Rekindling: A joint Fan fiction by Nova Glitz and 51m0nn

Rekindling: A joint Fan fiction by Nova Glitz and 51m0nn (Chapter 2 now out!)

Authors' notes. This fan fiction is a follow up of Nova's Fiction Taming the Fires Heart, so if there are any uncertainties they can be cleared up by reading that fiction.

Rekindling:

This is a joint fan fiction by 51m0nn and Nova Glitz. We both hope you ponies enjoy it! We decided to merge the two writing styles of two authors and the result is and will be this fan fiction!

It was a week after Winter Wrap Up day and all the ponies were settling into their new spring surroundings of brightly coloured flowers and birds flying and chirping overhead. For a certain pony things were going very well. Skylark had just finished his first ever Ponyville Winter Wrap Up. By now he fitted in nicely after his arrival one year ago. He was on his way to go and buy a few of Sweet Apple Acres’ famous apples to satisfy the gnawing hunger in his belly.

He headed over to the Apple cart where Applejack was standing yelling
“Fresh, sweet apples! Come and get ‘em while they last!” Skylark walked up to her and said

“Hi I’m looking for the best apples in Ponyville. I believe they are being sold around here by a pony called Applejack have you seen her?”
Applejack smiled at his sarcasm and played along. “Ah’m sorry but those were all sold out within five minutes sugarcube. But ah have some apples that ah’m willing ta part with.” She said

“Well then I guess they will have to do.” He said
They both laughed. “All right how many do ya want?” Applejack asked.

“Just two thanks.” Skylark replied He paid for the apples and thanked Applejack and went on his way, munching the delicious apples as he walked. He came across Rainbow Dash.

“Hi Rainbow” He said “What’s the weather forecast for today?” He asked

“What's up Skylark! Forecast you say? Well then I'm your pony! There is going to be a storm tonight, so if I were you, I would get start getting prepared for it by closing the windows and locking them tight! I would love to stay and chit-chat, but I gotta go warn the other ponies” She said

“Thanks for the heads up!” Skylark said. He headed home to start making the necessary preperations.

That night while Skylark was asleep through the raging storm a lightning bolt hit the roof of Skylarks home. This spark started a flame inside the house. It slowly grew larger. Skylark awoke at a roll of thunder and found his house enveloped in flames. He was surrounded by fire with seemingly no way out. The roof started to cave in. Skylark rushed for the door and tried to open it but something was blocking it on the other side. He decided to attempt to buck down the door. He cracked it after two attempts but there was no way he could open it.

The flames were getting closer now and he looked for the window. He ran towards it only to be enveloped in the collapsing roof. “HELP!” He cried “HELP!” He cried again. He heard screams outside of a pony yelling that somepony’s house was on fire. The fire brigade was sent out. The Fire Brigade immediately started to attack the flames. Skylark pushed with all his might and emerged from the burning roof supports. He broke the window in front of him and dived out without hesitation. He landed hard on the ground. A Fire Fighter Pony grabbed him and placed him on a stretcher.

They asked him. “Sir is there anypony else in the house? “

“No.” he said “Just me”
He was carried away to get his burns treated at the local hospital.

He woke up in the morning in a soft comfortable bed. He opened his eyes and looked around. There was a nurse monitoring some equipment. She noticed he was awake.
“Ah good morning.” “Do you feel alright?” She asked

“Uh yeah…” “I think so.” He said. He examined himself. Other than a few bandages on his legs and chest where he was burned he seemed okay. “Uh can I be released because I seem fine.” He said

The Nurse replied “Certainly. You just have a few small burns on your body, nothing serious.” “Just be sure to check out at the office.”

“I will.” He replied. He got out of the bed and moved slowly to the reception area. As he entered the reception area he was met by the six faces of his friends. They all embraced him at once.

“Skylark you are okay!” They all said.

“I most certainly am.” He replied.
He checked out of the hospital and headed to his house to inspect the damage. It was completely burned to the ground. All his belongings were now ashes. His jaw dropped. Where would he now stay?

“I’m really sorry about all this.” Applejack said. “If you want. We do have an extra room on the farm.” She said consolingly.

“Thank you Applejack. I appreciate it very much” He said still in shock about the whole ordeal.
He had no possessions to move now so he started to head on his way to the farm.

