger had been oversaturated by the pure energy which kept his soul alive. Blasted back to the Outlands, scattered across Equestria, hated just for their way of survival. Not long after, the queen had died of her injuries, and her son took her place on the throne. Maybe he was not the most careful leader they had had, but his risks had paid off so far, and the clan was happy to accept him. Now he was sending spies across the globe, to keep tabs on anything that might be of interest. And the guard had found something.

Exposing his horn, the guard opened the door as quietly as he could, the green aura of his magic wavering slightly under his nervousness. He was in the bedroom of one of the most powerful ponies in the world. He peered into the darkness and saw a shape huddled under the covers of the bed. It could only be Princess Celestia, under the nightmare she was plagued with.

Chortling under his breath, the guard walked up to the bed and pulled the covers back – to find nopony there. Glowering, the guard’s eyes scanned the room until he noticed a hump in the rug. Obviously Celestia was in a worse state than he had thought. He activated a small light on his horn and stepped towards the hump.

The guard’s job was to study what was going on with Celestia and then report back to the young king residing in the Outlands. A rather simple task for one that had been so highly ranked in the army that had been chosen to take part in the attack on Canterlot, but a task all the same, and so it was his duty. Of course, the guard would need a close look at Celestia, to find any abnormalities. He dragged the rug off the hump.

And there she was – Princess Celestia, joint ruler of the land of Equestria, now reduced to a whimpering filly. The guard knelt down and studied Celestia’s features intently. He leant in close, smelling that juicy meal that was only just out of his reach – though what from, he did not know.

Then suddenly, her eyes opened. And they were filled to the brim with black.

The guard jerked backwards as if stung, but a shadowy cloud came up behind him and pinned him to the ground. Celestia rose, laughing. But not her normal laugh – it was malevolent, spine-tingling, and horrible to listen to. The guard struggled, but the shadow held on to him with unrivalled strength. Celestia spoke to him, but not in her voice. It was a deep, rumbling noise, steaming with evil. The guard was immediately shocked into conceding.

“I was wondering when you would come,” Celestia said. “Because I have a little message for your leader, Kalidan.”

The guard gulped. Celestia knowing their leader’s name was not a good omen.

“Tell him that in three weeks he must have an army ready to attack Canterlot. It must be as big as he can make it. Meet on the plains before the castle with my own army. You will recognise them when you see them.”

“H – how will we recognise them?” The guard stuttered.

“Consumed by my power, and hungry for revenge,” Celestia chuckled manically. “It will be obvious. Together you shall destroy what others have worked hard to build, and in return I will spare your race.”

The guard shouted out in protest, but the shadow holding him down crushed his chest inward and he gasped for breath. “I know who and what you are, Kataal Changeling,” Celestia warned. “You will do as I command.”

The guard cried out in pain as the shadow seemed to enter his body. He tried to reject what felt like dark magic, but it simply ignoring his attempts and began to rip off his disguise one piece at a time, finally revealing his true, black form. Kataal’s beady green eyes now stared with a look of anger at Celestia, who simply smiled slightly and edged off the shadow’s pressure.

Celestia knelt down to Kataal’s level and whispered in his ear. “As soon as I am out of this body, you must kill the white alicorn and bring me his horn. Do this, and you will be greatly rewarded.” Straightening up, Celestia released the shadow’s grip on the changeling. Kataal shakily pulled himself back on to his feet.

“W – who are you?” He stammered, breathing deeply.

“You may call me The Shadow,” Celestia grinned. “And you may tell your leader that if he refuses, his entire world will crumble around him, and he will powerless to stop it.” And then the black faded from Celestia’s eyes, and she fell back down to the floor, limp.

Kataal, shaken from the encounter, hurried out of the chamber and shut the door behind him, galloping for the nearest exit. This was urgent news.

Secret Passages

The muttering crowd had been waiting for a long time in the town hall for the arrival of Celestia, but so far, no-one had even seen the glint of a golden chariot in the lightening sky. Day was beginning to dispel the night, but the Princess of the Sun was not present to raise the celestial body she stood for.

Octavia groaned and slumped her head on her cello. This wait was possibly the longest the grey mare had had in her career, and it was for none other than a princess. Lyra was also quite anxious beside her, nervously plucking her strings one by one with her magic to make sure they were in tune. Ponyville’s resident DJ, though, was calmer than most in the room. She’d had late guests before, so it wasn’t much to her. Octavia, however, being a pony of punctuality, was not too pleased.

“I had no idea that a princess could be this late,” Octavia remarked, glancing hopefully at the sky to see if the princess was arriving yet.

