//------------------------------//
// Vanitas 
// Story: The Archmage's Last Bow 
// by Rytex 
//------------------------------//


The Archmage’s Last Bow
Chapter 06 - Vanitas


The capital city of the Alicorn Empire was known by many names throughout its time.  The Roamans called it Scala ad Caelum, or “the stairway to the heavens.”  Some cultures referred to the city as the Apex of the World, the shape-changers far to the south called it the Diamond Within The Maw, the germaneic tribes spoke in whispers of a haunting twisted white city crafted from arcanostone and orichalcum whose name they were afraid to even speak, as though the gods that inhabited that city would punish them for profaning it with their lips.

The City on a Hill.  The City of World’s Desire.  The Pinnacle.  Where the Cosmos met the Earth.  And so on, and so on.

Prince Imperius always scoffed at those tall tales, spoken of by merchants who traded with the Roamans or other beings.  They were probably only trying to ingratiate themselves with the citizens of this city.  The better not to be treated like the subservients, or some other motive.  Perhaps they truly were spoken of that way abroad.  Imperius wouldn’t know.  He had never left the city.  It was his birthright.

It was Elysium.

It was home.

“Where is he?” he heard from somewhere outside of his current location, a room known as the Hall of Prophecy.  It was one of his (many) caretakers, clearly trying to fetch him for some new frivolity that his father was imposing on him.  How many more duties were to be foisted upon him?  Was Father retiring so soon?  Surely he could wait and let Imperius adjust to the current workload he had increased only last week.

They were immortal; it’s not like Father was running out of time.

That wasn’t to say that Imperius wasn’t focused on his duties.  Quite the contrary, it was because of his duties that he was in this room in the first place.

Of all of the strange, wonderful places in the White City, the Hall of Prophecy was perhaps the strangest and most wonderful.

It was common knowledge that the alicorns were gifted in the ways of all subservient races.  They had the strength of the earth ponies, the flight of the pegasi, and the touch of magic that the unicorns held, but they had something else that the subservient races lacked.  They had the gift of time.

Not immortality.  Immortality was no gift, for it had needed to be wrested from the realm of the impossible.

No, some alicorns contained the ability to see outside of time.  To see what was to come, to see potential futures or alternative realities.

Imperius’ own great-grandmother was one such Timeseer, Empress Verita.  The Seer-Queen, as she was known.  She made hundreds of prophecies in her time as the Alicorn Empress.  Through some of these prophecies, she had been able to guide the alicorns toward their destiny of reigning over the entire world, though by the time she retired as empress and passed the throne over to her son Magnus IV, the reaches of the Empire had extended to dominate the northern half of the Western Continent.

Magnus had seen the Empire grow even further under his watch, guided by his mother’s words.  The Empire became a more peaceful, scholarly society.  It was under Magnus, after the passing of Verita, that immortality was seized.  It was under Magnus that the Gems of Being were forged by the great arcanosmith Artifex, under whom Imperius’ own friend Ars Arcanum was currently studying.  It was under Magnus that the Great Wellspring was opened up.  It was under Magnus that orichalcum was discovered and then exploited.

And then Magnus retired, and Imperius’ father Dominus took the throne.  With his grandmother’s words to guide him, Father had made the unpopular decisions to allow many subservients to flee without fear of retribution.  Father had receded the Empire’s borders in favor of strengthening their holds over a shorter area, locations rife with rebellion and uprisings.  Time had vindicated Father’s decisions, and by extension, Verita’s prophecies.  Every single one of her prophecies came true over the many years of her descendents’ reign.

Every prophecy, except one.

Imperius stood in the Hall of Prophecy, staring down at a pedestal crafted out of arcanostone, the polished white smooth surface chiseled with magnificent shapes on it.  A velvet pillow lay atop this pedestal, with a scroll lying atop it.

The Final Prophecy.

Imperius stared down at it with trepidation.  How was it that every prophecy but this one had come true?  What was even said within it?  What was it Verita had seen?

“Ah, here you are,” came a rumbling voice from behind him.

Imperius jumped and spun around, stumbling over his legs as he did so and falling to the ground in an undignified heap.

His father stood over him, a glint of amusement in his bright blue eyes as he stared down at his fallen son.  Dominus was tall, even by alicorn standards.  His mane was black and quite full, standing out in stark contrast against his white coat.  His shoulders were broad, his hooves were large and bespoke the power he carried in them, and despite the status he carried, he carried himself as though he were no more important than the next alicorn.  His muzzle was not raised, his breast was not puffed out, he simply stood normally and walked like a normal alicorn.

“F-father,” Imperius said, getting to his hooves.  “Were you looking for me?”

“Don’t play coy, Imperius,” Father grinned.  “You’ve been hiding from your caretakers again.  They are bustling about the entire palace searching for you.”

Imperius bowed his head, knowing he was about to be lectured.

“A curious place you’ve chosen to hide,” observed Father, looking around the large room.  Shelves upon shelves filled with scrolls.  Each one came with a small card which summarized the prophecy within, and the date on which it was fulfilled.  The only prophecy which did not have one was the one sitting in this place of exalt.

“I… wasn’t hiding,” he admitted.

“Aaaah,” Father nodded understandingly.  “You wish to see what the future holds for you, I presume.”

 He trotted over and hefted the scroll in which the Final Prophecy was contained in his hoof, scrutinizing it.

“I was like you once, you know,” Father said,  “Back then there were several prophecies that were still yet to be fulfilled from the last known seer, of course.  Rather curious that a new Seer hasn’t been born in centuries, but the Law of Averages will, well, average out,” he smiled.

“Father,” Imperius gave him an annoyed look.  “If you are here to chastise me--”

“I was going to at first, I admit,” Father shrugged.  “I thought you were out spending time with Ars and Harmonia again.  But to find you here, to find you trying to determine your place in all that is to come… well, I cannot help but understand.”

He placed the prophecy back down on the cushion, and turned to leave.

“I would advise that you ignore this place until a new Seer is born, my son,” Father strode toward the double-doors that led out of the room.  “All prophecies have been fulfilled but that one, and that one is quite possibly the vaguest and most impossible to pinpoint out of all of them.”

“But this one may be relevant to me!” Imperius protested.  “I must know!  I must prepare!”

“Read it then,” Father turned back to give him an expectant look.  “Read it, and see why I would advise ignoring it.”

Imperius blinked.  He had to be jesting, right?  But Father was still watching him, waiting…

Imperius turned around, opened the latch on the scroll, and unfurled it.

The prophecy was short, quite unlike the other prophecies housed in that room.




“I speak to you, the final emperor of the alicorns.
I speak to you, the bringer of our doom.
I speak to you, the one who would wear life
I speak to you, the one who would rule over all
I, Verita, speak to you.

Beware the god-shattering star.”




Imperius looked up.  “Is that it?”

Father nodded.  “That is the entirety of the Final Prophecy of Empress Verita.  We learn nothing useful from it, as you can plainly see.”

“How can you say that!?” Imperius stamped a hoof onto the ground.  “We learn a lot from it!  ‘Our doom’?  ‘Final emperor’?”

“Imperius, we know nothing about what those mean,” Father replied calmly.  “Our race is doomed.  Nothing lasts forever, not even the immortals,  Death is an eventuality, and the best any of us can do is stave it off.  There will be a Final Emperor.  There will be a doom.  Beyond that, we know nothing.  We know not how this doom comes about, other than that it is brought upon us by someone.  We know not what ‘wearing life’ means.  We do not even know if these four lines are speaking to separate beings, a single being, or the race as a whole!  And if we tried to define who would rule over all, well,” he smiled humorlessly, “it would be a list that is sure to contain almost every being in this world, both in the past and future.”

He gave Imperius a meaningful look.

“Ignore this prophecy, my son.  Put it out of your mind.  Focus only on what you can change, not what you cannot.  What will come will come, and we will be ready to meet it when it does.”

With that, he gestured for Imperius to join him, and Imperius trotted forward, idly brushing some wayward bangs of his blue mane out of his face with a white-coated hoof.

Imperius spoke no more of this, but he returned many nights after to the Hall of Prophecy, tormented by a burning question in his mind, a question that refused to leave, no matter how much he looked to the future.  Even as the years passed and he aged, even after he had taken his father’s place as Emperor, he remained haunted.

Haunted by the knowledge that lay out of his reach.

What is the god-shattering star?





Snow crunched underhoof as six ponies trekked out into the Frozen North, heading further northward in the direction of Yakyakistan, toward a looming mountain in the far distance, barely visible under the cloudy sky and the snowfall.  It was far closer than it looked, and it wasn’t nearly as tall as it seemed, but the much smaller cliffs on either side of them made it seem that much more monstrous and far away by comparison.

“Why can we not simply take an airship to the shrine?” her fiancee had asked before they had packed their bags.

“The journey to the shrine is short, and it is considered, in a manner of speaking, a pilgrimage,” Cadence had answered.  “It is, after all, an ordeal.  It isn’t supposed to be convenient.”

“All the way to the base of Mount Glacia,” muttered Twilight Sparkle to herself, remembering Shining’s instructions.  Just like Cadance had said, Mount Glacia wasn’t far from the Imperial City.  In fact, it was visible in the distance.  But they had six ponies to worry about, which slowed things.  Herself, Nova, Gleam, and three Crystal Guardsponies.

“Should only be a short trot, ma’am,” one of the guardsponies said, a mare who kept her tail in a lengthy flowing braid ands was currently trotting beside Gleam.  “The sherpa will guide us from the base to the temple.”

“Sherpa?” Twilight asked, glancing back at the mare who currently marched next to Gleam.

“Yes ma’am,” the mare dipped her head.  “He lives on the mountain and leads creatures to the temple.  He will be our guide when we arrive.”

“I… see,” Twilight turned back to the expanse of snow before them again.

She slowed, sliding past Gleam and falling in step next to Nova, who was watching the snow pass underneath him with a blank look.