“You must be hungry.” Applejack said

“I am ravenous.” Skylark said.

“Well then we better be gettin’ you some grub!” Applejack said with a smile.

“Skylark smiled back. “Thanks...he said I would like that very much.” He replied.

They headed over and when they arrived Applejack started cooking some breakfast for the family. She explained to the others that Skylark would be staying at the farm. They were more than happy to have him in for a while. Sweet little Applebloom showed him where he would be staying.
Applejack yelled out to them “Come and get it!”

They headed down to the dining room and ate. After breakfast Applejack and Big Mac started on the farm work. Skylark insisted on making himself useful for the while that he was there. He helped Applejack with the applebucking. He watched Applejack do some applebucking. It was this moment that he realised he had feelings for her. It was this moment he realised how beautiful she actually was. She looked him in the eye, his heart started pounding.

“Alright Sugarcube your turn!” She said.

Those words...they would normally be taken as a friendly gesture...but to Skylark they seemed the most beautiful words he had ever heard.
He was confused along with these feelings. He had never felt this way about a pony before...how should he react? After the farm work he decided to casually ask Big Macintosh what he thought. This was probably not the best decision however...what would Big Mac know about love? He asked him anyway.

“Hey Big Mac...”

“Howdy Skylark.” He replied.

“Uuh...Have you...uhh.”

“Yes Skylark?” He inquired.

“Have you ever uhh, fallen in love with another pony?” He asked rather nervously.
Big Mac looked like he had been taken by surprise a little. He thought for a moment. “Well there was this one filly...” He said.

Just as I thought, Big Mac neve- wait did Big Mac just say yes!?

“R-Really?” he replied. “What did you do?”

Big Mac was put on the spot now... “Well I never did get the guts to tell her in the end...” He replied
“Why do you ask?” Big Mac asked Skylark.

“Uhh...well” he stammered. Should he tell Big Mac? Would Big Mac be protective of his sister?
“Uhh I was just wondering...” Skylark said.

Big Mac looked at Skylark clearly not believing that statement but he left it there.
Skylark still didn’t know what to do... and the more he saw or talked or spent time with Applejack the more he loved her. Still confused he was not sure what to do. He wasn’t ready to tell her. He simply hid his feelings away. However the more he was with Applejack the more his feelings for her grew. Pretty soon he found himself day dreaming about her. Whenever he looked into her eyes his heart soared through the clouds.

Come on Skylark what are the chances that she likes you too. He thought to himself. He kept on trying to think himself out of this condition but his love for Applejack grew even further... But pretty soon his house would be finished and he will move back. What then? Must he tell Applejack before he has to leave or must he just keep them locked away? He had never been in a predicament like this before...Nor had he felt this way about a pony. He had no idea what to do...

Rekindling: Nova's addition

-Off somewhere in Cloudsdale-

Nova woke up to the warm sun shining through the window of the nice cloud home he and FireBolt had built. Slowly he would yawn and turn over in the bed and was greeted by the sleeping pegasus he fell in love with. He smiled at her sleeping form as he would slowly get out of bed, just so he didn't wake the heavy sleeping mare. He trots over to the window and looks out at the lovely morning they had just arose, and deep down he felt a bit homesick. Nova had missed his home in Ponyville, he moved away for FireBolt so they could live together. He took in a deep breath of morning air and closed his eyes, picturing what was probably going on down on the ground, ponies working the farms, SugarCube Corner baking their tasty treats, and the busy ponylife down there.

"Feeling a bit homesick aren't you?" A voice suddenly spoke out, startling Nova as he looked around, only to see FireBolt awake and leaning up in the bed. The tan colt nodded,

"Eeyup... I really want to go pay a visit." he said and smiled over at her, "But I have my duties Celestia asked me to attend to." Since he had successfully sealed Discord permanantly, he had taken some of Celestia's duties and took the position as an ambassador of sorts, helping ponies in need when she was busy with others towns. When he really considered it, he was more or less a prince.