“It is quite out of the ordinary,” Lyra agreed, putting down her lyre for a moment. “She’s never been late to a celebration before.”

“She’s a princess, so she does what she likes,” the DJ pointed out, leaning back on her equipment. “Although she’d better have a good explanation for this.”

“Vinyl, I honestly doubt Celestia would simply give up on the Summer Sun Celebration,” Octavia said. “It’s too important for the citizens of Equestria.”

“Well, maybe,” Vinyl said. “I didn’t see Celestia anywhere around Canterlot when I visited a few days ago. Maybe she’s caught up in something more important than having a massive ceremony for her raising the sun.”

“It is tradition!” Lyra gasped. “The ponies here rely on tradition as a part of them. Without ceremonies, festivals, galas, and so on, life for Equestria would be dull and depressing.”

“You have a point there,” Octavia agreed. “I just hope Celestia arrives soon.”

“Well, the mayor’s coming on stage.” Vinyl pointed to a brown mare wearing glasses approaching the podium. “Maybe she got here before we could see her arrival.”

“The look on the mayor’s face doesn’t look too good,” Lyra said, noting the pony’s expression of disbelief and unhappiness.

Octavia squinted her eyes and saw the face Lyra saw. “I think we are about to receive some bad news,” she said.

“Fillies and gentlecolts!” The mayor’s powerful voice filled the town with sound. “I am sorry to announce that the Summer Sun Celebration will not take place today. I am told that Princess Celestia has more important matters to attend to, and so she will not be able to come. She apologises for this and wishes that you all still have a great longest day of the year!”

The rest of the mayor’s words were drowned out by cries of outrage from the crowd.

“We travelled all the way from Fillydelphia to see the celebrations!” one couple at the front complained.

“Explain why our ruler would do such a thing!” a group of young colts shouted.

The whole hall was a mess of chaotic noises, and although some tried to keep the unruly crowd down, that just made them angrier.

“Vinyl Scratch!” Octavia yelled over the hubbub.

“Yeah, Tavi?!” Vinyl replied.

“Play your loudest piece of music!”

“But I thought you hated that!” Vinyl protested.

“Play it, Vinyl!” Lyra pleaded, covering her ears. “Just make the shouting stop!”

Vinyl sighed and pulled out a record from under her turntables, putting it into the slot and pressing the ‘play’ button.

From the massive speakers towering either side of the DJ there exploded the most deafening sound one could survive without their eardrums bursting. The dubstep mix blasted through the crowd like an icy wave – one moment they were roaring with anger, the next they were roaring with pain.

Octavia timidly opened her eyes while holding her ears to find everybody except Vinyl cowering like a frightened dog on the floor. The DJ was living the music, rocking back and forth to its shuddering beat, rumbling through the floor like an earthquake.

“VINYL, STOP THE MUSIC!!!” Octavia shrieked, trying to make her voice heard over Vinyl’s favourite song. Vinyl, as was expected, couldn’t hear her.

Lyra used her lyre to tap Vinyl on the shoulder. Whirling around, startled, Vinyl saw the floating lyre and decoded the message. She stopped the record, and the world was silent once more.

From all over the town hall every citizen of Ponyville slowly picked themselves back up, their legs shaking like jelly because of Vinyl’s music. The mayor brushed a few specks of dirt off her uniform. “A-as I said before,” she stuttered, “the Summer Sun Celebration is cancelled. Thank you, and… good day.” And so she left the stage. Grumbling to themselves, the congregation shuffled out of the town hall, leaving the three musicians alone.

Octavia sighed with relief and adjusted her bow tie. “I’m glad to see the last of that,” she commented, playing a few notes on her cello.

“Tell me about it,” Vinyl agreed, heading over to a table crammed with food and taking a cupcake. “That was crazy!”

“Girls?” Lyra said. “I think I need to tell you something.”

“Huh?” the two other musicians chorused.

“There’s a new alicorn in town. And I think he has something to do with Princess Celestia not being present.”

“Huh?!”

“His name is Nova, and he’s the brother of Celestia and Luna.”

“HUH?!!!”

“I know it’s a lot to take in – “ Lyra began.

“Celestia has a brother?!” Octavia stammered. “B-but… why would she not tell us? Surely this sort of knowledge is exceedingly important! You cannot simply hide away royalty like that from the public!”

“It’s been done before,” Vinyl interrupted, wiping away the crumbs as she finished the treats that Derpy would have otherwise taken all for herself. “You know, with Luna and Nightmare Moon.”

“You have a point…” Octavia fell back into silence. She fiddled with the strings on her cello, plucking a few notes and then returning with another exclamation. “But it still feels wrong!”

“Don’t worry about it, Tavi,” Vinyl said, reassuring her friend. “There’s no need to.”