“And how about you?” she asked softly, brushing up against him to let him know she was there, even though he couldn’t have not noticed.

Nova Shine just shook his head, his eyes misting over.

“I could fly you up,” she offered, unfurling her wings.  “Carry you up into the clouds, where we could speak alone.”

“No,” Nova croaked, before clearing his throat.  “Just… I…”

“You saw something,” she said, pressing even harder against him.  “You saw something that’s got you completely off.  You can tell me, you know that right?”

“Always,” he assured her softly, clenching his eyes shut and turning away slightly.  “But… I don’t…”

“You don’t what?”

“I don’t think I could… tell you,” he whispered, his voice barely audible over the crunching of snow beneath their hooves.  “I would need to show you.”

“How?”

“Dreamsharing,” he said.  He sniffed, and turned his gaze ahead, toward the mountain that grew ever closer.  It wasn’t a tall mountain, not by any stretch, though it did seem to be very craggy on the western side and capped with snow.  It would probably not be a difficult climb, but it would still be strenuous.

“WAH!”

Nova’s head snapped back down, horn brimming with energy at Gleam’s yelp.  Twilight looked over to see what had happened, and saw Gleam’s own horn shining green.  She had fallen back into the snow, eyes darting every which way, their pupils shrunken and her breath coming in short gasps.

“Is everything alright, Apprentice Bright Gleam?” asked her guard.

“I… I thought…” she flushed, seeming to shrink down into Nova’s old cape in shame.

“Was it your shadow again?” Nova asked gently, trotting up and laying a comforting hoof on her shoulder.  Twilight felt a very warm sensation watching it.  No judgement, no teasing, no shame at all.  Just him being there for his apprentice.

Gleam seemed to steady herself from the contact alone, and she nodded, before tearing up.  “I… thought it was her.”

“When we get back, we’ll need to have you talk with Counselor Trixie,” he said grimly.  “She’s probably the only living pony who could help you get over Envy trauma.  Until then, hold still.”

Gleam did, allowing Nova to lean down and fire off a spell directed at her temple, though she showed no discomfort.  When the spell ended, she glanced at him quizzically.

“Nightmare ward,” he explained, brushing back his mane.  “It’ll help you at least sleep.  And I can set up alert spells all over your room in case she decides to show up.”

Even as a tear fell from her eyes, Nova brushed it away before it had a chance to freeze.

“Gleam, look at me.”

She did, and Twilight felt a pang in her heart as Gleam sniffled and the shadow of shame crossed her face..

“You’re not broken,” he assured her.  “You aren’t weak, you aren’t responsible for anything that happened in there.  You did nothing wrong, and you shouldn’t blame yourself for anything.”

And then he hugged her.

“Gleam, you saved my life.”

Twilight felt the bottom of her stomach drop out.

“She what?” she asked, mouth falling open.

“It’s okay to be scared.  It’s okay to not be okay.  But we’re here for you, and we’ll do everything we can to help make it better.”

Gleam nodded, lip trembling and slumping in Nova’s embrace and sniffling into his shoulder.

“She what?” Twilight asked, stepping over and staring into his eyes.  “You nearly died?”

Nova wordlessly nodded, before mouthing “tell you later” while he remained focused on Gleam.  Twilight stared at him for a long time.  He hadn’t mentioned that when he and Star Swirl recounted the battle down below.  Had he not wanted her to worry?

Did he not trust her?

Her insides clenched at the thought.  Why would he?  After everything with Flash, why would anyone trust her?

It was well after the snow had piled up on Nova’s shoulders that she pulled back, looking better, but still with that same scared look in her eyes.  It was going to take a long time to heal her mind after all of this.  Trixie hadn’t made a full psychological recovery, and it had been four years.  She still jumped when shadows made sudden movements.

Then again, Trixie had been subject to far more personal of an ordeal than Gleam had so far.

Far ahead, the mount grew closer and closer, bit by bit, step by step.  Perhaps once he underwent this trial, all would be right with Nova again.  Then they could worry about Gleam.





On a nearby cliff, far enough away that the small party trudging through the snow couldn’t see, a shadow crept up to the hooves of a watching pony, and rose out of the ground, resolving into a shapely silver mare, who knelt before the watcher.

“I think they might have noticed me,” she commented, with a glance back at the travelers.  “The filly jumped about a mile in the air, but as I left, they thought it might have been her own shadow.”  She clenched her teeth with disgust.  “She’s going to be psychologically affected for months.”

“It does not change the plans I’ve made at all,” Sombra said, eyes narrowed as he watched the group.  “And was Lord Star Swirl in the group as well?”

“No,” Envy shook her head.  “Just those six.”

“Then let us not delay my little test,” Sombra nodded his head, before looking down at her.  “Let loose the beasts of shadow on them all.”

“A-all of them?” Envy’s mouth parted, already glancing back down to the filly.

Sombra frowned, and his horn sparked dangerously.

“Need I repeat myself, apprentice mine?”

Shimmer nearly flinched.  Nearly.  But she didn’t.  Instead, she grit her teeth and shook her head.

“Do not concern yourself with her.  Instead…”

He paused, shifting his attention to the group, who continued their march.  Five combat-capable ponies, and the helpless apprentice.  Shimmer had asked that bonehead for a favor-- the simplest of favors, just keep that filly safe!-- and yet he couldn’t have done it for all of an hour.

“Why do you care so much about this foal?” he abruptly asked.

Shimmer glanced over at him to see that his gaze was directed right at the young filly.  An unpleasant shiver went up her spine.  Whatever he was thinking about involving her, it probably wasn’t anything good.

“I don’t know,” she lied.

Sombra frowned, and Shimmer groaned as the pain began to course through her yet again.  She stayed on her hooves, though.  She wouldn’t fall and show weakness.  She wouldn’t be the seventh of his “apprentices” to perish.

“I’ve made it clear to not speak lies to me,” he stated, baring the fangs in his mouth to punctuate it.  “There’s nothing you can hide away from me.”

Shimmer shivered, as the reminder all too vividly flashed through her head.  The six walking dead-eyed unicorn corpses, all but one hornless, the spell that she was forced to endure, watching the sixth unicorn’s horn shatter the moment he cast that spell upon her, striking at her very soul, the whispers of blood and death in her head, of anger and hate.  He was watching.  He was always watching.  Watching, and whispering.

She remembered her first kill.  It was one of Sombra’s slaves, who had collapsed.  She had been forced to pierce her heart beneath her blade.  It was an awful feeling, flesh parting as if it weren’t there, the subtle scraping of bone on metal, and the last gasp of air as the light in the mare’s eyes faded.  She could even have sworn the mare had whispered “thank-you,” to her as she passed.

The rest had been far less merciful, spurred on by the ever-present voice.

“Bring forth the three abominations now,” he ordered, his eyes fixed on Nova Shine down below.  “Then… test the filly, see if she’s a threat.”

“And… if she is?” she asked.

Sombra merely gave her a knowing look, and a deadly smile.

“And if she is, then you know what to do.”





Child… child!

Gleam jumped, jolted out of her haze by the mysterious voice.

“What?” she asked aloud, dumbly.

Master Nova Shine’s head cocked in her direction almost immediately and his brow twitched.

“Something the matter, Gleam?” he asked, trotting up.

Child, shadows draw near!

“Something’s wrong,” she answered, looking around.  Where?  Where were these shadows coming from?  What was the voice talking about?

Her master suddenly stiffened and jerked his head somewhere behind the group.

*Thud, thud, thud, thud*

Dust fell from the crags around them, and Twilight’s head snapped up, legs tense and her horn glowing.  A shudder raced along her spine and she groaned at the sensation.  That unnatural feeling was back, the feeling of shadow magic.

“Guards!” Master Nova Shine barked.  At once, the trio of Crystal Guards whirled around, slamming hooves onto one of the gems on their armor, which caused glaives with blades of jagged crystal to appear in their hooves in flashes of light.

 *THUD, THUD, THUD, THUD*

Gleam’s mouth fell open as the figure clambered over the crag and dropped down.

It was black, composed of shadow, save for the white patches that appeared as though they were made from bone, and the glowing red-golden eyes.  Its shape was that of an equine, but much longer, and with front hooves that seemed to end in bony claws, the white patches covered its muzzle yet left everything else intact, and its mane was made of shadow that faded away as it issued off, like King Sombra’s mane.  On this shadow horse’s back, however, was a conjoined upper half of something resembling a minotaur.  The stomach was so thin it could have been malnourished, the white patches formed the shape of ribs, and long, stringy arms hung down on either side of the horse’s barrel.

But its face…

It, too, had red-golden eyes, but it almost looked as though it were hidden behind a bone mask, ending with jagged teeth at its cheeks, and with two great horns curving upward on either side of its forehead.

Princess Twilight paled.

“A nuckelavee,” she whispered, going pale.

No.  Three.

Sure enough, there were more crashing thuds, and then two more of these monstrosities loomed high over the rocky outcroppings and came dropping down.  No sooner had they landed than they all began to lumber toward the group.  One of them opened its mouth and let out a screech.  Gleam clapped her hooves to her ears.  It was the most shrill, most ear-piercing sound she had ever heard!  Was this what a banshee sounded like?

When the scream mercifully ceased, Princess Twilight had magically dragged Nova and the three guardsponies toward her so that they all were in a tight formation around Gleam.

“I fought one of these outside of Ponyville on the day our enemy returned,” she instructed crisply, staring at one, her horn already brimming with magic.  “Its weakness is within its mouth.  you will have to bait out a fireball.  Don’t attempt to pierce its hide, as it’s impenetrable.  Its size and its clumsiness are the key to drawing out a ranged attack to allow you to go in for the kill.”

“Anything we should be wary of?” Nova asked, his own horn sparking as well.

“Don’t try to block its physical attacks, they’re too strong,” she added.  “I’ll take one and assist once I’ve dispatched it.  Nova, do the same.  Guards, two of you hold one off, one of you guard Gleam.  As soon as I am able to, I will relieve you both and you fall back and protect Gleam as well.”