"Oh come on Nova, even unicorns needs vacation's, ask the princess and I'm sure she'll give you a few days off to go see everypony again." Nova would give a nod in agreement,

"Perhaps, but I don't wanna look unreliable to the princess." He said to her in a stern tone, he had a bad habit of wanting to impress the princess. After all, it's not every day a pony becomes a rulers assistant. FireBolt could see why he felt this way and nodded to him with understanding,

"I can tell the stress of doing all this political work is getting to you, perhaps a vacation would be nice? Besides, I'd like to go back to Ponyville and see everypony!" FireBolt seemed to be really wanting to go,

"Okay! I'll send her a letter and see what she thinks." He said and turned away from a suddenly excited FireBolt, using his magic to begin writing the princess,

"" Dear Princess Celestia,

I am sending a request to take a vacation for a few days to return to Ponyville and see my friends. My absence from my home is making me homesick and I really miss my friends. FireBolt also wishes to go and I feel it would give us even more bonding time. I hope this will work in our favor and can't wait to hear your response,

Your Faithful Student, Nova""

Nova focused his magic and a blue aura covered the rolled up parchment, suddenly making it vanish into a cloud of mist and fly away. He turned around and walked over to get on the bed with her,

"And now we wait for her response, and if I know her as good as I think I do.... the letter will arrive in exactly 3...2...1-" Just as he said one, a letter suddenly appeared. Nova snatched it with his magic before it could fall, "I totally called that." He said and unrolled the paper, reading what the reply was,

"" My Most Faithful Student Nova,

I believe a short vacation would be wonderful for you. I am impressed with your work thus far and you have done far better than I have expected. But even you are still a pony and need time to rest and refocus, so I am issuing you a vacation in Ponyville and will arrange a place for you to stay with Twilight. I do hope you will enjoy yourself.

Yours truly Princess, Celestia ""

Nova suddenly jumped up happily, wanting to scream in excitement,

"She said yes!" He said and hugged FireBolt, "We're going to Ponyville!" He said happily and hops off the bed, preparing for the trip to the ground. FireBolt hopped off, just as eager to go as the unicorn was. Within a few moments the two happy ponies soared across the sky, flying torwards ponyville swiftly. In the time Nova had learned a spell for pegasus wings, he had grown very good and skilled with them. He now was able to keep up with FireBolt on her best day, but not quite beat the speedy mare. The trip wasn't long and before long, he had arrived at Ponyville with the hotheaded pegasus in tow.

"Wow... not much has changed, just the way I like it." He said and focused his magic, making the wings disappear and returning his magic to its full strength. Using wings required plenty of energy and focus, fortunantly he was a special unicorn, among the many others. Firebolt nodded to him in agreement,

"I missed this place, Hay! Let's go to SugarCube Corner!" She said and quickly ran into the building, Nova following. As they entered, they we're greeted by none other the pink pony herself,

"Welcome to SugarCube Cor-" Pinkie Pie suddenly let out a gasp and grew a large grin across her face, " Oh my gosh! Nova! FireBolt!" She said and bounced over to them happily, "Where have you two been? What is Cloudsdale like? Are you two getting along okay? How are yo-" Nova suddenly pressed his hoof against her mouth to shut her up,

"Easy Pinky, we're glad to see you too." He sets his hoof down, "And we're pretty hungry from the trip." Pinkie Pie nodded and jumped up happily,

"Then I have the best foods for you! We have sweets of all types and in the best flavours possible!" The energetic filly said while bouncing happily,

"How about... a party?" FireBolt said suggestively, her tone made her sound as if she was asking, but she knew what the response would be.

"OH! That's right! We need to throw a welcome back party! You two stay here while I get things prepared!" She said before zipping off quickly. Nova sighed and shook his head,

"FireBolt... you shouldn't encourage her.." He said and chuckled, "besides, I'm still hungry and now we gotta wai-" Pinke Pie suddenly returned with 2 delicious looking pies,

"I almost forgot you two had a long trip, and you must be hungry, so here's a pie to hold you over till the party!" Pinkie Pie said before dashing away again,
"Sometimes, I wonder where she gets all that energy..." FireBolt said, giggling before enjoying the pie with Nova.

51m0nn’s edition

-That night-

Everypony was headed to Sugarcube Corner for one of Pinkie Pie’s famous parties. Nova and Firebolt being the special guests were given a VERY Pinkie fashioned welcome when they arrived. (Let’s just say whoever built Sugarcube Corner knows how to build one heck of a strong house!) Nova and Firebolt weren’t exactly the kind who enjoyed too much attention. They thanked everypony for the warm welcome and entered in quietly. However they didn’t get very far before being dragged off by Pinkie again to go meet some old friends Nova knew before he left to live with Firebolt.

