Chapter 7, remembrance
In the early hours of the morning, Nova opened his eyes to the falling moon. By his side rarity had fallen asleep and lay in tranquil silence, her motionless body giving her a serene image. Nova gently rolled away from her and sat on the edge of the bed, yawning and rubbing the sleep from his eyes. Rarity murmured something about a handsome prince and curled into a ball, Nova smiled at the sight. Outside the world was bathed in total darkness, held in the vice like grip of the dawning hours when the moon had slunk below the horizon and the sun had yet to rise up and take her place.
Nova left rarity in bed and walked out onto the landing, crossing quickly and opening the door to the bathroom. He crossed to the mirror and stared at the unfamiliar image that stared back, after eight thousand years he barely recognised the sight of his own reflection. 'By the goddess I've changed', it was true. His skin was darker, its once pristine whiteness hidden under a thin layer dirt. The muscles in his legs had gotten smaller, so had the ones on his chest. His eyes had retained their fierce emerald glow, but the bags under them detracted from their striking colour. His skin seemed to hang on him; he looked like an emaciated cadaver. 'I may as well be one'. His mane had grown a considerable amount, the mix of reds, yellows and oranges trailing down his back and almost reaching the floor, the same could be said for his tail, which spread out behind him like a stream of fire.
He ran the cold tap and let the sink fill up to the brim. He placed a hoof on each side, counted to three and dunked his head in the ice cold water, gasping as he felt a shock race along his spine. He held his head under the water, counted to thirty and came out for air. He looked in the mirror again; streams of cold water leaving runnels of whiteness through the grey dust that covered his skin. He braced himself and dunked his head again, once more counting to thirty. When he was done he turned his attention to the tangles and knots that had worked their way into his mane, 'how did rarity think I was handsome?' He dug his way through the multiple bottles of shampoo, mascara, make up and lipstick, searching for a brush. When he finally found one, buried under a pile of old lipstick sticks he ran it through his mane and winced as he felt the strands of hair pull at his forehead. He was a stubborn stallion though and after about fifteen minutes of painful grooming he had his mane sorted out, though the brush was filled with his hair. He pulled it all out and ran the brush through his tail, once again wincing as the knots stubbornly refused to yield to the brush. When he was done he looked one more in the mirror and decided he looked marginally respectable, yesterday rarity had said something about going to a spa. 'That'll be useful' he looked at his mareishly long hair 'but it's a barber I need more like'.
Once he was done in the bathroom he went down stairs and entered the immaculately kept kitchen, his hooves squeaking quietly on the floor as he walked. In the pantry he found a open box of oat meal, retrieving a bowl, spoon and a carton milk he made himself a small breakfast. He took it outside and sat on the doorstep, bowl of oatmeal in hoof. Ponyville was small from what he could tell, only a small collection of tightly winding narrow streets, a main road running through the centre. Up the street was a tall circular building in the centre of a small square, 'that must be the town hall'. Down the road the town reached its boundaries and stopped, the road running its course out of town and up to sweet apple acres farm, its barn faintly outlined in the weak morning light. Nova dug his spoon into the bowl of oatmeal and ate a mouthful, savouring the taste of it on his tongue. It was simple food, but food all the same. 'Be thankful for every crumb you ever eat Nova, it may be your last' Nova harboured no illusions that his sister where coming for him, right now was the best time for them to strike. He had only just returned to Equestria, and had yet to regain most of his abilities or his cutie mark. He ran a hoof over his blank flank, feeling a keen loss as it ran over smooth skin. His cutie mark represented everything he had ever been, a warrior, a prince, a pony with a place in life, without his mark what would he do? Despite their inherent connection to the values of friendship, love and tolerance, many ponies still regarded those without a mark with ridicule and suspicion.
There was a crashing sound up the road and Nova turned his head to see a pegausi mare slowing floating down the street, a post satchel slung over her back. There was something familiar about her, but Nova couldn't quite put his hoof on it. He watched in amused fascination as she clumsily flew down the street, pushing letters through post boxes. When she came up to rarities door he saw her eyes were a deep gold and pointed in opposite directions, 'this is the one I crashed into when I came home' he realised 'hope she doesn't want to press charges, I can't afford a lawyer'.