“Yes ma’am,” one of them said, and two of them immediately charged at the nuckelavee on the left, hefting their glaives.

“Stay safe,” Nova ordered, eyes on the nuckelavee on the right,

“I will,” said Gleam and Princess Twilight at the same time.  Gleam couldn’t help but give a tiny smile despite the situation.

With that, Master Nova Shine gave his cape a flick and galloped off, already peppering his mark with spells.  Princess Twilight gave her a last worried glance, but then spread her wings and blasted herself forward with a powerful flap that sent small flurries of snow flying away.  She was alone with the guard mare.

“With me, Lady Apprentice,” the mare turned, grabbing her by the shoulder and pulling her away from the three monstrosities that her master, the princess, and the guard’s two comrades were engaging.

Gleam stumbled, not used to being handled this way, and tripped over the hem of the cloak, but the guard caught her before she could fall..

“Hurry, hurry,” she urged, giving her a push to move Gleam forward.  

“I’m… going…” Gleam grunted as she sprinted away, laboring to lift her hooves high enough over the snow so as to not get bogged down in it.

A blast of red magic struck in front of her, lifting Gleam off her hooves and sending her flying back into the guard.  They tumbled down into the snow, but the guard quickly swirled around and got to her feet.  Gleam, however, staggered upright, bogged down by the snow and the oversized cape.

Ahead of them, with her head bowed, her eyes clenched shut, and a look of utter disgust on her face, stood Envy.

“Stay behind me,” the guard barked, locking her glaive into a groove in her armor and baring it forward.

“You are Onyx Lance, are you not?” Envy asked softly, somehow audible despite the battles raging behind them.  “Formerly of His Majesty King Sombra’s Imperial Guard?”

“That was never my real name,” the guard jabbed her lance forward threateningly.  “That was my name when I was your precious master’s little slave.”

“I will allow you to run and assist your comrades-in-arms,” Envy continued softly, as though Onyx Lance hadn’t said anything.  “I have been ordered to test the apprentice, and should you impede me, I will not hesitate to slay you where you stand.”

Onyx Lance swung her glaive sideways, stopping it where it was held between Envy and Gleam, and her legs tensed.

“I won’t let you anywhere near her, Envy,” Onyx stated, before twirling it into a combat-ready position.  “If for no other reason than to spite that tyrant!”

Envy’s face darkened.  With a brief flash of light, her knife appeared.  There was a long moment, in which a bitter chill wafted across their section of the Frozen North, as Onyx Lance and Envy stared each other down.

Then, Envy pounced.









“Come on, come on,” Nova growled as he ducked under a massive hand that batted at where his head had been about ten seconds before.  The beats were quite slow, as Twilight had said, but they were still rather smart.  The one battling two crystal guards had been sure to stomp on over toward the mountain so it could lob boulders at them, though they were doing an excellent job of dodging.  The one battling Twilight already seemed to have had enough of the lilac pest that was buzzing around its head, and it was swatting at her with those massive hands, yet Twilight’s agility allowed her to weave in and out of its range as she assaulted its face with all manner of spells, yet true to her warning, none were having any effect.  Not fire, not ice, not light, not neutral magic…

*WHAM!*

“Fuck!” Nova exclaimed as he hurtled sideways through the air.

Just keep your mind set on your foe, my friend.

“Oh fuck me, he talks when I’m awake now!” Nova staggered to his feet and surveyed the damage.  He’d been caught watching Twilight instead of focusing on his own opponent.  “Can you keep the chatter to a minimum when I’m fighting?” he added, staring down the nuckelavee, who let out another shriek, though a quick spell to block out the sound remedied that.

Apologies. But look up on the cliff.

Nova first took the time to bait out a swipe from the nuckelavee’s paw before he chanced a glance upward.  It took him a moment to see, but then his eyes fell on exactly who the alicorn king was alerting him to.

Sombra stood on the cliff, watching the separate battles beneath him, his eyes half-narrowed, a small frown.  No sooner had Nova’s eyes fallen on him that the shadow-king turned his attention to Nova, giving him a brief glance, and a small smirk.

“He set those on us,” Nova noted, before leaping sideways to avoid another crushing paw.  “Him or Envy.  Damn it,” he cursed, before starting to maneuver himself toward Twilight to get her attention.  “We’re out of our league.  He’s trying to wear us down.”

Twilight noticed him running toward her, and she immediately zipped down and placed a particularly thick shield around them.

“What’s wrong?” she asked, wincing as her nuckelavee tried to stomp on the shield with its hooves.

“Up on the cliff,” Nova pointed.  Twilight looked, and her eyes widened when she beheld who was standing there, watching them, with a much deeper frown than before.

“We need to get out of here,” Twilight said, already looking around for the Crystal Guards.  “We’ve got to get back to the city now!”

“I’ll get Gleam,” he said.

“I’ll distract the nuckelavees, and I’ll alert the guards.  Ready?”  Nova nodded, five balls of light appearoing around him and spinning at a frightening pace.  “GO!”

The shield dissipated and Nova was off, dashing away.  Twilight immediately zipped back toward the nuckelavees, making sure to fly right in front of their faces.  It seemed to work, because Nova’s nuckelavee stopped chasing him and focused on her.

Across the way, however, it seemed as though Twilight wasn’t needed.  Even as Nova watched, he saw one of the guards dash out from under a fist that was slamming down, before the guard reared back and stabbed the glaive right through its hand and pinned it to the earth.

The beast roared, and that was the only window the other guard needed.  It dashed up the pinned arm, all the way up to the nuckelavee’s shoulder, before leaping off, twisting around, and hurling the glaive right into the nuckelavee’s open maw.

The roar died immediately, before in an explosion of shadow, the nuckelavee burst, sending the killing glaive clattering to the ground.  The guard continued to fall, but a moment later, his comrade dashed under him and cushioned his fall.  No sooner had they landed and dusted themselves off than the nuckelavee’s killer ran over to grab his fallen glaive and they galloped off to aid Gleam.

Damn, Nova thought, impressed.  Shining and Cadance couldn’t have asked for better guards.

He continued, redoubling his sprint, but before he made it even a short way there, something massive landed in front of him, knocking him backward from the sheer force of how hard it landed.

“What the--'' he gasped, before picking himself up from where he had fallen and looking up.  One of the nuckelavees that Twilight had been distracting had caught on to what he was doing.  It seemed these creatures were more intelligent than he initially thought.

“Fine,” he growled.  “If you want to get in my way so bad, then allow me to show you why that was a mistake.”





Onyx Lance ducked under a blast of magic from Envy and swung her glaive around at blazing speed.  With a loud clang! the crystal blade met the silver knife just before it could slash across Envy’s face.

“I remember watching him train you,” Envy muttered in a low voice.  “I remember watching him teach you the Seven Stances, and I remember him noting your weaknesses and your shortcomings.”

“Your point?” Onyx growled, shoving Envy away with a particularly ferocious heave.  Envy slid back, and Onyx pressed her opening, jabbing the butt of her spear toward Envy’s cheek, though Envy ducked under it.  Gleam watched, unsure of what to do.  Should she run?  Should she stay?  What did the voice in her head want her to do?  Was she needed here?

Child.

“What?” she whispered.  “What do I do?”

Allow me.

“Wh-what?” Gleam’s breath hitched.  What did she mean “allow her?”  Up ahead, Onyx Lance seemed to be getting the upper hoof, slowly pressing Envy back.  Although the glaive gave her a reach advantage, Envy had magic on her side, and in the few times Gleam had seen her battle, never once had she gotten the feeling that Envy was out of control of a situation, save for when Master Nova Shine had her on the ropes yesterday.

You cannot hope to stand your ground as you are, and it would not do well to split your attention with me whispering strategy.  Cinnabar is outmatched as well.  If you wish to come to her defense, please allow me to take control however briefly.

Onyx Lance swept the butt of her spear downward, sweeping Envy’s legs out from under her.  Envy landed with a grunt.  Gleam let out a nervous breath.  She had this, the fight was hers now… right?

But when Gleam looked down at the fallen mare, in that split-second, Envy did not look at all distressed.

Child!  Please!

Onyx Lance swung the glaive of the spear downward, but before it went more than a few inches, there was a sudden flash of silver, and a cry of pain, before Onyx Lance was kicked to the side, and Gleam was horrified to see blood stain the snow near her face.  Underneath her, Envy had an expression of grim triumph, and her silver knife was dripping red.

It felt like she had been punched in the gut.  Envy had maneuvered Onyx Lance into presenting an opening, and Onyx Lance, formerly a guard to Sombra himself, had paid the price.  She lay on the snow, clutching at her face, which was pouring blood from it, but even as she whimpered, Onyx Lance still struggled to get to her hooves.

Envy stared at her for a long moment, before she struck Onyx Lance with a beam of energy and blasted her several meters away, where Onyx Lance did not move.

And now Envy turned her gaze to Gleam.

Gleam scrambled backward, before, yet again, she caught the edge of her master’s cloak and fell into the snow.  Before she could stagger back up, she felt something stab downward, catching the cloak and pinning it to the ground.

Knowing what she was going to see, Gleam turned back to see that Envy, with a completely empty expression, had pinned her master’s cloak to the ground with her bloodstained knife, and was now advancing on her.

There came two battle yells from somewhere to the side.  Gleam turned just in time to see both of the Crystal Guards dashing toward them, glaives poised for combat.  Envy, however, sent a casual beam of energy at them, freezing them in blocks of ice faster than they could react, their expressions still fierce.

She had to get free!  She had to escape!  Willing the magic forward, she sent a blast at Envy just as she had done yesterday down in that underground room, but Envy simply let it phase through her with a quick transformation into shadow.

“Kid,” she said quietly, “I’m sorry you had to get mixed up in this.  It’s not your fault.”