“Hey everypony look who is back! Can ya see them? Look it is Nova and Firebolt! Isn’t it great to have them back? Omigosh you haven’t met Skylark yet have you? Here let me-“ Thankfully Pinkie was cut off before she could carry on speaking.
Nova and Firebolt were greeted warmly by the six mares. Then Skylark walked up to greet Nova. He shook both Nova and Firebolt’s hooves.

“Hi I’m Skylark! I’m very pleased to meet you.” He said with a warm smile.

“Hi Skylark. I’m Nova and this is my wife Firebolt.” Nova replied.

“Charmed.” Skylark replied as h smiled at Firebolt.
Firebolt blushed slightly and smiled back.

“Hey we’re not just gonna spend the whole night greeting eachother c’mon we have so much to tell you guys while you were away!” Pinkie Pie said energetically.

She dragged them all off to a table and the seven friends told Nova and Firebolt about the adventures they had had after Skylark arrived in Ponyville. They told them about the encounter with pirates and the wizard as well as the recent fire and how Skylarks house was burned down.

“Wow you ponies really have been busy while I was gone...” Nova said. “Have you by any chance-“

“But he was cut off by none other than Pinkie...again. “C’mon this is getting boring! And seeing as this is a party you’re not supposed to be bored! C’mon let’s do something fun!” The next activity involved music and dancing. Not really anypony’s specialty except Pinkie.

The night had finally come to an end. Everypony was heading back to their homes. Nova and Firebolt had not thought of where they would stay and were now asking around.
“Why don’t you stay in the library with me?” Twilight asked them.

“Thank you so much!” Nova and Firebolt said gratefully. They started heading that way after they had said their goodbyes. When the three arrived at the library Twilight unlocked the door and let Nova and Firebolt in.

“Wow this place hasn’t changed a bit.” Nova said

“Doesn’t it bring back memories?” Firebolt asked staring into Nova’s eyes. She giggled.

“Why yes it does.” Nova said, blushing.

They weren’t the only ponies who had memories of the past events in that library. Twilight also had the memory of her and Nova, working on trying to bind Discord forever. She also had the memory of the first time she met Firebolt, seeing them together, she remembered that one night on Sweet Apple Acres that she shared with Nova and especially she remembered the feelings she felt after Nova left to live with Firebolt. She snapped out of the trance, determined not to go down that path again.

“Make yourselves at home.” She said to the two ponies. They were all exhausted after the party and wasted no time in getting settled into the exact same beds they had slept in the time Nova and Firebolt met.
...
It was a beautifully clear night. Skylark and Applejack had just returned home from the party. When Skylark and Applejack entered the house they saw Big Macintosh had just finished his work and was cleaning himself up. He spotted them and said. “Well I hope you two had a good time at that party while I was working.”

“Well shucks! Big Mac you could’ve asked us to help you and we would’ve skipped the party!” Applejack said.

“Aww Ah’m jest kiddin with ya sis.” Big Mac said “I hope you had a good time.” “Well goodnight Ah’m heading off to bed.” Big Mac said as he headed up the stairs.

Applejack decided to stay up a little longer and get some things done around the house that she needed to do before work in the morning. After she had done that she called goodnight to Skylark. She didn’t get a reply. She figured he was already in bed so she went up to his room to check. His room was empty as well. “Well that’s odd...” She thought. She called out for him...no answer. She headed on outside and looked around. On top of the near hill she saw a silhouette of a pony. She headed up to the top of the hill and sat down next to Skylark. He was busy taking in the view, acres and acres of apple trees dimly lit by a full moon in the clear starry sky.

“It’s beautiful ain’t it?” Applejack said.

“Skylark replied in awe “It is breath taking.”

“This was and will always be mah favourite place on the whole entire farm.” Applejack said

“I can see why...” said Skylark.
The two ponies sat there in silence and took in the view.

