Comet rolled as he slept, unable to stay in one position. His eyes were firmly shut, but he was doing things a pony normally did while awake. He kicked and shivered, bit his lower lip and shook his head. Inside his mind, a dark storm was brewing. Old thoughts of his past covered the warm spot Comet so desperately searched for. Images of his parents, himself and a light gold mare with tangerine eyes and a verdant mane whisked around him, followed by several lines of speech Comet had long ago repressed.

"Comet! What did you do?!" he heard his mother shout.

"Wake up, Nova! Please wake up!" Comet heard a younger version of himself sob.

"There was nothing you could've done," Sun Storm gently whispered to him.

"Don't worry about me," chided a soft voice, "Go have fun."

Comet's mind silenced at that voice and he dreaded the sound of it. He hadn't heard that voice in almost fifteen years, but the words sounded like they were spoken just yesterday. The image of the gold mare slowly materialized before him. She was taller than Comet, but had a sickly look to her. Her wonderful tangerine eyes stared at him gently through her half lidded eyelids and the small smile she always wore was still upon her lips.

Comet felt everything melt away as he returned her gaze and whispered, "Nova..."

He felt himself start to move and his voice grew louder.

"Nova, Nova! NOVA!" he shouted as he neared her.

Just as he was about to reach her, her form glowed like the sun. Comet threw himself at her, trying to hang onto her, but she dispersed into small orbs of golden light and wafted around him in no particular order. Comet swung his head around at the lights and fruitlessly tried to grab them. The lights, one by one, faded away even as Comet protested. She had left him again and a feeling of dread mixed with a sadness that couldn't be measured wrapped around Comet's chest. It was suddenly very hard to breathe.

Way outside of the castle, another nightmare for Comet was taking place. Angel sat alone at the posh restaurant, slowly sipping some frozen strawberry drink. It was delicious, but her mood wasn't in the right spot. She wished that Comet was here, her favorite and totally awesome pegasus, but sadly she was a bat pony and therefore a night guard to Princess Cadance.

The princess was actually not too far away from Angel, busily laughing and talking to random ponies as they waited for Shining Armor to arrive. Angel wasn't her only guard, though. Several other bat ponies and two unicorns stood very close, but at Cadance's insistence they were all spread out among the restaurant, still within a quick dash's distance of her. Angel took another dejected sip of her drink and wished something interesting would happen.

"Wait, don't I know that pony?" came a vaguely familiar voice.

Angel spun her head with a look of mixed feelings and saw Mangrove smiling widely at her while Sun Storm had his snout buried in the menu. He peeked up from it in just enough time to see Angel before a dark gray blur assaulted his wife.

Angel wrapped Mangrove in a rather large hug and gushed at her. "Oh my Celestia! It's so nice to see you two again! How've you been?!"

After a few odd minutes of Mangrove and Angel exchanging some strange information, Angel was sitting at the table with them.

"So, tell me, how was the date with Comet?" Mangrove asked invasively. Sun shook his head again and was about to stop the conversation, but Angel spoke first

"Oh, it was absolutely awesome!" Angel nearly shouted, "He took me to the carnival here and won me, like, four prizes! I didn't know he was so good at ring tosses and bottle towers!"

Sun froze up there and Mangrove's smile seemed to sour. Comet had played the ring toss and bottle tower? A sudden feel of dread crept into Sun's chest as he renewed his interest in his menu and Mangrove gave an unsure gulp.

"He, he sure is, isn't he?" she responded in a shaky voice.

Now, Angel would never call herself the brightest pony, but she could clearly see something was wrong with that bit of information. She narrowed her eyes at the couple and slowly talked. "Yeah, he did. Was that bad?"

"Oh, nothing!" Mangrove replied over enthusiastically, "He always had an affinity for games like that, even when he was young!"

Mangrove's face paled as she spoke the last word and Sun's eyes shrank. Mangrove wasted no time in examining the table as Sun Storm raised the menu up farther. They were trying to hide something from Angel, and she hated being in the dark.

"What is it?" Angel asked accusingly. Mangrove snapped her head up and Angel leaned in a little closer to her, eyes still narrowed. "What's wrong if Comet took me there and played those games?"

Mangrove gave a shallow smile and said, "Oh, it's nothing." She didn't get to finish before Angel cut her off.

"Yes, it is. You two are acting like Comet did when I first met him. Evasive and unwilling to talk. What are you trying to hide?" Angel almost growled.

It was really not a good way to talk to his parents, but Comet was hiding something from her ever since he had those pictures out on their first day. She initially just thought it was him being defensive of her invasion, but the more she thought about it, the more she was sure he was hiding something. His parents were no better at hiding it either.

"What is he trying to keep from me and everypony else?"

Mangrove's weak smile finally broke into a frown and she sighed. "Angel, you must understand, Comet has always been protective."

"Dear," Sun cut in, staring straight at her magenta eyes, "Don't. Comet will tell her when he's ready," His tone was almost angry to Angel.