Envy’s horn shone red, and ice encased her hooves, pinning her there.

“I’m supposed to test you, but since you can’t defend yourself, I have to…” Envy bit off the last word of that sentence with a disgusted look.  “I’m sorry.”

The knife returned to Envy’s side, where it began to move inevitably toward her heart.

BRIGHT GLEAM!

The reality of the situation washed over her in that instant.  She was powerless.  Her master was occupied, as was the princess.  Her only guard was incapacitated.  The others were frozen.  The knife was inches away and moving closer.

She was going to die.

With no other option, Bright Gleam took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and surrendered.

When next her eyes opened, they were white.





The nuckelavee let out a frustrated roar as it tried again and again to try and take a swipe at Nova, but Nova Shine was equally frustrated because he hadn’t yet managed to get past the beast.  Every time he tried, the beast had some way to block him off, either by physically blocking him, or by attempting to attack him when he was gearing up for a teleport.

Behind him, Twilight wasn’t faring much better.  She had tried to come to his aid multiple times, but their nuckelavee opponents kept her from speeding off to render aid to anyone other than Nova.

If Rainbow Dash were here, she would easily have been able to get by, but Twilight wasn’t exactly a Wonderbolt who had spent years honing her physique for speed and aerodynamics.  Her wings were powerful enough to blast snow away when she took off, but that was more due to the fact that they were wings that had to be powerful enough to carry a pony with the strength and mass of an earth pony through the air.

”We’re gonna have to destroy these things if we want to get through,” Nova growled as Twilight landed behind him.  “Both of them.  They’re refusing to allow us to pass.  Every time I try, they find a way to prevent it from happening.”

“It’s not opening his mouth,” Twilight noted.  “I’m trying to agitate it enough to get it to open its mouth, but it’s not.  These things are smart.”

“They’re distracting us,” Nova replied, staring right into the eerie yellow eyes of the nuckelavee that stood between him and his apprentice.  Off in the distance behind the nuckelavee, he couldn’t see anything, as there was suddenly a massive cloud of snow that had obscured the area, nor could he feel anything in front of him.

Even the nuckelavee was completely invisible to his energy sensing.  It was like there was a void right in front of him, but it clearly had a physical presence.

“Come on, you son of a bitch,” Nova growled to himself, before firing a barrage of stars toward the beast, which all exploded in its face, but the beast seemed to almost not even care about the light show.

Nova even tried to materialize an ice pillar in the beat’s mouth to prop it open.  A crude solution, and one born out of frustration, and sure enough, the beast simply spat it out before it could properly form.  There just wasn’t enough ice in the air to materialize one quickly enough.

A fireball didn’t work either, nor did hurling one of his orbs of light at the beast’s head at top speed.

“Why, won’t, you, just, die!?” he snarled as the ball of light boinked harmlessly against the monster’s face.  Was he going to have to actually drop a meteor on this thing?  He didn’t know if he was capable of doing that, but desperate times, desperate measures.

For the time being, however...

A great pillar of ice materialized out of the ground in front of him, which launched itself toward the nuckelavee’s head.  Maybe if he could smash it in the forehead, he could knock its mouth open.

The pillar impacted with a satisfying crash!, and the beast staggered backward.  It let out a roar of pain, and Nova seized his chance, firing a concentrated beam of energy at the open mouth--

WHAM!

Nova was thrown sideways with a yelp.  He had been so focused on the beast’s face that he hadn’t paid attention to its paw, which was swiping at him to retaliate for the ice pillar he had thrown at it.  He hit the ground hard and slid along it for several meters, thoroughly scratching his skin on the frozen ground beneath the snow and staining the ground with his blood.

Lovely.

Staggering back to his hooves with a slight moan of pain, he glowered at the nuckelavee, who was still staring at him.  If he looked closely, Nova could almost hear it mocking him.

How the fuck am I supposed to do this!?

If he created a blizzard around them, he might be able to use his cloak’s invisibility or his natural white coat as camouflage, but the nuckelavee was giving him absolutely nothing to sense, so he would be putting himself at an equal disadvanta--

Wait.

Wait a minute.

Nova’s mouth parted, and he focused on the area around the nuckelavee.  There was nothing there at all.  Nothing.  Normally, he could at least have a general feeling from the magical energies that were latent in the air, but where the nuckelavee was, there was absolutely nothing.

A void!  That’s it!

He grinned, and his horn shone blue.  At once, a massive cloud of snow picked up around Nova and his enemy, completely covering them.  To his immense satisfaction and gratification, his energy sense found it even easier to pick up on the emptiness that the nuckelavee occupied now, with the subtle magic that he was kicking up in the air around him compared to the clear emptiness that the beast emitted.

“Can’t hit what you can’t see, asshole!” he taunted, even as he drew up his archmage cloak’s hood, and it at once made him invisible.  If the beast paid attention, it could see the snow sticking to him, but given the size difference, Nova would find it much easier to blend in, and he  clearly had the stealth advantage.

And now there was ice aplenty in the air for him to make use of.

A massive black hand came flying toward him, its arm fading into the storm.  Nova leapt sideways, rolling to his hooves and binding the claw to the ground with an icy manacle that one of his orbs of light had transformed into.  It tried to yank its arm up to remove it from its bind, but Nova had erred on the side of caution in terms of how thick to make it.

The second claw came down to try and smash it, but Nova was prepared.  Ice erupted from the side of the manacle to batter the claw aside, where immediately he gripped it with his magic and began to pull the arm down with every ounce of strength he could muster.  The beast was terrifyingly strong.  Clearly it had the strength to hurl boulders at him, but that seemed to be only a fraction of what it was capable of.  Nova was pulling down with every ounce of willpower that he had, just to get the beast’s arm to come down inches at a time!

But he refused to let go, and he would not allow it to win this tug of war.  Finally, he touched the beast’s hand to the ground, and he immediately bound it the same way, with another massive manacle of ice that kept it trapped on the ground from one of his light orbs.  The beast roared, but when Nova shot a beam of energy at the source of the noise, the roar ceased before the beam could kill the creature.

“Now then, how about a nice stretch?” Nova asked aloud.  The manacles immediately jerked away from each other, dragging the bound wrists of the creature with it.  It shrieked, and suddenly the manacles couldn’t move any further, as they seemed to have hit the limit as far as how far apart its arms could be stretched.

But tearing its arms off wasn’t the aim.  The aim was to drag it to the ground entirely.  He kept pulling, but he added one final addition.

The ice around them was beginning to settle, but there was still more than enough to create more icy blocks that erupted from the ground and struck at the nuckelavee’s hooves in inconvenient places like the knees.

The beast’s support was gone, and with a massive thud, it toppled.  The moment it hit the ground, Nova directed the ice manacles even wider, now stretching the beast’s arms out to their fullest, and for good measure, he began to bind every other part of the beast to the ground as well.  It took several seconds, but he had the nuckelavee bound from heads to hooves, completely immobile, and he stared right at the beast’s face.

The glowing red-golden eyes stared right back, though the beast dutifully kept its mouth closed.  It seemed to know exactly what Nova Shine wanted, but unfortunately for the beast, there was no stopping him now.

A spike of ice grew out of the ground, braced itself against the nuckelavee’s mouth, and began to push.  The nuckelavee tried to keep his jaw shut, but Nova’s leverage and strength wouldn’t take no for an answer, and in short order, he had his window.

“Say ‘Ah’, dirtbag,” he snarled.

A beam of blue light flashed out of his horn.  The nuckelavee screeched, and a moment later, fell silent.  Seconds after that, it dissolved into shadow, and faded into the air.

The ice around them settled, leaving Nova with a clear view of everything.  He looked over to the side just in time to see Twilight physically grab hold of the beast’s horns, yank them back, and blast a beam of energy down into its throat, also destroying her opponent.

With both nuckelavees gone, he turned right up and glared at Sombra, who stared right back down at him, his own expression unreadable.  Nova was already preparing a multitude of spells for the moment when Sombra decided to descend and continue the battle.

Seconds ticked by.  Nova waited, knowing the shadow-king would capitalize, surely.  His beast was done, and Nova, while not spent, was certainly winded.

Sombra, however, seemed to smile.  Instead of leaping down and entering the fray, he simply inclined his head, turned around with a swish of his fur-trimmed cape, and walked away.  As soon as he did, there was a loud screech of pain from behind him, and Nova whirled around.  It had come from the direction of the cloud of disturbed snow… and it had sounded like Envy!

Nova didn’t take time to wonder what was going on.  He dashed toward the swirling vortex at top speed, with Twilight right behind him.





Envy was thrown backward instantly, and with seemingly no effort at all from the prone filly.

“What the--”

As the filly stood up, Envy noticed immediately that she was suddenly different.  Where before the filly had looked terrified, she now looked serene.  Her expression was now one of quiet tranquility, eyes closed, breathing slowly, her horn glowing white and the snow around them kicking up into a massive cloud.

Wait a minute, hadn’t the filly’s magic been green before?

The filly opened her eyes and stared at Envy blankly.  Weren’t her eyes green before?  Why are they white?

And then it hit her.

Oh shit.

“You are not at fault, Shimmer Silvermane,” she said, her voice gentle and musical, but with a quiet note of sorrow behind it.

“Excuse me?” Envy snarled.

“I must apologize for what I am about to do.  This filly is under my protection, and your master will know that she cannot be harmed.”

“Who the hell are you!?” Envy spat, her horn glimmering dangerously.  Despite the whirlwind of cold around them, the two of them squared off close enough to each other to remain visible.  “You made her like me, haven’t you!?”

“I have not,” the thing in control of the filly shook her head.  “Bright Gleam surrendered herself to me the moment she believed death was assured.  When she is no longer in any danger, I shall return her body to her.”

“Why!?” Envy snapped.  “I wanted her out of this cosmic game my master’s trying to play!  Idiots like Nova Shine and you keep dragging her back into it!”