Skylark was enjoying Applejack’s company. He still however was unsure of how Applejack felt about him.
Applejack didn’t yet feel quite the same way about Skylark. But as they sat there staring and taking in the view, they shared an occasional glance into each other’s eyes. The more they did this, the closer Applejack felt to Skylark. She felt closer to him than to any other pony she knew. None of the two wanted to leave the beautiful view or the company of each other.

Back at the library Nova and Firebolt were cuddled into one bed facing the window also enjoying the view of the clear night sky. Little to their knowledge was that Twilight was sitting at the doorway ever so quietly watching them. The memories of past experiences were rushing through her mind. She was not sure what to do. It seemed to her that even after all that had happened...the anger she felt after Nova left her for Firebolt...even after all that she still seemed to feel a small glisten of love, or as Princess Celestia had explained to Nova, puppy love.

But she knew it was too late now. Firebolt and Nova were happy together... But then a single evil thought came into her mind as if it were sent by Discord himself...What if it wasn’t too late? What if she could still win Nova back? That one thought hovered in her mind the rest of the time she sat there.
If it wasn’t too late...what then could she do about it?

Chapter 2

~At the farm~

Saturday morning Skylark awoke with a start. He had heard a loud crashing sound in the kitchen. It was rather early in the morning. The sun had not yet risen properly and the sky was a pretty shade of purple, a few birds flew overhead, chirping happily. He went down to investigate what had happened. He walked in and found Applebloom and Applejack picking up a few pots that had fallen on the floor.

“Now Applebloom I told ya to be careful.” Applejack said slightly annoyed.

“I’m sorry sis, but if we don’t get this right. How am I supposed to know if it is mah special talent?” Applebloom replied apologetically.

“You’ll know soon enough, you just have to be patient.” She said.

“Good morning all” Skylark said. “Is there anything I can do to help here?”

“Oh hi Skylark. No nothing much, Apple Bloom’s tryin to earn her cutie mark by making jam. I’m just giving her a helping hoof.” “Yall have to help yerself to breakfast this morning.”

“No problem.” Skylark said “And as soon as I’m done I’ll go ask Big Mac what all has to be done this morning.”

“Okay then. I’ll be here with Applebloom if ya need me.” Applejack said

Skylark grabbed an apple, not feeling very hungry, headed over the fields of cool soft grass. It was covered in morning dew and felt refreshing to walk on. Skylark saw Big Mac by the shed with the farming equipment inside. The shed itself was rather old and dirty, it was very disorganised but somehow Big Mac knew where everything was.

“Hey Big Mac! I am here to start on my share of the farm work.” Skylark said.

“Oh hi Skylark, There is quite a bit to be done today seeing as it is Spring now. I want you to help me plough the far fields.” Big Mac said, pointing to an empty unploughed field in the distance. “I’m just getting the ploughs out now.”
Big Mac pulled out two rusty old looking ploughs. He and Skylark loaded them into a cart and headed down the small gravel road to the field…

~At the Library~

Nova awoke slowly with the warm bright sun shining on his bed. Firebolt was cuddled up tightly with him sleeping happily. Nova, for the moment, was quite happy to just lie there and enjoy the warm sun of a Ponyville morning. Then it occurred to him. What time was it? He carefully got out of the double bed Twilight had generously put there for them. He looked around for a clock. He saw that it was already 10 ‘o’ clock.

Wow, how did that happen? Nova normally rose earlier than this. Oh well he thought. He went to go wake Firebolt up and then they could go out to have breakfast. He walked up and gently nudged Firebolt. Firebolt opened her eyes,

“Hmm?” She said rather drowsily.
“Good Morning my love.” Nova said.
“Good Morning…” Firebolt replied.
“You want to go out to get breakfast on this beautiful day?” Nova asked her.
Firebolt, feeling rather hungry, agreed. The two ponies got out of bed and headed towards the library to say good bye to Twilight. Twilight looked up from her desk piled with books. When they arrived they found the library in quite a messy state. Which was normal as Twilight often got roped into studying.

“Good Morning.” Twilight said with a smile.
“Morning.” Nova and Firebolt said.
“We are going out for breakfast. Thanks for letting us stay for the night.” The two ponies said.
“No problem, anytime.” Twilight said.

Nova and Firebolt left the messy library and went to look for a restaurant that wasn’t too busy. They were greeted with smiles from old friends that they knew before they left. This looks like it is going to be an awesome day. Nova thought. Nova and Firebolt found a small café that they decided to eat at.

