This story is a sequel to The Apprentice, the Student, and the Charlatan
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It has been four years since Nova Shine and Twilight Sparkle sealed away Envy at the base of the Everfree Vaults and got engaged, and a lot has happened. Nova has been training to become the archmage, Twilight and her friends defeated Cozy Glow, Tirek, and Queen Chrysalis, and now here they stand, with Nova's Ascendancy to come, his and Twilight's wedding (finally) on the horizon, a new apprentice for Nova to teach, and Twilight's coronation as the Ruler of Equestria set for the coming weeks. Though it's time to say goodbye, Nova and Twilight have made their peace with their lot, and are happy to begin a new chapter as they prepare for their new lives ahead of them.
But this happy life, in the midst of upheaval and transition, does not last.
Nova discovers that his old nemesis, whom he had believed sealed away for several years more, has escaped. He also learns she is now seeking out several objects with the potential to cause untold horrors and devastation. With Equestria still reeling form the attacks by Cozy, Chrysalis, and Tirek, Twilight and Nova are forced to leap into action once again, to stop Envy before she can acquire the mythical Gems of Being, and use them to assemble the Crown of Life.
And on top of all of this, Envy isn't the only one who wants to assemble the Crown. Someone else is after it too. And if he acquires all of them, it could mean the true end of all things.
Racing against time and against their enemies, and battling themselves just as much as their foes, Nova and Twilight, his apprentice Bright Gleam, as well as their friends Aegis, Trixie, the Princesses, Star Swirl, and Sharp Eye, have their work cut out for them. They must find these Gems of Being first, or at the very least, keep them out of the hooves of Envy and the other mysterious being, in order to win a battle that will determine the very fate of the entire world, and everyone in it.
Cover art by Winterline13
Chapters 1-2 proofread by Karibela.
I remember reading the story preceding this years ago and found it very entertaining. I look forward to how this turns out.
I see you waited until the series was over. Probably a good thing as now you have almost unlimited freedom to branch out and split things up how you need them to.
I'll be keeping an eye on updates!
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I tried to write a sequel to it between then and now. Made it pretty far but it just became clear that it quite literally didnt have much if a purpose outside of setting up the third story that was supposed to follow. So it got axed and with the finale coming out around this time, it just made sense to wait.
Gleam is an adorable proto-Twilight!
It's been a while, so I don't remember all the details with Envy. Perhaps I'll go back to the other story and brush up on things.
It never fails. First day of master/apprentice training and things go to pot. Gleam, be prepared for more than twenty-two minutes of adventure each week.
Awesome work! Keep it up, loving the twist.
good chapter
So... Does this mean that the audio drama is complete?
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No. Episode 5 is still in progress. Life always comes first though, as it's a passion project and not a profession project. True's kinda been juggling school, work, and her future career in addition to this, so it's been tough.
Twilight and Trixie may have a prickly relationship, but they work well together when they have a shared goal. I really liked the talk the two had with Nova and getting him to open up. The little discussion they had afterwards was also nice.
I'm not too good at judging emotional weight, though if I don't roll my eyes while reading it, I tend to find that it worked. Not sure if that helps, but I'm just a dude on the internet and not a professional critic.
Anyway, I look forward to seeing how this plays out!
Enthralling thus far.
I wonder if Chyrsalis left Nova alone because she remembered him? Maybe not consciously, but some remnant in the Hive mind?
Actually, that's an interesting thought. I know some of the original Lore was written before later episodes were released. There was a throw away line in the first book that only the royalty amount the channelling have constant names. But it kinda works that Changelings are only now forming their own individual identities. Very Borg. For millennia, Chrysalis *was* the changeling Empire.I
Sombra enslaving Nova sounds more ominous than others seem to realise. We'lle see if there was more to that at a later date. Sombra was always something of a Sauron expy (some rice even write the popcorn amulet as his creation) so envisioning Nova as a 'Mouth of Sauron' figure is frankly worrying.
All in all, the past seems to have been exciting even if the grand events didn't change to much. I'm looking forward to the future though.