Octavia nodded wordlessly and proceeded to pack up her cello. Vinyl also began to unplug her equipment and wrap it all up in a tight bag. She then tossed all of these extremely heavy items into the back of a cart. “So, who pulls this time?” she challenged, winking at Octavia. “I seem to remember a particular DJ trawled through many streets with this on her back to reach her friend’s house the previous night.”

Octavia sighed and put her own small bundle on top of Vinyl’s bulging pile. “I’ll keep to my word,” she said. “But I still think you cheated with those cupcakes.”

Lyra giggled as the two ponies began another argument over their regular bets. “Girls, there’s no need to shout over cupcakes,” she said, plucking a few strings on her lyre with her magic and then putting her own instrument away. “Octavia pulls this time.”

Grumbling about the unfairness of it all, Octavia attached herself to the harness and tugged with all of her strength. The cart stubbornly refused to move. Trying again, Octavia dug her hooves into the ground. Still there was no movement.

“What did you bring with you tonight?” Octavia asked Vinyl, panting.

“It’s a special occasion,” Vinyl replied with an innocent face. “You gotta bring your best subwoofers to something like this.”

“I suppose…” Octavia sighed again and pulled once more, but the cart still wouldn’t budge. Annoyed, she looked over her shoulder and saw one of the wheels had splintered from all of the weight.

“DAMN THESE ANTIQUE METHODS OF TRANSPORT!” Octavia wailed, sitting huffily down on the ground. “Don’t you two unicorns have some magic to help out?!”

“My magic’s only powerful enough to play the lyre,” Lyra admitted.

“And I never learned levitation spells,” Vinyl said proudly.

“Of course,” Octavia muttered under breath. “Vinyl learnt nothing but how to move sliders.”

“What?” Vinyl asked, hearing Octavia’s voice.

“Nothing,” Octavia said. “Nothing at all. Excepting the fact that this means everything we have is now GROUNDED!”

“Yeah…” Vinyl’s voice trailed off. “That could be a problem.”

“Ah, Lyra. I may have come slightly earlier than expected…”

Lyra whirled around and saw Nova standing there in front of her. The white alicorn, wings only just returning to his side, had obviously just landed. He gave a small smile to the three ponies. Octavia simply fainted on the ground, and even Vinyl’s jaw dropped. “That’s…” she started.

“I suppose Lyra told you about me,” Nova said, addressing the DJ. “And yes – I am Nova. Pleased to make your acquaintance.”

Vinyl quickly shut her mouth and smiled back. “The feeling’s mutual,” she replied, hiding a girlish grin. “I’m Vinyl Scratch.” She held out a hoof to the alicorn, shivering with anticipation. When Nova took it and shook, Vinyl felt she was almost about to explode. Shaking hands with royalty? She couldn’t believe it! Even if she was to ignore the fact that he was a stallion, it would still be the most memorable point in her life so far. Before she had time to stop herself, she asked, “Can I have a photo with you?”

Nova’s face became a mixture of confusion and surprise. “A what?” he said.

“He’s from one million years in the past,” Lyra told Vinyl. “I don’t think he knows what cameras are.”

“Oh, right!” Vinyl chuckled. “Oops. Uh… well, a photo is something that comes out of a camera. When you use a camera, it’s like you’re taking an image and then printing it out like a picture – a still of the world, if you would call it that.”

Nova nodded knowingly. “I have a lot to learn about this new place, but not enough time, it seems,” he said sadly. “I’m heading to Canterlot for an emergency concerning Princess Celestia. I assume the mayor has already told you.”

“Yeah, that’s kinda why we’re the only ones here,” Vinyl said. “Everyone else left. And what sort of emergency?”

“Vinyl!” Lyra hissed. “That’s confidential.”

“Honestly, I don’t know,” Nova answered, covering up the truth. “We just got a letter from Princess Luna telling us to come right away.”

“Oh…” Vinyl sounded disappointed. “Well, sorry for asking.”

“That’s fine,” Nova said. Then he noticed the cart and the splintered wheel. “I see you have a transportation problem,” he noted, motioning towards the unmoving form of Octavia.

“Tavi?!” Vinyl spluttered, having not noticed when her friend had fainted. “Oh Celestia, what happened?!” She rushed over and tried to shake Octavia awake. She remained motionless.

“She’s breathing,” Nova pointed out, showing the frantic Vinyl the steady rise and fall of Octavia’s chest. “So she’s not dead. I think she fainted.”