“This filly is destined for grander things than your master could ever hope to despoil or prevent,” the spirit replied simply.  “Her time shall come, and it shall not be taken from her so long as she remains under my watch.  So say I, Harmonia!”

The ice beneath her crystallized, and Envy slipped and fell on the sudden slickness.  No sooner than she had fallen than ice wrapped itself around her entire body, binding her to the ground, but leaving her head free.  The being, Harmonia, started to step toward her.

“Damn it,” Envy shattered the ice trapping her with a quick spell, then began to hurl all manner of spells at the being stepping toward her while she tried to retreat.  Crystal Guards, fool archmages, naive princesses, she could go against them any day, but not the bucking Spirit of Harmony herself!

She collided with an invisible wall of air, slamming into it with a loud “Oof!”, before stumbling backward.  Before she could orient herself, her hooves suddenly gave way into the earth as though they had suddenly become mud, and she yelped as she began to sink.

Not good, not good!

Decomposing herself into shadow, she zipped along the ground, trying to flee before she was made to pay the price, but not even that was safe.

Whatever spell it was that Nova Shine kept using to solidify her, it seemed Harmonia knew it too.  She hadn’t gone more than a few meters before a wave of light washed over her, and she felt the familiar annoying sensation of being forcibly compressed back into pony shape, before tumbling forward as all of her momentum carried her faster than she could handle on her hooves.

“What is everyone’s deal with that spell,” she fumed, whirling around facing the filly.  The filly stepped toward her, her eyes white and determined, her gait calm and deliberate.  This Harmonia being was on a timetable, it seemed, though there wasn’t any urgency to her movement.

Envy snarled.  With a loud zapping sound, she sent a bolt of jagged lightning lancing toward the filly, only for Harmonia to continue walking forward completely unperturbed as the lightning veered away into a harmless direction.

“What the hell!?” Envy’s mouth fell open.  No one could just avoid Dark Lightning like that!  It always required a shield or something similar.

Harmonia continued to step forward, Bright Gleam’s face expressionless.

“Forget this!” Envy snarled, slamming a hoof into the ground and opening a fissure, as had happened in the Vaults so very long ago.  The ground split, spilling snow and loose soil within it and the crack in the ground began to expand toward the filly at top speed.

Harmonia simply placed a hoof right on the crack the moment it reached her, stopping it in its tracks.  After a moment of nothing, where the last vestiges of earth and snow tumbled inside, the split began to reverse.  Envy could only watch, completely dumbfounded, as the earth closed, leaving only a line of bare ground as the only evidence that the earth had been opened.

“It is futile, Shimmer Silvermane,” Harmonia said, the musical, gentle voice somehow the most painful thing she had ever heard.  “This filly is protected, and you cannot defeat me.”

“Says you,” she spat, before hurling her knife at Harmonia.  A small frozen chunk of ice shot up from the ground to catch it, but the moment it connected, the blade vanished in a brief flicker of red light, reappearing in Envy’s hoof as she prepared to throw it again.  Before she could, however, something impacted her gut from underneath, sending her collapsing to the ground with a groan, her knife skittering away.

“D-dammit,” she suppressed a heave; that hit, whatever it was, had been in exactly the wrong spot.

Planting her feet, Envy tried to stagger to her hooves, only for the ground underneath her to slicken and become ice once again, which sent her sprawling.  This time, however, the moment she landed, the ice wove around her hooves, binding them to the ground and leaving her exposed.  She prepared a spell to fire at Harmonia, only for Harmonia to calmly emit a piercing white light from her horn.  Something inside of her felt like it was being ripped apart, and Envy screamed.

The tearing sensation intensified, but whatever it was that was being affected, it seemed to be clinging on, refusing to let go.  Envy convulsed, trying desperately to do something to end the pain, but to no avail.  She was trapped, and Harmonia was torturing her.

Mercifully, the pain ceased, and Envy went limp, gasping for ear and twitching despite herself.  And just for a moment, for a brief heavenly moment, the overwhelming presence in her mind to kill and conquer and sow mayhem seemed to weaken.

“Wh-what was that?” Shimmer asked, resting her head against the cold snow, which felt oddly refreshing.

“I attempted to reach into your being and separate you,” Harmonia answered, staring down at her with a pitying look.  “But it failed.  The hold over you is deep-seated, and to tear you free so crudely would have irreparably damaged your very soul, Shimmer Silvermane.”

“If you can’t f-free me, are you gonna kill me?” Shimmer asked, trying to make the most of her sudden clarity.

“No,” Harmonia replied, kneeling down to meet her, eye-to-eye.  “I have no desire to take life unless I must.”

“Because believe me, ending me would be a mercy kill,” she replied, flinching as the pressure on her mind returned.  She needed to attack, to try and kill the pony in front of her--

A wave of nausea washed over her.

“Why can’t you do anything?” she asked, clutching at her head.  “If you’re so powerful, can’t you just get him out of my--”

She groaned as a terrible pain washed over her.  Her master knew she was resisting, was trying to disobey, and was punishing her from afar.  There was no place where he couldn’t see what she was doing, not even here.

“I can do nothing for you now,” Harmonia said, bowing her head.  “But I promise your master this:  I know that you are his best agent.  I know that for all of his power, he cannot execute his plan without you.  And I will deprive him of you should he make any attempt to harm this filly again.”

“If you’re so good, and so caring about everyone,” Shimmer spat, resisting the pain yet again, even as it intensified the longer she went without attacking, ”then why aren’t you doing anything to stop him?  Surely you know what he wants.”

Harmonia smiled mysteriously.  “Who is to say that I am not?”  The smile vanished.  “Now, return to your master, and leave the child be, or else I shall be forced to intervene directly once again.”

Envy fled, not needing to be told twice.  She flew away, trying to put as much space between her and that… that thing as she could.  Sombra was already leaving the scene of the battle, the three nuckelavees were defeated, and the remnants of their little fracas lay scattered around the landscape, from the icy cuffs the bonehead had clearly used to take out his opponent, to the boulders said opponents had tossed around.

Hopefully, no one gave chase, but she wouldn’t put it past Nova Shine to start looking for her once word got out about what she nearly did to his apprentice.

Her master was waiting for her several miles away.  She never had to look for him.  She knew where he was.  She always knew.  He made sure of that.  On that same cliff overlooking the Imperial City as the day before, he was there, waiting expectantly.

“The battle went exactly as I planned,” he said, not waiting for any excuse or explanation for her flight.

“If you can call it a battle,” Envy breathed.

“My Crystal Guards were just as I had hoped,” he smiled, a strange proud smile on his face, a far cry from his usual glowers, smirks, and snarls.  “And Archmage Nova Shine performed quite well.  The princess will be sure to be a threat, and that was clear from what I saw today.  Now, what about the foal you care about?”

“We can’t touch her,” Envy shook her head.

“Oh?”

“She’s… she got… possessed or something.”

Sombra frowned.

“Possessed?”

“Indeed,” came the exact voice Envy did not want to hear, and she instantly scrambled back.  A white glow had appeared at eye-level in front of Sombra.  It was like a miniature white sun, a glowing star with light and color refracting in the snow around them.

Sombra glared at it the moment he saw it, but unlike Envy, he did not flee.

“You dare to interfere?” he asked softly.

“The filly is under my protection, Shadow-King,” the being stated.  “As I told Shimmer Silvermane, make any attempt to bring her harm, and I shall see to it that you are brought to destruction.”

“Who are you?” Sombra asked, his eyes becoming mere slits.

“I am the Spirit of Harmony,” the glowing orb stated.  “You thought me destroyed when you shattered my tree, but you will find I am not so easy to dispose of.”

Sombra grit his teeth so hard that Envy could see a vein bulge.  There was a mental press, and her own horn flashed red as she obeyed.

“You know not what destruction your path shall bring, fallen king,” the spirit continued, unperturbed.  “Turn from this foolish endeavor.  The Crown of Life cannot give you what you desire.”

“And just what is it I desire, then?” her master stepped forward, his narrow eyes narrowing further still.

The spirit said nothing, simply floating in the air, the brightness shifting and casting the area around them in its many refracted colors.

“Well?” the king demanded.

“I know who you are,” said the spirit, a note of melancholy now entering her voice.  “I know why you are driven, but it will only end in tragedy.  Should you continue on this path, and should you threaten the foal again, I shall stand against you.”

With that, the spirit vanished, leaving her master glaring at thin air.  Envy tentatively looked behind herself, not entirely convinced the spirit was gone.  Why would it just let her go?

“The plans remain the same, apprentice mine,” Sombra hissed after several seconds.  “You must continue goading Nova Shine.  Ensure he leads you to the Gem of Mind.  Recover it and bring it thence to me, or let them take it, noting where it’s kept.”

“Where will I find you?” Envy asked.  It didn’t matter if they’d physically be apart.  She knew there was no chance he wouldn’t be watching.

“You won’t,” he replied simply, “but I shall journey further north. While you hunt for the gems, I’ll seek the Crown.  And when you need me, I will come for you.”

“Does that mean you know where the Crown is?” she asked, casting him a sideways glance.

He nodded, his neck tendons bulging and the motion curt and jerky.  “Elysium, the apex of the world.  It’s locked away within that home of ghosts, but I have stood among its twisting spires, among the cursed alicorns of old.  Their spirits guard the empty city now.”

Envy shivered.  He had taken her there once before, over a thousand years ago.  He had shown her that mausoleum.  Time had seemed to stand still within it.  Not a single bit of erosion, not one fallen tower, no chipped stones, the city was untouched by the ravages of time despite the perpetual gale howling around it.  The arctic storms of the north pole came to a standstill around them when they had crossed some invisible threshold, and from the moment they stepped across the line, she felt as if there were millions of eyes, watching every move she made and judging her accordingly, as though she were unworthy to step into such a peaceful, beautiful, haunted place.