Not so far away from there, in a bush sat Twilight Sparkle. She had been following them at a distance for quite some time now. Her lust for Nova had taken over again. She was hatching a plan to break the two love birds up… Her mind was full to the brim with crazy thoughts. The books she was studying earlier were books on love spells, spells to counteract them and so on and so forth. Twilight had been studying all night on a spell that could only be broken by the unicorn that cast it. Twilight shifted a little in the medium sized bush green bush she was hiding in. She was very careful not to be discovered.

Suddenly a loud voice behind her said “Twilight!? What on earth are you doing in that bush?”

Twilight let out a startled cry and leapt out of the bush she was in. She turned around to see Rarity standing on a cement pathway that ran next to the bush Twilight was hiding in. She was looking at her with a puzzled look in her eyes.

“uuh…Nothing…I…was, just…studying the…the…branches of this bush!” Twilight said “Yep…that’s a bush alright.” Twilight said with an awkward smile on her face. Rarity looked at her with confusion. There was an awkward silence. Twilight was the first to break it.

“Uhh, Well I’m done with this bush, on to the next one!!”

She ran away and dived behind a bush further away. Rarity shook her head.
Poor dear, she must be having problems with something, Rarity thought. I’ll have to pay her a visit later on to see what the matter is. Rarity walked on to the market to buy some materials she needed to make a dress she was designing.

~Later that day~

Skylark and Big mac hauled the two ploughs back into the shed. Skylarks body ached from the hard work, but the field had been completed and the work done. Skylark was looking forward to a nice lunch. He and big mac walked into the kitchen. Applejack had been helping Applebloom make jam that morning. The entire kitchen was a mess. Pots all over the place, jam stains everywhere and the two culprits behind it all, with jam stains all over their hooves and faces, were standing there beaming. Skylark and Big Mac just stood there. The blank, shocked look the two stallions had on their faces, and the silence in the room was unbearable. The two sisters collapsed on the floor laughing.

“You should see the looks on yer faces!” Applejack said while laughing.
“Yeah! They’re priceless!!” Applebloom replied, with tears in her eyes from all the laughter.
“Something tells me that we’re eating out for lunch today.” Skylark said.
Big Mac just stood there. “Eeyup” He said.

This just made the two sisters laugh even harder. Once they had calmed down Applejack said “Alright, that’s enough. We best get ourselves and this kitchen cleaned up.” The two sisters then proceeded to clean the mess they had made. Skylark and Big Mac headed to the bathroom to clean the dirt off themselves.

Instead of Eating out the Apples decided to throw a quick lunch together and then go into town to buy a few things and sell some apples. After the lunch of fruit salad that consisted of only apples, the four went into town. Big Mac was pulling a cart that was filled with apples and treats of all kinds made from apples. They got to the spot where they were going to set up. Apple Bloom said good bye and went to play with her friends. Big Mac watched the cart and Applejack was off to go see a few friends as it was Big Macs turn to sell the apples. Skylark didn’t have much to do so he decided to leave with Applejack and see his friends.

However on the way to Sugarcube Corner the two ponies were met by a masked Pegasus and Unicorn. The unicorn was rather big and burly while the Pegasus looked thinner and agile. Both were wearing black balaclavas to hide their faces. The unicorn used his magic and pulled a combat knife out of his sack.

“Alright! Hoof over all your bits and no pony gets hurt.” The unicorn said. “Go on!! NOW!”

Skylark was not going to let these thugs pester him and Applejack. He leapt at the unicorn and smacked the knife out of his way. He and the unicorn wrestled each other to the ground. The pegasus flew down and grabbed the knife. He flew over to help his friend. Skylark quickly grabbed the unicorn behind is arm and took the unicorn’s leg and performed a complex throw that sent the unicorn flying. Skylark zoomed into the sky, he was getting chased by the knife wielding pegasus. Skylark stopped abruptly and when the Pegasus was right over head he flipped over and kicked him in the face. The Pegasus fell to the ground. The knife fell out of his mouth and rolled across the street. The two thugs fled.

Everypony in the street was looking at Skylark now. Not liking the attention He hurried down the road with Applejack to Sugarcube Corner.