"Sun, Comet will never tell her on his own, and you know that," Mangrove said in her sad tone. Sun's face hardened and he returned to the menu.

"Well, make sure when he finds out, you tell him I had no part of this, Angel," he said, clearly angry.

Right then, Angel became scared of exactly what she was trying to uncover. It wasn't just a secret Comet was trying to bury, but it seemed to be one his parents wanted to forget as well. She suddenly felt a massive amount of apprehension as Mangrove turned her head back to her, but if his mother knew Comet wouldn't tell her, she readied herself for whatever was going to happen.

"Did Comet tell you he was an only foal?" Mangrove asked.

Angel nodded slowly and Mangrove continued.

"Well, that was a lie. He never wants to talk about it, but he had a sibling. His big sister and our daughter, Nova."

"Nova?" Angel repeated quietly.

"Yes, Nova," Mangrove responded and Sun tensed up, but still refused to talk.

"She was four years older than Comet and was also very sick from birth. Nova had a rare immune system disorder that caused her to produce next to no white blood cells, so she was always coughing and bedridden. Comet, when he was old enough, made it his goal to keep his big sister healthy. He took it so seriously, he even got his cutie mark caring for her."

Angel's eyes widened and she sat in silence. He got his cutie mark caring for his sick big sister?

"He must've cared for her a lot," she mused quietly and Mangrove's face soured again.

"She meant the world to him," Mangrove pressed on with sadness edging her voice, "Comet even refused to go to school so he could care for her. He only went because she insisted he go, but he never hung around with anypony afterward. Whenever we came home, he was always right at the side of the bed fluffing the pillows, moving the blankets or playing a game with her. He always did it with a smile, though. Nova meant more to him than even us."

"Wow," Angel said softly. She never imagined Comet would do that, especially with how distant he normally acted.

"What happened to her?" she asked before thinking.

As soon as the question escaped Angel's lips, she instantly loathed herself for it. If the subject hurt the two ponies to even bring her up, what happened to her must hurt ten times worse. She broke her line of sight and stared at the ground.

Somewhere behind her, Mangrove sniffled. Sun, who was resolutely against telling Angel this, reached out a hoof and rubbed Mangrove's. What happened to Nova had nearly torn their family apart and Mangrove took it especially hard. Somewhere deep in Sun's chest, the familiar feeling of guilt and self loathing began to rise.

Comet stood in his old house and looked around at the features. That ugly furniture his parents had used since they were married littered the room. The violent shade of blue on the walls seemed to glow and a creak echoed to him. The rickety staircase leading up to the second story creaked again and Comet's eyes followed it up to the series of doors that lined the upstairs wall. Two were wide open, one being Comet's old room and the other his parents.

Comet slowly walked up the stairs and the familiar creaking as he walked pushed him forward. His eyes jogged to the right as he searched the hallway. At the end, one door remained shut and a large knot formed in Comet's throat. He walked slowly to it and felt the knot begin to choke him. That door was supposed to remain shut forever, but why was it pulling him towards it?

Comet stood outside the closed door and stared at it, afraid of opening it. Going into this room last time had made him cover himself with water and sit out in the snow where he caught hypothermia. Still, the door called him and he extended a hoof, pushing it open slowly.

Inside the room, bright sunlight flooded the room, washing it in a yellowish glow. Stuffed animals of all kinds, including a stuffed version of Princess Celestia sat on a shelf on the far wall, each smiling softly. Comet let his gaze wander to the left where a dresser sat covered with crayon drawings of an orange colt and a gold pony, each bearing a large red heart. His lungs seemed to fail as he saw those drawings. They were supposed to be six feet under the ground.

His eyes moved over to a bed covered in multicolored quilts and, much to his surprise, a light gold pony with a verdant green mane smiled at him. Her tangerine eyes seemed to glow themselves and Comet's heart skipped a beat.

"Nova..." he murmured and he slowly walked over to the bed.

"Hey, Comet," she said weakly, "How was school today?"

Without thinking, Comet put his hooves on the bed and stared at her.

"The same as always," he said slowly, unsure of what was happening.

Nova reached out a hoof and gently patted him on the head and Comet inhaled sharply. This couldn't be real. No, this just couldn't. Nova smiled at him and gently pulled him into a hug, one Comet's body reacted to without his mind. He felt her gentle legs hug him and his mind was wiped of all thought. It all felt so real.

"Nova required a lot of medication so she could have us around her. The doctors often said she should be quarantined, but she adamantly refused to be. She always said that if she was isolated, there was no point in living. She never said it out loud, though, but Comet was the main reason for her medication. He always washed his hoofs and sterilized everything, but being a colt, he was prone to carrying diseases." Mangrove continued, squeezing Sun's hoof.

"Sun and I tried our best to care for her, but Comet insisted of being her guardian. He worked hard trying to keep her happy and healthy. He even spent six weeks learning how to play a carnival game, the ring toss you mentioned, so he could win Nova a gift for her birthday."

Mangrove paused there and thought for a few seconds before continuing.