Suddenly, Sombra let out a frustrated roar, rared back, and slammed a hoof down on a small rock on the ground, crushing it into powder instantly.  The action caused her to let out a quiet “Eep!” and recoil.  For all his faults, her master never tormented others unless they failed him or showed insubordination, but him being in a rage meant his threshold for insubordinate behavior was low.

“Guess I’d better be off, then,” she mumbled, slowly backing away.

Sombra said nothing.  He continued to furiously stare at the spot the spirit had been, the hoof he had just stomped with visibly shaking, and if Envy looked closely, she could almost see the side of Sombra’s mouth quivering as well.

“Safe travels, master,” she added, before she dissolved into shadow and flew away as fast as she could.





Nova watched in relief as Envy’s shadow flew away at top speed, and although he wanted nothing more than to chase her down, he looked down to his fallen apprentice.  She was lying there in the snow, her breath heaving, her eyes lidded and hazy, and sweat starting to drip from her mane despite the cold around them.

“Gleam!  Gleam!” he dashed to her side and cradled her.  “Are you alright?  Can you spell ‘Cat’ for me?”

“C… A… T…” she whispered, rubbing at her eyes.  “...‘m fine, master.  Jus’ tired.”

“Are you sure,” he gave her a tiny shake.  “Are you hurt?”

“N-no,” she sighed, falling limp, though she remained fully conscious.  “She… Harmonia--” Harmonia!?  “...she protected me.  But… the guard…”

“Thank you for your concern,” came a curt voice from Nova’s left.  Nova jumped, startling Gleam.  The crystal guard he had tasked with protecting Gleam was standing there now, one hoof covering a bloody spot on her face.  On either side of her face, a nasty gash ran from her cheek to her scalp.

Energy-sensing blindness was just so infuriating.  Whatever it was that Gleam had done had left his sense completely overwhelmed yet again.

“Y-your eye…” Gleam’s eyes widened and she sat up.

“Gone,” the guard replied, with a distasteful look.  “I need a bandage, and I need to return to the Imperial City for medical attention.  Permission to light a flare for emergency reinforcements?”

Nova stared at the mare, who simply stared at him through her one eye with an intensity that made him uncomfortable.

“You… you’re taking the loss of your eye rather well,” he pointed out.

“I’ll live,” the guard replied, before asking again.  “Permission to flare for reinforcements and medical aid?”

“Granted,” Nova replied slowly.

She’s lost her eye and she’s acting like it’s a minor inconvenience!

Perhaps it was her bad eye that she lost?

An organ’s an organ!  Wait, he frowned, how do you know she has-- err, had a bad eye?

I don’t, I’m offering suggestions here.

Fair enough.

The mare reached into her armor with the hand that was previously stemming the blood flow from her face, and Nova felt his insides grow cold.  Just as Gleam had noted, her eye was gone, and no sooner had she removed her hoof than blood began to pour from the cut again.  It took her a short time to pull out an emergency flare from under her armor, which she quickly lit into a bright pink flame, and dropped it at her hooves, before sitting down and pressing her hooves to her eye again.

“I’m sorry,” Gleam mumbled, her voice shaking.

“I did my duty,” the mare grunted.  “You had nothing to do with it.”

“I-- I should have--” Gleam cut herself off, glancing at Nova, with a pained expression on her face.  “If I had let her take over sooner…”

“I would not advise going further without reinforcements,” she added, looking over at Nova through her one eye.  “As tired as we all are after that battle, to wander out alone would be to invite an ambush.”

“How is that flare going to get the attention of the guards in the city?” Nova asked, staring at it.  A bright pink flame was one thing if looking down from the sky, but this far away from the Imperial City at ground level?  Nova bent down to examine it, noting that the flame seemed to be slowly burning, and would last for at least several hours.

“Step back, Lord Archmage,’ cautioned the guard, leaning forward and physically shoving him.  It wasn’t a powerful one by any means, but he still stumbled backward.  Just in time too, as a massive bright pink light erupted upward from the flare and exploded into the sky, creating a large shower of pink sparks.  A few moments later, another followed suit.  And another, and another...

“Uh… thanks,” he righted himself.  “Sorry, never seen a flare like that.”

The guard nodded, before sitting back down and focusing on pressing her hoof to her missing eye.

“I’ll just… go defrost your comrades,” Nova said awkwardly.

He turned around in time to see that Twilight was doing just that, and she had even transformed into Flamelight to do it.  No spell or anything, just letting the natural fire of her mane and tail do the heating, and it already was making the process quick.

“Oh.  It’s handled.”

“I thank you for your aid, in any case,” the guard mare said flatly, eyeing him.  “And I apologize that I cannot aid you in return.”

“Don’t apologize for this,” Nova replied, trotting over, around the still-signaling flare, and sat down next to her.  “Stronger ponies than both of us have been bested by her.  You protected my apprentice.”  He gave Gleam a squeeze.  “That’s all that matters to me.”

“I didn’t,” she replied, with a scowl, the first genuine display of emotion he had seen from her.  “I should have been better.  I was personally trained by Sombra himself in the Seven Stances.  I am a master of sword, lance, axe, martial, bow, throwing, and blunt weapons, and I was the one he made the leader of his Imperial Guard.  I may have been a slave to him, but I took my training seriously in the event that I would serve a prince or princess willingly.  That day has come, and the moment the time came to test my mettle against an opponent such as his Envy, I was inadequate.  Do not praise me, my lord, for I have earned none of it.  I was too weak, and I must become better.”

“If you insist,” Nova inclined his head, “but on the condition that you please don’t call me ‘my lord’ again.”

An airship had spotted their call for help, because far in the distance, a speck on the horizon was approaching.

“Yet you earned the position, just as I earned mine,” the guard stated, looking away.  “The title of Lord Archmage is rightfully yours, and I saw your decisive blow against the shadow-beast.”

“One battle doesn’t put me on the same level of ponies like Star Swirl the Bearded, or my namesake,” Nova replied softly, feeling the creeping inadequacy settle in.  If only I had been faster…  “I would like to earn the title before ponies call me that.”

“We agree to disagree then, my lord,” the guard said right back, giving him a respectful nod.  “In any case, your apprentice is whole and unharmed, however little I did.  I hope the journey to the Shrine of Black and White is fruitful for the pains it cost us to get this far.”

Nova gave her a nod right back.  “What’s your name?” he asked.

“In servitude, I was known as Onyx Lance,” the mare replied, looking away, and off toward the city.  “Now, however, I have taken the name Cinnabar.”

“Why Cinnabar?” he asked, as Gleam shifted uncomfortably beside him.  He didn’t know crystal ponies chose their names.  Or maybe she was a special case.

Cinnabar let go of her eye, giving Nova an unwanted eyeful of the gruesome injury, before she took off her helmet and unfastened her armor.  The moment the armor came off, the uniformity enchantment faded, and her coat changed from being a translucent purple to being a pale dusky-red, and her tied-up mane took on a much more saturated hue of that same red.

Just as her armor clattered to the ground, however, her ears perked up, and her head snapped in the direction they had been marching to earlier.  Nova, following her gaze, looked toward where she was staring, and he jumped.

Someone new was standing there, wrapped in white furs from head to hoof, and carrying a rather large pack on their back.  They almost blended into the snowy landscape around them entirely.

“I mean you no harm,” the being said in a soft voice that sounded low for a female, yet high for a male, before approaching Cinnabar, shrugging off the pack, and fishing inside of it for something.  It was here that Nova noticed that the being was not wrapped in fur; he was uncovered, and it was his natural coat!  “I witnessed your battle as I awaited your arrival at Mt. Glacia’s base.  Permit me to apply temporary care to your guardsmare, if you please?” the being looked up to give Nova an inquisitive look out of a beady black eye.

Nova blinked.

“Who are you?” he asked.

“Ah, I apologize, I did not introduce myself,” the being shook their head sheepishly.  “I am Huati, sherpa guide for treks to the Shrine of Black and White.  For generations, alpacas such as myself have served as guides to that holy place, and now it is my turn to shepherd pilgrims who wish to face themselves to the sacred shrine.”

“He can be trusted,” Cinnabar nodded to the alpaca as they uncorked a bottle with a salve of some kind.  When Huati touched a hoof with a small bit of salve on it to her cut, the guard’s face hardened and she tensed, but otherwise she remained motionless.

“It is not much further before we begin the ascent,” Huati continued as they swiftly applied the salve to Cinnabar’s face.  “In fact, your guard detail may no longer be necessary.  The threshold beyond which no shadow may venture was only about a quarter of a kilometer away.”

“You mean,” Nova felt a wave of anger wash over him, “you mean we were that close?  Before this ambush?”

“It is likely because we were so close that the ambush happened,” noted Cinnabar, her face twitching as the salve began to sink into her wound.  “The Shadow-King likely wished to prevent us from crossing that line into safety.  I attempted to guide Apprentice Bright Gleam beyond it, but his Envy came to attack the child.”

Nova looked over at Gleam to see that Gleam had drawn his Night Master cloak around herself.  It was hard to tell if she was shivering because of the cold or because of what had happened.  He sidled up next to her and draped a hoof around her shoulders.

“Hey,” he muttered, just loud enough for her to hear.  “You alright?”

“Th-think so,” the filly shuddered.  “Sh-she… she was going to kill me.”

An icy chill went up Nova’s spine at those words.  She had specifically asked him to keep her away from danger, yet she was the one who had initiated it, and she had intended to kill her?

“Am I going to have to live in fear of her for the rest of my life?” Gleam asked in a small voice.  “Harmonia protected me, but… if I had just allowed her to take control sooner, I wouldn’t have been in danger, and Cinnabar… would still have her eye.”

“No,” Nova answered immediately.  He grit his teeth, feeling his neck tendons bulge.  “Don’t burden yourself with ‘woulda coulda shoulda’s, Gleam.  She lives, and you’re safe.  And if this Harmonia is protecting you and can do that,” he gestured at the battle-scarred landscape around them, “on top of me, Twilight, and the rest, then you’re in safe hooves.”