“Where did you learn that!?” Applejack asked him bewildered.

“It’s a long story, but I’ll tell you when we get to the others.” Skylark said as he hurried over to Sugarcube Corner.

When they arrived they were greeted with warm smiles from Pinkie Pie Fluttershy, Rarity smiled and Rainbow Dash. The two ponies walked into the small corner store. They took a seat.
“So where is Twilight?” Applejack asked the other four.
“She was acting very strangely today.” Rarity said.
“How so?” Applejack asked her.
“Well as I was telling the others while we waited for you, I found Twilight in a bush, she was definitely spying on somepony and when I asked her what she was doing she acted strange and ran off into a further bush.”
“That’s not like her.” Skylark said.
“Do you think we should pay her a visit later on?” Skylark said.
“I was going to do just that. I say we can all go.” Rarity said.
“So what took you guys so long?” Rainbow asked.
Applejack told the others about what happened earlier.

“What I wanna know is, how did you do that?” Applejack asked. “Where did you learn to do it?”

Skylark sighed. He didn’t want to remember all that had happened but he couldn’t hide it away forever.

“Ok I guess I can’t hide it forever. When I was still a little colt in Cloudsdale, before I even had my cutie mark. I had to put up with a lot. I wasn’t the biggest or fastest in my neighbourhood, and because of that I got bullied quite a lot. Sometimes the bullies would even gang up on me. I couldn’t take it. So I taught myself to defend myself against the bullies, which was a mistake. I didn’t know this but I was being watched the whole time. So one day, the bullies came back to pick on me. The ganged up on me again, but instead of just sitting there and taking it I did something about it. I performed the few simple kicks I had taught myself and took the bullies by surprise; they fled and didn’t bother me from that day forward.

“That’s nice! But why is this, a bad thing?” Rainbow Dash asked. “Also, how did I not see all this?”

“That’s the thing; it didn’t happen at the flight school we went to. It happened after wards when everypony was going home. Anyway, the bullies didn’t bother me again, but that became the least of my worries. My fighting back caught the attention of a secret group of pegasi. They claimed to be protecting Cloudsdale. But they were really just a group of kidnappers and robbers. They would kidnap Colts and Fillies that they thought could “go a long way”. They would then brainwash them and teach them to fight. Then they would…

“What? What!? Tell us Skylark!” Rainbow Dash said.

“They would select a few colts and tell them to retake “stolen goods” that were taken from Cloudsdale. They would show us the village and tell us that the villager pegasi there had taken valuables from them. We didn’t know any better as we were brainwashed.

“You mean you were kidnapped by them!?” Applejack said rather shocked. The other ponies just sat in silence, taken a back from this news.

“Yes I was. My parents searched for me for a long time. We would often hear about the odd disappearance. One day I was heading back from flight school and then these two pegasi grabbed me; tied and gagged me. I was taken to this cloud base quite well hidden in between some mountains. There, I was brainwashed and trained with all the skills I have now.

“Wow! That’s really cool don’t you think!? To be part of a secret orga-“ But Pinkie Pie was cut off by Skylark.

“No Pinkie, it was horrible there. No one dared escape even if they wanted to. There were strict punishments for rule breaking. The things they made us do were horrible. We were sent down to raid and steal from villages and towns. Sometimes even destroy them. I regret it with all my heart, even though I didn’t know what I was doing at the time.

“So how did you get out?” Applejack asked.

“The cloud base was discovered by the royal guards and attacked. It was taken down and all the brainwashed pegasi were rescued and taken back to their families, it had been 4 years for me since I saw my parents. But when I saw them my memory came back. I still remember all the horrible things that happened there. But I don’t want to talk about those things. When I got my memory back that day I promised myself to only use my skills if necessary or to help people.

“That must have been horrible, but it explains a lot about you.” Applejack said.

“Yes, it was horrible. But I’ve made this place gloomy enough. Why don’t we liven it up with some music?” Skylark asked enthusiastically.
“NOW you are talking!” Pinkie Pie said.

She pulled a large stereo from under the counter and started playing loud music. She yelled out to other ponies in the street.

“SURPRISE PARTY EVERYPONY COME ON IN!!”

The little get together turned into a large Pinkie Pie party, not surprisingly. There was shouting and yelling and dancing all round.