Fascinating. Gleam is a really sweet character. Hilarious seeing the cast and events of the show through her eyes.
Envy's return was great. No messing around. She sounded more chaotic this time around. Less stalker and more joker. It's a nice change. Someone who's read the evil overlord list, but God damn it gloating is fun.
The change in her identity is intriguing. Did you always intend for her to be Shimmer? Having read the first book recently I didn't get the impression that she was Shimmer at all. But it's an interesting thought.
Without Trixie to act as a host, maybe she'll be forced to rely on Shimmer? Hang on.
Didn't Envy steal the Alicorn Amulet? From Zecora? Or am I misreading it and her Spirit Gem is a separate artefact? She had it at the end of the last story, and it was burried with her i thought.
Nova gets all the girls doesn't he? Twilight, Clover, Summer, Trixie (though I think that was edited out of a recent eedition), Shimmer. The way she talks about him I'm half convinced Luna was a little in love with him briefly, (the version she knew in the past) before she worked out the time travel shenanigans. As much as she can be said to 'crush' on anyone given she's an immortal empress of the night who'll outlive him several times over.
All in all? Loving it so far. Nice work.
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Replying to both comments at once here.
Some of your concerns with the original story and how it meshes is going to be addressed, either here or in the revised chapters of Apprentice (which aren't done yet; I'm gonna do most of the past, one new chapter after, and then redo the finale). I mean, Sombra's prophecy in the first story needs to be changed now that I'm not going that route.
Envy will still retain some stalker tendencies, but we're gonna learn a lot more about her as we go. Believe it or not, yes, she was almost always intended to be revealed to be Shimmer instead of Summer. At first, it really was just Summer, but as time went on while writing Worlds, I recognized that with the Soul Gem reveal I was planning, it would perfectly fit who I want Envy to be to really turn out to be someone else doing it just to piss Nova off. There was a plan to do something with that in the original set of stories (I have a blog post detailing this from a few weeks ago), but I figured I gotta get it out of the way here. This will be addressed a lot better in Apprentice (and I even dropped a pretty major hint at it back before Nova even goes back in time).
The Alicorn Amulet issue will also be addressed in the rewrites (I don't think I ever explicitly said Trixie was the one forced to wear it during the Apprentice finale and basically turned it over as soon as it was all done) and yes, it will play a role in this story, but no, it and the Spirit Gem are separate things. Envy has always worn the Spirit Gem.
Nova gets plenty of mares, but he does have a type, and he's perfectly loyal when he's not faced with being away from Twilight for two years on a time travel trip involving him meeting Twilight's doppelganger. In the past, oh yeah, Luna definitely had feelings for the first stallion who ever showed her the time of day (night?), appreciated all the work she put into things, and generally found her pleasant to be around, but it was never to be because he went chasing after Clover. In the present day, however, those feelings are completely moot given his relationship with Twilight, and even if it were otherwise, she's far more of a mother figure to him than anything else, to the point where when Nightmare Moon made a pass at him, he got a little squicked out by it.
And while Trixie flirted with him a bit, it was never serious. Originally, I wanted Trixie to be part of a love triangle with Twilight and Nova waaaaaaay back when I was first writing Apprentice in 2012/13, but it just never developed, considering she got kidnapped and spent pretty much the rest of Apprentice sidelined. And then in the rewrites, I realized they just worked better as really good friends, so I went with that angle.
Glad you're enjoying it, dude!
Personally, I think Nova may have been promoted too quickly. The stress of the position, getting a new apprentice, and now the return of an enemy has stretched his patience to the limit. Also, having an old flame for your fiancee in the same room probably doesn't help.
But, I have to wonder if this old alicorn now sharing his soul is adding to his stress. Not to mention how the princesses aren't being forthcoming of certain details.
I guess we'll see how this all turns out!
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I'm not sure I communicated it well (it's definitely being addressed next chapter), but Flash wasn't really an old flame. Twiggle Sprinkles and White Snark have been engaged since the night Twilight became a Princess. That being said, Flash and Twilight's encounters and feelings will have an impact on things (as already evidenced), but they were never anything more than a crush Twilight never seriously advanced, and Flash unintentionally seeing Twilight as Sunset Shimmer 2.0 and transplanting his feelings from there.