“She almost got me,” Gleam replied, her head drooping and her voice softening even further.  “Sombra distracted you, and she was inches away, Master.” 

Nova had nothing to say to that.  Instead, all he did was give her shoulders a firm squeeze, and sit there with her as Huati continued to tend to Cinnabar and Twilight thawed out the soldiers.

It didn’t take much longer for the airship to arrive with a fresh batch of escorts.  Despite the injury to her face, Cinnabar made certain that her subordinates were cared for before herself, barking at the medics to treat them while Huati shooed away the new guards, assuring them that they would be protected.

“We are nearly to the consecrated ground, beyond which no shadow may pass,” Huati explained to the new captain, who clearly did not look pleased with this.  “However, despite the nature of this pilgrimage, I would advise that you keep this airship prepared to escort everyone back to the Imperial City as we make our descent.”

“Princess Cadance would want--”

“I shall speak to Princess Cadance about this,” Huati assured the captain.  “But after witnessing the battle firsthoof, I do not believe any more attacks will occur.  You are welcome to wait here out of precaution, but need I remind you, Captain, no weapons may approach the shrine.  Captain Cinnabar’s guard contingent was going to wait at the edge of the consecrated ground, just as I am asking you to.”

“And what happens if someone does attack them?” the captain asked, glaring at the sherpa.  “They’re exhausted!”

“I assure you,” Huati replied calmly, “it would take a being far more powerful than merely the Shadow-King to so much as damage the holy defenses that guard the mountain.”

“You keep calling them ‘holy’ and ‘consecrated’ and stuff,” Nova noted.  “Are they protected by a god or something?”

“Do you not believe in the gods, Nova Shine?” Huati asked, sounding curious.  “In Galaxius, Creator of the Cosmos?  In Gaia, the Mother of the Earth?  In Ouranos, He Who Watches The Sky?”

“Can’t say I do,” Nova shook his head.  “Why?  I guess you do?”

“The alpacas have long believed the shrine to be a place blessed by Gaia,” Huati answered earnestly.  “Perhaps it may come to light that the wild and ancient magicks of the earth coincidentally resulted in this shrine, or perhaps that Harmonia herself created it, or some unknown entity for some unknown purpose.  Regardless, the pilgrimage is more of a tradition than a rite, though there are certain supernatural protections on the shrine.”

“I… well, I don’t see,” Nova admitted, “but I’ll take your word for it.”

“Let me perform some first aid on you as well, Nova Shine,” Huati said, noticing the blood staining his side from where he’d taken a scrape earlier.  “The wound may not be bad, but infections can fester even in the tiniest scrapes.”

Nova lifted his cape for the alpaca to do his work, but the alpaca suddenly paused as he readied more of the salve on his hoof.

“Is this blood not yours?”

“What do you mean?” Nova asked.  “Who else’s would it be?”

“There is no wound under your coat.  Did you fall into a pool of Cinnabar’s blood by accident?”

Nova blinked.  No wound?  The hell?

“No, it’s definitely mine,” Nova craned his head back to have a look.  “What do you mean nothing’s there?”

“Did you use your healing ability?” Gleam asked, lifting her head.

Nova frowned.  “I don’t have a healing ability.”

“But…” now it was Gleam’s turn to frown, “when we met the princesses, you had a black eye from when you hit the wall.  It was gone when we left.  Didn’t you heal it?”

Nova’s mouth parted.  That’s right, he had gotten a black eye from that.  Had he really been so inattentive that he’d forgotten about it?

...or was Gleam right, and it had somehow healed in such a short time?

“I… don’t have a healing ability that I know of.”  He felt uncomfortable.  What was going on?

Do you know anything about this?

I cannot say I do.  I’m ignorant.

I sure as hell didn’t have this before you popped into my head.  You sure you don't know anything about this?

I promise you, my friend, I do not know.

He looked over to the sherpa.  “You’re absolutely sure I have no cuts or wounds?”

“See for yourself,” the sherpa pulled out a small mirror and held it at the right angle for Nova to crane his head back and get a good look at his bloodstained side.  Huati shifted his coat to the right spots, and sure enough, his skin was completely whole.

Twilight trotted up, her coat returning to its normal lilac, and her mane and tail returning to normal as she did so.  A short blink saw her eyes change back from red to purple, and they were currently looking at the mirror with curiosity.

“What are you doing?”

“I am showing the archmage that the place on his skin where he suffered scrapes from a skid along the snow is…” he paused for a moment, “smooth and scarless.”

Nova couldn’t help the snicker.  “Nice, nice,” he nodded.  Huati couldn’t help a small smile.

“He does not know of any healing ability, yet he insists the blood on his coat is from where he was marred by the ground beneath the snow,” Huati gestured to the bloody side.  “Any wounds that were there have healed.”

Twilight stared at Nova’s skin, frowning.  After a long moment, she began to tap her chin, staring all the more intently at Nova’s coat, until Nova began to feel a touch uncomfortable.

“Something the matter?”

“I… don’t know,” she muttered.  “I’ve never heard of any healing ability like this.  Is it… old magic?”  The question was more to herself than anyone else.

“We can worry about it later,” Nova ran a hoof through his hair.  “For now, I think we need to climb the mountain and get this over with.”

“Agreed,” Huati dipped his head, “though I would advise you not to ‘get it over with’, pilgrim.  This is a very serious pilgrimage.  Treat it with the reverence and respect it... requires.”

“Says the alpaca making alliterations,” Nova retorted, though in good nature.

“A little goofiness is, perhaps, irreverent for my task,” Huati admitted with a shrug, “but it is far better than coming in with a lax attitude.  I suggest spending the hike up Mount Glacia steeling yourself.  This will not be a walk in the park by any stretch.  Are you ready to make the climb?”

“Let’s do this.” Nova nodded.  Huati nodded, and turned toward the nearby mountain.  At once, he began to walk toward it at a moderate pace, with Nova, Twilight, and Gleam following behind him.

The hike for the rest of the way there was spent in silence.  No one seemed to want to say anything, and on top of that, the hike up the mountain path was challenging.  The last several meters of flat ground were enough to let them gather their breath from the battle, but from there, the climb began.

It took well over an hour to make it a good way up.  If he had to guess, Nova figured they had completely circled the mountain at least twice by now.  An hour of switchbacks, ledges, ridges, steps, hills, and all manner of physical challenges.  The further up the mountain they got, the more fierce the wind grew.  At the base, it had been a gentle breeze, but by the time they made it up to their current height, it had become a biting gale.  He was easily the fittest of all of them (outside of probably Huati) since he was doing daily training with Sharp Eye on normal days, and made it seem simple, but Twilight and Gleam behind him were panting after the first several minutes of inclined trotting, and this wind certainly wasn’t making things easier for any of them.

“You two alright?” he glanced back at them as they crested a particularly rough hill.

“Fine,” gasped Gleam, shaking her head and sending droplets of sweat flying.  “Just… a little sore.”

“Please do not stop,” Huati called from ahead.  “We are almost there.  You can rest at the Shrine.”

“Well, you heard him,” Nova sighed.  “One last push to the top?”

Twilight nodded, before pressing forward.

“Why don’t you just fly?” Nova asked, helping her up a ridge.

“We’re supposed to trot,” Twilight replied.  “Holy pilgrimage and all.”

“You’re not the one taking it, though,” Nova pointed out.  “I’m the one who’s going through this, not you.”

“Yeah, but…” Twilight broke off, searching for the way to articulate her thoughts, “I just don’t want to… okay, it’s equal parts showing you that I’m here to support you and go through it with you,” he smiled a bit at that, “and also to show respect to him and his people,” she nodded up to the top of the hill they were trying to climb only a few more meters up, where Huati was watching them struggle.  “Like, if I flew up here, would he ban me from the mountain or something?”

“I don’t think he can,” Nova chuckled.  “You kind of outrank him.”

“For what it’s worth," Huati said, with an amused smile, “the only rule was against flying an airship up the mountain.  Though if you had tried to fly directly up the mountain while ignoring the path, you would have been met with an entirely different set of challenges.”

“How much further?” he asked, turning back and offering a hoof to Gleam, who took it, and he helped her up the ledge the three of them were standing on.  Back behind them, the valley in which the Imperial City lay was arrayed before them, and it was gorgeous.  The sun caught the snow just right, making everything before them glitter in the refracted light.

The view alone made the entire climb worth it.

“No more hiking,” Huati said, behind him.

Nova turned, giving him a surprised look.

“There it is,” Huati announced, pointing with a hoof.  Nova followed it and squinted forward, trying to see with the wind stinging his eyes.  But there, only a few short paces ahead, was the building they had been heading to.  The small stone building stood on the mountainside, a lone structure on this perilous cliffside.  It was made out of rough-hewn grey stone, certainly not a grand or magnificent structure by any stretch.  There was a single entry, and it looked to be of decent size, but there was no telling what was inside.

Huati continued forward, leading the three of them forward and into the structure.  The insides were more of the same grey rough-hewn stone, but there were a number of chairs arrayed around the open room, with a large raised basin in the middle.  The seats all appeared to be made of polished black wood, but the bowl, filled to the lip with a clear liquid of some kind, was made of polished white wood.

“And now, pilgrim,” Huati turned to face Nova, “it is time to begin your ordeal.  Are you prepared?”

“I… think so,” Nova said, wiping his brow.  Climbing a mountain wasn’t exactly a weekend activity for him.  “What do I do?”

“It is simple.  Drink from the weirwood fount, and then sit on an ebony seat.  The magicks of the shrine and the mountain will take care of the rest.  But be warned, pilgrim,” Huati’s voice took on a stern edge, “this will be an ordeal.  No one has ever succeeded in facing the Trial of Black and White, and emerging victorious on their first attempt.  It is not for the weak of spirit, or the faint of heart.  The Shrine is a place of self-discovery, of facing oneself, of rejuvenating the spirit and emerging with renewed purpose.  Still wish ye to undertake the trial?”