Meanwhile Nova and Firebolt were sitting quietly in the park. All of a sudden there was some commotion.

One Pony yelled “Come on everypony! Pinkie Pie is holding one of her parties in Sugarcube corner!”

A large group of ponies ran down the road in that direction. Nova and Firebolt were just content to sit there and relax. Not so far away Twilight was hiding in a bush in the small vegetated park, watching the couple on the bench. Her plan was about to fall into action. Still overcome by lust she got into position in a distant tree. She went into the lower branches and waited for the perfect moment.

She waited until the park was empty, then she jumped out of the tree and landed on the soft grass, promptly turning on her side and yelling in pain. This of course, was an act. Nova and Firebolt turned towards the noises, Nova spotted Twilight lying against a tree across the park.

“Oh my gosh Twilight must be hurt!” Nova said.

He and Firebolt ran over to the groaning Twilight.
“Are you okay? What happened?” Nova Asked
“Groooaaan” “I was trying to study a parasite I found in that tree when the branch gave way and I fell on my side” Twilight said
“Quick I’ll get a Doctor!” Nova said.
“No no! I have a book in my library that shows you how to heal any injury. Firebolt can get it because she is faster! The book is on my desk, it is called First Aid spells for the unicorn. You can’t miss it!” Twilight said
“Sure I’ll get it!” Firebolt said hurriedly and she zoomed off into the sky and headed for the library.
“Where does it hurt? Nova asked.
“Nowhere.” Twilight said as she got up.
“What? What are you doing!? Nova asked surprised at Twilight.
Twilight said nothing and moved towards Nova with a smug look on her face. Her horn glowed purple and she touched Nova on the forehead with it. Immediately the spell took effect. Nova’s Eyes went into some sort of vortex and when they cleared he just stood there looking into Twilights eyes.

“Twilight? I don’t think I have told you this. You have the most beautiful eyes.” Nova said, hypnotised. He moved closer to Twilight. All the while Twilight stood there, her plan had worked. Nova grabbed her and started to kiss her. They embraced eachother. Not one of them moved.
“Twilight. I love you!” Nova said just before kissing her again. Twilight was enjoying every second of this.
“I know you do.” She replied.

Suddenly she heard a voice. It was Firebolt! Twilight had not intended for her to return so soon! The book was not on the table she had hidden it!

“Twilight! I’m back I brought the book! I couldn’t find in on the desk so I looked around and found it under the-“ Firebolt stopped and stared. She didn’t believe what she was seeing. There lay Twilight and Nova on the grass, embracing and kissing eachother. At first she was speechless, She dropped the book.

Twilight quickly pulled away from Nova, but Nova kept trying to kiss her more. She had snapped out of her frenzy now that she had been caught.
“Firebolt I can explain! It isn’t Nov-“ But she was interrupted.
“Oh no no, I know exactly what is going on here!!”Firebolt yelled in anger, tears streaming down her face.
Twilight quickly broke the spell on Nova. He came out of his hypnotic state.
“Huh? What is going on?” He asked. "Why am I on the floor? Twilight what is going on?" He spotted Firebolt crying. “What is wrong!?” He headed over to her. She promptly smacked him away.

“YOU! HOW COULD YOU!?” She yelled angrily.
“How could I what!?” Nova asked. He was perplexed.
“DON’T ACT AS IF YOU DON’T KNOW! I SAW YOU!” Firebolt was extremely angry now.

Nova looked at Twilight. She had a guilty look on her face.

“But wha-“ Nova was interrupted.
“That is it! I don’t want you as my husband! You cheating monster!” Firebolt flew away into the air, sobbing.

“Firebolt! WAIT!” Nova yelled. But to no avail. Those words struck him right in the heart. The bond between him and Firebolt was broken. Nova looked at Twilight. He knew she had something to do with this. He decided to deal with the shocked and guilty looking unicorn later. He cast a spell to give him wings and flew up into the air to find Firebolt. He was not aware that because the emotional bond of love between him and Firebolt had been broken, Discord could escape at any moment. But his mind was on other things now.

There stood Discord in stone. He felt the spell holding him in lifting. He laughed deeply. A crack appeared on the base of his stone prison.

“I’m coming for you Equestria.” He said quietly “Just you wait.”

To Be Continued…