Vinyl took some deep breaths and calmed her nerves. “Thank Celestia,” she gasped. “I really thought…”

“Don’t worry about her,” Nova reassured Vinyl, lifting Octavia onto the cart along with her and Vinyl’s belongings. “She’ll be fine. Meanwhile, I’ll take this cart wherever you need it to go.”

“Gee, thanks!” Vinyl smiled gratefully towards Nova. “But… I thought you were a prince?”

“Well, yes,” Nova said. “but I often worked in the villages, helping out with everyday tasks. The more a ruler knows his people, the better he or she can rule.”

“The only times Celestia integrates with us even slightly is when she’s making a speech or she’s present at a national celebration,” Vinyl muttered under her breath. Nova pretended not to have heard and picked up the cart with his magic.

“Let’s get this back home then,” he said. “Which way, Vinyl?”

“I’ll walk ahead,” Vinyl suggested. “So you can follow me without having to turn around and ask me which way to go.”

“Agreed.” Nova nodded. “Lead the way.”

* * * * *

As soon as the train pulled up to the station, one of the coach doors burst open and six fillies all rushed through the exit, making their way to the castle in a most admired panic. Confused citizens leapt out of the way as the band of ponies, led by Twilight, hurried through the maze of swivelling roads. Eventually, they reached the castle gates and saw a rather large amount of guards patrolling the area.

Twilight walked up to one and asked him why there was so much security. “We had a bit of trouble last night, Your Highness,” the guard explained. “Apparently one of those changelings managed to get in to the palace.”

“What?!” Twilight exclaimed. “But why would they show themselves now?”

“Eyewitnesses doubt he wanted to be seen, but the changeling never made any attempts to conceal itself,” the guard said. “Honestly, I don’t believe any of this, but considering the absence of Princess Celestia and the cancellation of the Summer Sun celebration, I think Equestria’s in for a tough ride.”

“You may be right,” Twilight murmured. “Well if you see anything else, do not hesitate to come to me and tell me of what you saw.”

“As you wish, Your Highness,” the guard said, bowing before continuing on his circuit of the grounds.

Twilight signalled to the gatekeepers to let the six ponies through, and they obeyed without question. Being a princess really did have its advantages sometimes. As the gates closed behind them, the group reached the foot of the stairs that led up to the palace’s entrance hall.

“TWILIGHT SPARKLE!”

Startled, Twilight whipped her head around and spotted Luna waving regally to her from her watch tower she shared with Celestia. “Approach Celestia’s bedroom, and with caution. Make sure nopony sees you. I will meet you there. Do you have the required items?”

Twilight pointed with her hoof to a chest she had levitated all the way up from the station.

Luna nodded, satisfied. “Let us hope this works!” she said, turning back into the castle and proceeding to walk down stairs that most likely led to the princesses’ chambers.

“Come on, girls!” Twilight encouraged. “Let’s go help Celestia!”

“Agreed!” Rarity said confidently, as the band of ponies had the doors heaved open by guards and they galloped to Celestia’s bedroom. After five minutes of wandering the endless corridors, they found Luna waiting outside a set of double doors.

“Good afternoon, Twilight,” Luna said formally, greeting Twilight with a small bow. Twilight did the same. “We have much to do, and much to discuss, but that can be dealt with at a later date.” She looked to the left and right, checking to see if anyone was there. Content that there wasn’t, she opened the double doors to Celestia’s bedroom. “Enter, please,” she said, going inside. The Mane Six followed.

The bedroom at that moment did not seem to suit the owner’s title of ‘Princess of the Sun’ very well. The curtains were drawn and no lights were switched on, the room being almost pitch black. Luna, with her eyes accustomed to darkness, found a match and a lighter, and lit a candle, casting scary shadows on the white walls. The ponies saw an image of destruction. The rug was crumpled in many places, and the bed sheets lay teetering on the edge of the broken bed, the pillars holding it up having been gnawed at, as if a wolf had thrown itself at it thinking it an enemy.

“… How could this have happened?” Fluttershy asked, shocked, expressing the feelings of everyone present.

“I have no idea…” Luna muttered. “This goes far beyond anything I’ve seen her do.” Then her eyes grew wide in fear. “She didn’t…!” Luna gasped, suddenly rushing towards the wardrobe and shoving it away from the wall. “She couldn’t…”

The plaster behind the wardrobe was dirty and peeling off the wall. It obviously had not seen a cleaner in decades – perhaps centuries. Luna stood herself in front of this dilapidated part of Celestia’s bedroom, and began to cast a spell.

The six other ponies watched in awe as the wall started to fold in on itself. Behind it there lay a dark passage leading downwards into the depths of the castle. The stones were mossy, and the ceiling slick with moisture from somewhere nopony dared to think about. Luna took a torch from the old passage wall that had burnt out a long time ago and relit it with her magic. Not even telling the other ponies to follow, she took off down the tunnel. The sound of her echoing hoofsteps slowly receded until they could be heard no more.