"Oh hey!" she said as she floated up to him, her wings flapping lazily "you're the guy who saved my life!" she gave him a wide smile, 'strange eyes yet perfect teeth'. "Thanks a lot mister, if you hadn't come along that fireball would've crushed me like a pancake!" she pulled out two envelopes and handed them to him, gave him another smile and floated down to the next house. 'Strange mare' he thought, then turned his attention to the letters. One of them was a bill from the electricity, clad in simple brown paper. The other had a purple envelope, rarities name written in flowing script on the front. 'from twilight sparkle, the was the one who told rarity about me' she also allegedly had a book about him as well 'I should get my hands on that book, if it's really about me then whoever wrote it knew a great deal about me'. Nova finished his bowl of oatmeal, stood up, and stretched his wings, sighing as he felt them extend to their full span, at least twice his body length. He flapped them a couple of times to rid them of their morning stiffness and took to the air.
The ground fell away from him as he soared into the air, enjoying the sensation of the wind as it ran through his wings, like a thousand fingers comprised of cool air. Below him ponyville spread out like a patchwork quilt, the orchards of sweet apple acres adding a brilliant emerald green to the canvas. He flew higher and higher into the cloud layer and alighted on a small white cloud, the springing sensation feeling strange under his hooves. He stretched his wings and his legs, working any leftover stiffness and aches from them before he launched into a series of drills, spinning and rolling through the air. The leapt from cloud to cloud, running a course through his mind, when he ran out of clouds he opened his wings and began to loop, once, twice, three times. He stabilised and corkscrewed through the air, the world spinning as he did so. For at least an hour he spun through the air, honing his flying senses back into place. He touched down on a cloud and lay down, savouring the warmth of the sun. He was still a long way off his former level of mastery of the art of flying, but for now this would have to do, he hadn't eaten enough to give himself enough energy to keep going.
"Nice moves kid" he looked up and saw a blue pegausi on the cloud above him, her red eyes shining vibrantly. "Pretty amateur though" she glided down and landed next to him, landing with expert skill. "Names rainbow dash" she held out her hoof, which Nova shook.
"Nova" rainbow dash cocked her head sideways and gave him a scrutinising look.
"So you're him huh? The guy who thinks he could take on daring do" she gave him an aggressive smile "you're aiming to high kid, nopony beats daring do"
"I haven't got a clue who daring do is, and how do you know about me?"
"Twilight, she said you where some big shot prince that fought a dragon" rainbow dash snorted "I took on a dragon once, beat it to" her smile turned smug.
"Twilight seems to know a lot about me" Nova didn't like this; whoever this twilight mare was she seemed to be telling everyone about him.
"she's got a book" rainbow dash yawned loudly "but enough talk, I saw you flyin there, you looked pretty fast" she ran her eyes over his body, taking note of the muscles in his wings in particular "fancy a race?"
Nova paused for a moment, 'rarity will probably be awake by now and wondering where I am, I shouldn't keep her waiting' but a more competitive part of him whispered 'go on Nova, make this mare put her wings where her mouth his'. "Sure, lets race"
Rainbow dash smiled, 'she thinks she's got you on the ropes Nova, put her to the test' "nice, see that mountain over there?" she pointed to a huge dark peak on the other side of the valley, its black sides clawing into the sky "first one to black point wins"
"Sure" Nova spat on his hoof and held it out to rainbow dash, she did the same and they shook hooves. "May the best flyer win"
"Right then" rainbow dash lowered herself into a starting crouch, Nova did the same "three…two…one…GO!" rainbow dash was off in the blink of an eye, Nova right on her tail. The race wasn't a test of agility or strength; it was a test of speed, something rainbow dash had in abundance. She sped ahead, a rainbow streaming out from behind her as she did so. Nova found himself hard pressed to keep up. The wind whipped through his mane and tail, causing them to fly out behind him like a tongue of flame. His wings beat the air in swift, rhythmic motions, moving in time to the beat of his heart.