Good story so far keep up the good work
I think this story's been going great! I'm really glad there was some closure with Twilight and Nova after the last chapter. I was wondering why Twilight would give away Clover's cloak to the museum, but it makes sense now, because of the way she feels about Clover.
Flurry's just adorable, but I'm curious as to how Shimmer managed to play with Flurry without her parents or even the guard finding out about it. And especially since Flurry seems to be fond of her.
Oh no. In TATSATC, I felt no sympathy for Shimmer or even Summer. Now I feel bad for them both. I'm scared to find out what Nova found out in Shimmer's mind.
Also, since Sombra's here, are you doing something else to do with the predictions Sombra made in TATSATC, like in EIOW? I know the "Forgotten World" ,um I can't seem to remember the exact name, but it's not happening since that was in EIOW, but what about the other predictions?
Gleam was great in this, and I wonder if the voice in her head has something to do with the alicorn in Nova's head.
Anyway, I loved this chapter, and I can't wait for the next one!
-Sunny
Ah, young love. More like dumb love.
Guess who's back. Back again. Sombra's back. Tell a friend!
Seems Gleam's going to get involved no matter what happens. That's destiny and fate for ya. Don't give a crap 'bout your schedule.
So many head games that it's tough keeping track who's in whats head and vice versa. Need a diagram to sort it all out.
Till next time!
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When I get around to rewriting Chapter 15 in TATSATC, which shouldn't be too much longer considering I'm about 25% of the way through C14, I am going to change the prediction. The World Without Memory was EIOW, the Neverending Fantasy was going to be Story 3 in which Nova was trapped in an idyllic dream of everything he ever wanted, and Story 4 was going to see a similar situation here, with Sombra using Nova to try and return (except he was going to fail... and then come back again anyway in Story 5 because of shenanigans).
As for Shimmer being sympathetic, well... you ain't seen nothing yet. I'm trying to toe the line between her being evil enough to make things difficult, but also being not evil enough to maintain sympathy. And on that note, I still haven't shown everyone just what it was Nova saw in her head yet, but it's coming. For her playing with Flurry, I implied she just kinda snuck into Flurry's room from time to time with shadow magic since the alarms didn't detect shadow form or something. I dunno, sometimes you gotta paint the center of the canvas but leave the edges there for the reader to fill in. Not everything needs to be explained away, and sometimes things are best left to the reader's imagination. Explaining too much leads to the Star Wars problem.
Glad you're enjoying it, dude. Hopefully it lives up to all expectations.
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Yeah, I left it open that Nova was not over Clover at the end of TATSATC, and it's having long-reaching effects here. Neurotic and jealous Twilight overthinks Nova's lingering feelings for a mare that looks exactly like her and acts out in the most irrational way, whereas aloof Nova Shine, who tries to hide away when he thinks he's done wrong, just buries all of his bad feelings and guilt about it in the name of trying to keep things working, and naturally, it starts eating away at things the moment the wrong things happen. The good news is, semi-spoiler but also no, they will patch things up and come out stronger. But there's work to do and certain bacon-maned thought-seers to talk to first (there's my big tease of what's to come).
For Gleam, what's the phrase? "One often meets their destiny on the road they take to avoid it"? When you have a magic voice in your head telling you what to do, you're already involved in the game, and all your attempts to get out of it won't do diddly squat.
I love complex webs of stories. My favorites are those ones with slow build-ups, shifting alliances, and plenty of character interactions that lead to a massive payoff when everything comes together. Think Brandon Sanderson, George R R Martin, etc. TATSATC was mostly simple. TALB won't be as simple. The characters on the cover art are just the most-involved characters.
Also glad you're enjoying things. Loving the feedback.
Oooh I have a question, is Neighton a ponified version of Beighton in England?
I was just curious
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It's kinda just a typical town. Could also be a pun of Dayton OH, for instance. In the audio drama, it has qn English feel to it in the art, so if you think of it that way, that's perfectly in line.