The Mane Six remained motionless, mouths wide open in disbelief. “…What just happened?” Rainbow finally asked.

“I think we may have gone crazy,” Rarity remarked, before fainting unprofessionally on the floor.

“Well, we can’t hang around,” Applejack said, ignoring the white pony. “I suggest we go after Luna and ask her what’s going on.”

“I guess that’s the only choice we have,” Twilight sighed. “Come on, girls. Let’s follow. Oh, and someone wake Rarity up.”

Pinkie Pie immediately reached behind her ear and pulled out a party popper, placing it next to Rarity’s ear and pulling the string. The incredibly loud noise that followed woke Rarity up and set the unicorn’s ears buzzing for several seconds afterwards.

“Let’s go,” Twilight said determinedly, taking another torch, lighting it, and hurrying after Luna, her friends hot on her hooves. “I, for one, want to know what’s going on.”

* * * * *

“And that’s the last one,” Nova said, placing Vinyl Scratch’s treasured turntables next to the massive pile of the electronic musician’s things laid outside her house.

“Gee, thanks,” Vinyl said, blushing slightly. “It would’ve taken me the whole night to pack these babies away.” She tapped one of the turntables affectionately.

“It’s no problem,” Nova smiled. “I’m always happy to help. If you ever need me again, I’ll most likely be at Lyra’s or somewhere round town.”

“Well, I may head over for a quick chat or something, but until then…” Slowly but surely, Vinyl reached up to her tinted glasses and pulled them off, revealing her startling red eyes. She looked up to Nova and smiled faintly. “I guess I’ll see you.” Turning away, to hide her blush,, she began to make her way back to her front door.

“Wait a second. Let me see those eyes again.”

Her heart beating passionately fast in her chest, Vinyl turned back around. The look on Nova’s face, however, was not one of bliss, but more curiosity. He leaned in closer to her features, staring deep into her eyes.

Vinyl didn’t care if he only seemed curious. He was so close to her now, she could feel his breath on her nose. She gazed back, into his ice blue eyes, trying to savour this fleeting moment between them. Vinyl’s heart sped up with its beating, reacting to the emotions running through Vinyl’s head.

Unfortunately, at this point Octavia, the only other pony present as Lyra had rushed home halfway through the journey, came to and peered out of the cart she had been in to find the two ponies in this position. Almost screaming with outrage, she tried to clamber out of the cart and fell flat on her face.

Startled, Vinyl leapt back from Nova and grinned sheepishly. “Uhh… sorry,” she apologised. “Octavia frightened me…”

“There’s no need to apologise,” Nova said, to which Vinyl breathed an inward sigh of relief. “It’s just… red eyes were usually a bad sign back from where I came from.”

Back from where he came from? Vinyl wondered. “Why was that?” she asked.

“Well, it was a symptom of a disease, let’s say,” Nova said. “I hope the disease died out when I left.”

“Left from where?” Vinyl questioned. “… Sorry if I’m going too far with this.”

“No, it’s fine,” Nova said. “I’m from Marelon, a land which is probably quite ancient considering nopony here has heard of it.”

“Well, I certainly haven’t,” Vinyl admitted.

Octavia pulled her head out of the dust and muttered something.

“Pardon?” Nova said.

“Zecora might know something about Marelon,” Octavia spluttered again, coughing up dirt.

“Of course!” Vinyl agreed, pointing Nova in the direction of the Everfree Forest. “If you ever want to see Zecora, she’s in there…” Vinyl shivered and lowered her hoof. “She’ll probably be free, as nopony usually dares to enter that place.”

“I heard the same from Rainbow Dash,” Nova sighed. “I don’t get why everypony is afraid of it.”

“It’s just a gut feeling everypony goes upon,” Vinyl said. “It feels different to the rest of Equestria, as if… everything in it is too alive…”

Silence passed as the three ponies present tried to decide what to say next.

“Well… I’d better be going,” Nova finally said. “They’ll be expecting me back up at the castle.”

“Sure.” Vinyl brushed a few rogue strands of hair out from in front of her eyes and smiled. “Thanks for helping.”

“My pleasure.” Nova returned the smile – and then started to glow.

“Uh, Nova?” Vinyl’s voice became increasingly panicked. “What’s happening to you?!”

Nova’s face turned from smiling to downright livid. “It seems somepony just went somewhere they weren’t meant to go,” he growled. And then, with a blinding flash, he disappeared, leaving both Vinyl and Octavia with very perplexed looks.