"Come on Nova!" rainbow dash called back to him, a grin on her face "princes are supposed to be fast, you'll never beat daring do like that!" Nova smiled back and pushed a little harder. Slowly, agonisingly slowly, the gap between him and rainbow dash began to close. They where half way to the finish line when he caught up with her, the pair of them racing neck and neck whilst in the valley below ponies stared in wonder as the pair shot past in a blur of motion.
'You can do it Nova' a voice said inside his head, Blossoms voice 'just have faith in yourself, you can do it' Nova closed his eyes and was greeted by a picture of Blossom standing alone on a small hill, the arms of a great oak stretching over her. In the sky above an alicorn was flying down to her, he landed in a storm of dust as his wings beat furiously to slow him down. When the dust cleared he walked up to Blossom, a smile on his handsome face. 'It's me'. 'There' the alicorn said, gasping for breath 'I won, will you go on a date with me now?' Blossom gave him an exasperated look and rolled her eyes. 'Fine, one date, and I'll call you if I want another, got it?', 'Sure' young Nova smiled, his emerald eyes practically glowed with happiness.
'You won me over by winning a race nova, now win this one' Nova felt sparks ignite in his chest, swiftly growing to a roaring inferno.
He gritted his teeth and pushed harder than ever before, his wings becoming a blur. Rainbow dash turned to look at him, her wide open in surprise as Novas flame like mane and tail transformed into fire and roared behind him, leaving a trail of light streaming after him. She caught a brief glimpse of his fierce green eyes, a look of determination in their emerald depths. For a moment the world around them seemed to slow to a standstill, then a pulse of energy seemed to erupt from Novas body and he was gone, speeding ahead of her like a bullet, the flames following behind. Ahead of them was the mountain and the finishing line, its twisted peak thrusting into the sky.
Nova angled his approach, making minor changes to his velocity as he sped towards the mountain surface, aiming for a small glade within a tiny valley on its side. He stuck his hooves out and hit the ground with a slam, his impact causing cracks to spread out like a lattice work. He was breathing hard, gulping down air. Rainbow dash alighted next to him, her cheeks flushed and a sheen of sweat on her brow.
"Nice work kid" she held out her hoof for Nova to shake, which he did. "Buck that was a race" she smiled "don't think I've had a race like that since flight school" she collapsed on the floor, Nova smiled then felt his own legs give way, falling onto the grass next to her. "You're fast Nova, and that trail of fire? Awesome!" rainbow dash rolled onto her side and stared at him "your fast, you're trail is awesome and you've got some serious guts accepting a race against me" she winked at him, a sly grin on her face "I like that"
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Luna was angry, even angrier then when Celestia had sealed her within the moon for a thousand years. Nova had been in Equestria for almost three whole days now and still Celestia did nothing, claiming that they didn't truly know if it was Nova or just a meteor. Her sister still wore the same defiant look as she sat on the throne, her solar guards formed at the base of the dais. "Celestia we're wasting time, we have to do something!" around her the lunar guard eyed up the solar guard, who stared back with contempt. The guards where magically bonded to their mistresses, and their actions could be influenced by the emotions of their rulers. Right now Luna was amazed that the two groups hadn't engaged each other in combat.