"He won her a stuffed Celestia and Nova cherished it. She always kept it close at night and talked to it like she was related to Celestia. It was during that time Comet swore he'd become a Royal Guard so he could protect Nova better."

Angel sat there, shaken by what she was hearing. Comet had a big sister he loved more than anything and she had a horrible feeling she knew where this was going. It also impressed upon her why his parents reacted the way they did when she told them about the carnival. That plushie Princess Luna she had suddenly took on more of a meaning than a simple gift. Comet had won a Princess Celestia for Nova and a Luna for her, so she could only guess at how much she must really mean to him.

After a couple more seconds, Angel finally worked up what little courage she had to ask a question.

"What happened to her?"

Mangrove's eyes watered and Sun gave a small shudder.

Comet was suddenly at his house, bundled up in his coat and wool hat, stomping his hoof angrily on the ground.

"But you promised we could go today!" he whined to his parents, who were in turn getting ready to leave.

"Comet, we have to go. I'm sorry we can't take you to the park," his green mother said gently.

Comet felt a couple tears well up before a sweet and familiar voice called out "Go ahead. I'll take him."

All three ponies spun their heads to see a thickly bundled up pony descending the stairs. Her green mane poked out a different increments and Comet's eyes widened.

"Nova, what are you doing out of bed?!" he asked worriedly.

She smiled back to him and said to their mother, "I'll take him. After all, the doctors say being in the sun helps with my condition."

After several minutes of arguing and making sure they were all warm, Sun and Mangrove left the house feeling a huge amount of regret. Nova was going to take Comet to the park.

Twenty minutes later, Comet and Nova stood at the park that was covered with snow. Comet checked and rechecked her wrappings as she sat on a bench.

"I'm fine, Comet," she cooed softly, "Now, go have some fun. You're young and need to play." '

Comet smiled at her and said, "Be sure to tell me if you need something!" before he ran off. He trusted his older sister explicitly and enjoyed himself for an hour and a half before returning to her. She was fast asleep, her head slightly nodded forward and Comet nudged her.

"It's time to get you your medicine!" Comet called happily. Nova remained asleep and Comet prodded her harder. She remained asleep and soon Comet was shaking her violently, screaming her name to wake her up. She kept her eyes closed and the small familiar smile on her lips as he did so, frozen in time.

"Comet pulled her halfway back home before we found him," Mangrove said, now fully crying, "He was a wreck and tried to feed her medicine as we waited for the ambulance and doctor. She was pronounced dead at the hospital and Comet blamed himself for what happened. She really died from the irregular heartbeat the medicines gave her, but Comet refuses to believe that. He has always held onto the belief that he was the cause of death to his older sister and never forgave himself. He withdrew into the state you met him in where he had no friends and pushed everypony away. He twice caught hypothermia on Nova's birthday because he sat on the bench where she died all day."

Angel stared down at her plate, trying her best to hold back tears. No wonder it took her four months to get Comet to be friendly around her. She could only imagine what Comet felt that day, the day his sister he loved more than anything was taken from him. Sun gritted his teeth and Mangrove finished.

"Comet has been trying to suppress the memories of his big sister, our daughter, for as long as we can remember. When he's around you, he's like a different pony. It's almost like he can forget about her and be happy again," She looked up at Angel and smiled to her, tears streaking her cheeks. "You're so much like her that maybe Comet can finally move on."

Comet sat at his footlocker, having woken up from that nightmare. Thinking about Nova always did that to him, giving him terrible dreams about her. He sat with the moonlight illuminating an old piece of parchment and he silently cried while reading it. The beautiful script was etched into his mind, but reading it always helped him through the night when he couldn't forget her.

To my baby brother,

If you are reading this, then the inevitable has happened. I'm sorry I can no longer be there to see you grow up and reach your goals, and it makes me sad to know that. I do know what your cutie mark means now and I wish to tell you. An exploding comet doesn't mean destruction, it actually means beauty. From our perspective, a comet burst is a beautiful sight since it makes hundreds of new stars for us to gaze at and enjoy. In the wake of a cataclysm, hope can be found. It will hurt when I'm gone, just like a shooting star exploding, but you must not give up. In the wake of your greatest tragedy, new doors will open for you other than taking care of a sickly pony. Become the Royal Guard you always wanted to be and don't hold back on my part. You are a great pony at heart and one day, you will show the world that.

Always remember as well that, even though I can't say it to you with my voice, I love you more than life itself. You were my only friend and the best caretaker I could ever want. I adored every moment I was with you and missed you every second you were away. I know you will miss me, but remember that I will miss you more. Please help mom and dad to get through my death by being yourself since you will be their only joy in the world after my time comes. I don't know how it will happen, but don't ever blame yourself for whatever happens. I was never supposed to live even this long, but your care and love has performed a miracle by giving me hope and a reason to live. Don't ever forget that, my little star. Don't ever forget that I love you more than anything else.

Your big sister,
Nova

Author's Notes:

Wow, this is the longest chapter I've ever written for a story. Plus, I even teared up while writing this. That's two firsts.