Prophecies are one of those things to roll up into a ball and toss away. Nothing good comes from them. Especially ones that are deliberately vague and can be interpreted multiple ways.
Nice fight scene. It's tough to come up with different ways to realistically test the characters when they are already insanely powerful. Power creep is one of those literary crutches that is hard to overcome.
Gleam being possessed by a goddess kinda reminds me of Zelda. Might just be me, though.
Nova needs to tell his inner edge lord to stuff it.
Looking forward to where this is all going!
Is this story dead?
I hope not considering how good the previous entry was.
So please dear author, please confirm that this story is in fact not dead.
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It's not dead by any stretch, it's just taking a while to write long-ass chapters. I'm well into writing the next one, but I've had some life events that slowed me down (death of a grandparent, a move, and now my parents moving back to the states in a few weeks).
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Jesus dude, yep, it seems life really did hit you with a curve ball now didn't it?
And considering the severely underated quality of the last story (moreso here considering the disappointing amount of likes on this one (seriously I read a lot of storys here on FIMfiction and half of them don't deserve anywere near the amount of likes this one has) I am more then happy to wait, I personally prefer quality over quantity thank you very much.
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I don't think it's disappointing. I wrote a long story, and that long story has long chapters. People aren't likely to jump on long stories. Archive panic is a thing. Then you try to sell that plus this one, and of course the number of people jumping on is going to be much less. I'm just happy to have the people that have stuck with me this far.
Because when the world spits in your face, sometimes all you can do is laugh back.
Is Harmonia really on everypony's side? Because she seems to cause as much trouble as she fixes. She comes across as a milder Discord.
Well, it's a safe bet that Twilight won't be on speaking terms with the princesses for a while.
It ends on a sweet moment with hints of future difficulties. See ya then!
I don't like the ancients--no that was the wrong expression. They don't seem to look ahead of their mistakes and the consequences they cause, because they have all the time in the world? Celestia and Luna seem to be getting caught up in this as well, although I strongly think Celestia has some explaining to do. Her vague explanation's and 'I'll tell you later' doesn't work anymore! Trust is what's needed here, folks, not going off guesses. Although, maybe there are some things they themselves don't know. There's so many possibilities!
What I want to know is, what is the connection between the Lost Alicorn King and Nova? Reincarnation? A repetition of history? Or are they one in the same? (that last one might also be another thing adding to the whole healing ability Nova's gained) I have a feeling we're going to see a lot more of Nova's elemental abilities in the future.
Nova and Twilight need to have a long discussion, just the two of them. Its clear they love each-other, but Twilight needs to repeat her question, not only to him, but to herself as well. Clover, Summer Blossom, Nova; Twilight, and Flash...
"What do you want?"
Wonderful update, and looking forward to the next one!
A lot of the early chapter felt like an intervention. Though it looks like things are finally working out for Nova Shine. Only at your lowest can you finally pick yourself back up.
These gems sound like a combination of The One Ring and the Infinity Stones. Three sparkly McGuffins to rule them all!
I always enjoy a round of magic craft and theory. And it's nice to see Nova given a project to work on rather than stew in his situation. That boy has a potty mouth when upset.
Looking forward to more!
Man I ship Imperius and Ars so hard after that first scene
Just read the first story, it was amazing! I can't wait to read through this one as well!
Great story you got going on here, been a hell of a ride so far, Nova hits close to home for me, I struggle with impostor syndrome all the time, you got it down pretty well.
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Well, they say to write what you know. Thankfully, I don't suffer from it anymore, but I still remember the feelings and channel them when I put myself in Nova's (horse)shoes.
I binged watch the story and I have to say that I love it. It does have that sense of mystery that I like out of a book. The plot is simple, but our lack of information as readers makes us guessing about every tiny possibility. Looking forward to the next chapter. (Started reading it 4 days ago)
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Thanks! Now that I've gotten past Apprentice and its last big update (I have a couple of others in the works), it should be easier for me to work on Last Bow, and I hope that the story's twists and turns live up to your expectations.