Celestia stared down at her, an aura of superiority radiating from her. 'She thinks she's so high and mighty up there on that damnable throne, give me a day alone with her and my knives and I'll bring her back down to earth' Nightshade, the head of the lunar guard growled menacingly. Titus, head of the solar guard snarled back. The aura of animosity the pair generated was palpable, a single command from Luna or Celestia would send the pair slashing at each other's necks. "my decision stand sister" Celestia told her 'even her voice sounds high and mighty' "until such a time as the royal solar guard can confirm that it is Nova who has returned and he is a danger to the realm no direct action shall be taken"
"What about the royal lunar guard sister?" Luna asked, her patience wearing thin. The muscles in nightshades wings flexed and tensed, for a moment Luna was tempted to let him loose. "My own bodyguard have a duty to protect the realm and me, by imperial right this means that if I wish them to take direct action then no authority may countermand my order"
"I am the true ruler here Luna, don't perceive any grand imaginings of your own position Luna" Celestia sneered and the beneath her the solar guard bristled, subconsciously slipping into fighting stances. The lunar guard mirrored them move for move, each pony picking out targets and formulating a plan of attack. "I only allowed you to return to the palace and take your place as my sister because I must keep face in front of my subjects, do you honestly think I would have let you live if twilight and her accursed friends where with her?" Celestias eyes where cold and malovent "I would have killed you in an instant. Neither the royal solar guard nor the royal lunar guard shall make any move to attack Nova, any who do so shall be tortured unto death. That is my command and the same fate shall fall to any who break it"
"So you admit he's here" Luna took a step closer to the throne, the lunar guard moved with her. "He'll kill you Celestia, do you know that? When he comes and attacks us in this very hall, which I can guarantee he shall, he won't hesitate to smash that pretty face of yours with his warhammer" she took another step forward, the lunar guard right behind her. "Have you seen what he can do with that hammer Celestia? Have you ever seen Nova when he's in the grip of battle fever?" another step, she stood directly in front of the solar guard 'if they part then Celestia will concede to me' "I have. I've seen Nova smash discords teeth with that hammer, I've seen him kill Dalktarion the black terror with that hammer" she took another step and the solar guard parted before her 'victory' "and that's just his hammer, I've seen him eviscerate a basilisk with his magical blades, I've seen him strangle a cockatrice with nothing more than a piece of rope" another step, she was at the top of the dais, staring her sister in the eyes. "I saw him kill your lover with his hooves" Celestias eyes where wide with fear 'that's right Celestia, cower with fear, I'm running the show here' "he's going to kill you Celestia, and then he'll tear your body apart piece by bloody piece" Celestia pressed herself into the back of the throne, hoping that by making herself seem smaller and less noticeable Luna would leave her alone. Luna sneered "so child like sister, aren't you the true ruler around here?" she snorted in derision, then turned and walked back down the steps of the dais. As she walked past the solar guard they backed off warily, "come Nightshade" she told her bodyguard, who barely tried to conceal the mocking smile on his face. "Let's go star hunting"
Back in her private chambers, Luna deliberated her strategy. On a wide oaken table before her a map of Canterlot and the surrounding settlements was spread out, its edges held down by ornate paperweights. On the map itself a red ring had been drawn out, representing a one thousand kilometre radius, it Nova was on the move, he had to be somewhere within this ring. "We'll send flyers out to the furthest settlements" Nightshade told her, his hoof tracing three small towns "one to east stream, one to coltenmark and one to backwater. They'll make patrols between the three towns and pick up any information regarding Nova. Whilst they maintain the perimeter myself and the others will move from town to town searching for him" he gave Luna an evil grin "he won't escape from us, there'll be no hiding once the moon has risen" he stepped back to survey the map, a smug grin on his face as he contemplated the finesse of the plan. It was simple and easy to pull off, should Nova manage to avoid them he'd be detected at the perimeter and swiftly apprehended.
"And you're sure this will work? I'm taking no second chances regarding my brother. Should he avoid detection and slip past us he may become a rallying point to any dissidents and rebels" Luna scrutinised the map, calculating every angle.
" he won't slip by, there's only three ways out of the region" nightshade ran his hoof over a deep blue line just within the red zone "the river reach has only three crossings, we'll monitor them day and night. Even if he attempts to fly across the local patrols will stop him"
Luna nodded in agreement, ever since her brother had returned the iron ponies in the black peaks had become rowdy, even rebellious. Their leader, an old pony well past her prime, claimed that the comet was a sign from their god that the time for freedom had come. Ever since the local garrisons had stepped up patrols and doubled the watches in an attempt to dissuade any would be activists from attempting anything. "Excellent Nightshade" she crossed to the window and stared at the sun, which had reached its zenith in the sky and was beginning to slowly sink towards the horizon. "You'll leave at moon rise with my blessing" she turned back to Nightshade, who stood to attention. "If you are successful I believe there may be a promotion waiting for you on your return" he smiled.
"As you will my lady, we shall find the traitor and bring him back to you, dead or alive"