Nova took a deep breath.  “I am,” he answered.

Huati bowed his head.  “Then let us begin.  Drink from the weirwood fount, Nova Shine.”

Nova trotted over to the fount, which was as still as the night, despite the winds outside.  Cautiously, he lowered his head, until his lips touched the cold surface.  It felt icy, but it tasted like water.  As he swallowed, he felt a chill wash over him, making him shiver.

“What is this?” he asked.

Huati chuckled.  “Water, pilgrim.  Nothing more than water melted from snow that gathers on the roof.  The pool self-fills, thanks to dripping water from openings in the roof to allow this to happen.  The holy blessings on the fount then bless the drink as well.  Now, sit upon an ebony seat, and allow the blessings of the shrine to begin the trial.

Nova clambered onto the nearest chair at his instruction.  The wood was incredibly chilly, and he had to place his cape underneath his butt just to keep himself from shivering too hard.  As much as he liked the cold, he didn't quite like it when it was this cold, particularly without protection.

Still, he complied, seating himself against the back of one of the ebony chairs.  Almost at once, a sort of overwhelming feeling of relaxation swept over him, and he swayed in his spot.  Gleam jumped.

“Master, are you--”

Huati held out a hoof to stop her.  “Peace, little one.  This is normal.  Pilgrim, can you hear me?”

Nova was clinging to consciousness at this point, trying hard to stay awake as drowsiness set in.  He nodded blearily.

“Good.  You are being lulled to sleep.  That is good.  Allow the lull to whisk you away, and the trial will begin.”

Nova nodded again, shutting his eyes as he could no longer fight the sudden heaviness of his eyelids.  As he did so, Huati had one final thing to say to him.

“Good luck, pilgrim.”





Nova Shine was alone when he realized everything had changed.  Around him, everything was white.  No longer was he within the dark room of the shrine.  After drinking the water from the fount, the last thing he remembered was sitting on the throne…

He blinked.  The whiteness didn’t go away.

“Hello?” he asked.  His voice didn’t echo; it was like he was in an enclosed room.  Yet there were no walls that he could see in the distance, nor were there any--

As he turned his head, he jumped.  The whiteness around him changed, darkening significantly.

“What the hell?” he asked aloud.  He whirled around, perhaps someone was causing this to happen?

The darkness shifted to black, before lightening back to grey.

Nova’s mouth parted and he froze.  The color froze as well.

“Oh… kay,” he muttered.  “Void that changes colors while I move.  What’s this supposed to represent?”

He glanced behind him, and the color shifted to white.  Was it supposed to be something like “Walk toward the white light, move away from the darkness?”

Or maybe if he walked into the darkness, there would be a beggar to help or something?  Was this his trial?

He started to step forward, toward the blackness, when there came an impatient sniff from behind him.

Nova glanced around again.  There was now somepony else standing in the void with him.

His mouth fell open at the sight of him.

The stallion was tall.  At least a couple of inches taller than him.  His mane was very neatly styled out of his face, a bright blue.  His coat was immaculate, as if it had never seen even a speck of dirt in its life.  He wore his Archmage’s cloak proudly, loosely around him to be swirled off in the event of a battle, and his blue tail was tucked away where it couldn’t trip him up.  His muzzle was raised ever so slightly, and he stared at Nova through narrowed blue eyes down his nose, with a look of distaste.

Nova Shine was staring at himself.





There was something different about this other version of him, though.  Nova was no stranger to mirrors, even though there seemed like there were too many times when he couldn’t meet his own eye.  This Nova seemed… starker.  Yes, that was the right way of putting it.  His white was whiter than Nova’s white.  His blue was bluer than Nova’s blue.  His angles were sharper.  His muscles were more defined.  He even seemed far neater than Nova did.

“You’re me!” Nova exclaimed, stepping around, the room shifting to white.

The other Nova’s distasteful frown deepened.

“Your powers of observation are uncanny,” Other Nova replied, a clear note of annoyance in his voice.

“Wait,” Nova paused, before glancing around this other version of him, even going so far as to trot around and inspect this new version.  “Are you like a mirror version of me or something?  Or an alternate universe?”

“Does it matter?”

Nova shrugged.  “It might.  You never know.”

Other Nova remained silent, still watching Nova inspect him.  Nova was getting a strange feeling from this other version of him. As they were inside his head, it was impossible to sense other Nova’s energy.  That meant it’d be impossible to detect his lies or, in the unlikely event that it happened, the spells he was about to use.  But even with this aside, there was something off about this version of him.

Other Nova offered no answers, so Nova returned to his spot, rubbing near his horn while he tried to figure out just what was so strange about all of this.  Obviously, this was his little test, but what was it?

“Are you done yet?” Other Nova snapped, scowling.

“Uhh… yes?” Nova recoiled.  “What?  It’s been four years since I got to see another version of me right in front of me.”

“Must you goof off!?” the other Nova demanded, taking an aggressive step forward now.  Nova backpedaled.  “There are more important things that you should be worried about, aren’t there?  Such as the trial you are undertaking, perhaps?”

“Look, it’s been a long couple of days, alright?” Nova snapped back, snarling at the other version of him.  “I’ll take what levity I can get.”

“Oh, will you, now?” other him countered airily.  “It’s good to know that you are meeting the position of Archmage of Equestria with all of the dignity and seriousness that is expected of you.”  He sat down and began to clap, with a sneer on his face.  “It truly is comforting to know that after a moment in which you were barely able to ward off one of King Sombra’s beasts, you don’t think that maybe you could stand for a little self-improvement.  Oh no, it’s only jokes and japes with you.”

“That’s not what I meant at all!”

“Isn’t it, though?” the other version of him frowned, giving him a meaningful look.  “Of course it isn’t.  After all, you and I both know the face you’re putting on, the show you’re performing for anyone who watches, to cover up the truth.”

“What truth?” Nova narrowed his eyes.  Other Nova blew a gust of air out of his nose impatiently.

“Are you truly that dim-witted?  Blind, instead?  Or perhaps you are intentionally not confronting it?”

“What truth!?” he demanded, stepping forward to meet his verbal assailant.

The other him simply met his intense gaze with a cool and dismissive look of his own.

“The simple truth, Nova Shine, that you are not good enough.”

Nova felt his insides clench as the other version of him said it, but he stood his ground.  Yes, he’d wrestled with that truth before.  Even confided in Trixie and Twilight and all of the others.  But they spoke truth to dispel the lies he believed.  If he wasn’t fit to be the Archmage, the Princesses wouldn’t have allowed him to ascend to the rank.

“You’re wrong, other me,” he replied firmly.

“My name is Vanitas,” the other him hissed, snarling.  “And I am not just another you.  I’m what you should be, if you actually were capable.”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

“Are you deaf as well as a fool!?  You are not capable!  You are unfit to be Equestria’s Archmage.  If you truly were worthy of the mantle, why did you struggle so heavily against a creature that previous archmages would have been able to defeat in mere seconds?”

There was a rumble, and all around Nova, gigantic stone statues burst out of the ground, growing until they towered over him.  There were sixteen of them, their shadows all looming over him until he was blanketed in darkness.  Even Vanitas stood on a statue plinth as well.  Nova counted seventeen, with Vanitas standing on the one most central.

He knew who these ponies were.

One statue depicted Lord Star Swirl.  Another was an image of Amethyst Sparkle, Twilight’s ancestor and his predecessor as the Archmage.  A third was Nebula Cosmos, the twelfth Archmage, who had aided Celestia in the sealing of the Crystal Empire.

And one of them was his own namesake, Nova Shine I.  He was in the same pose as the statue at Celestia’s school, his eyes unseeing, his mane billowing around his horn as he prepared to cast a spell.

Vanitas stared down at him from on high.

“Do you see yet?” he taunted.  “You could never hope to match the greatness of the sixteen ponies surrounding you.  You, who are constantly joking and playing, distracted in the name of fun.  I, however, can.  I never allowed myself to be tempted by games and jests as you did.  I need not surrender to drink whenever my life grows difficult.  Unlike you, I am strong enough to defeat my enemies without relying on others to save me.”

The statues’ heads all began to look down, their stone eyes focusing on him.  Nova wilted, shrinking into himself.  He could feel their eyes boring into him.  Judging him, finding him wanting.  They could see the imposter in their ranks, the pony who wore the name Archmage, but who wasn’t truly worthy of the position.





“I was not gifted the position as you were,” Vanitas floated slowly to the ground, and landed lightly.  “I earned it.  I proved I was deserving of the mantle and could hold my own against even Celestia herself.  You were given the position because they needed some excuse to keep you around.  They took pity on the helpless unicorn who refused to change with the world around him, and elevated him to a redundant position because of their charity.”

Nova shrank even further inside of himself.

“Why would they need an Archmage?  Twilight Sparkle is the most powerful pony in the world.  She is more than enough to handle threats to Equestria.  Why would she need you getting in her way?”

“She told me herself she knew I was worthy!” Nova fired back, a last desperate counter.

Vanitas threw back his head and howled with laughter.

“Oh Nova Shine, you poor deluded fool.  Tell me true.  If you truly deserved this position, then why is it that you are never able to protect your own apprentice?”

It felt like yet another ironclad punch to the gut.  There was no denying this one.

“Thrice now, she has found herself in peril, and only one of those times were you able to save her, and you and I both know it was sheer dumb luck that allowed that,” Vanitas added coldly, giving him a disgusted look.  “You needed Star Swirl to save her, and you needed the Spirit of Harmony to come to her aid.  You don’t deserve to be anyone’s master, and she doesn’t deserve to have such a failure of a teacher!”

Nova let out a roar, his horn blazed, and fired a blast of energy at Vanitas.  Vanitas’ merely sighed, covering his hoof in energy and lazily batting away the spell.

“Predictable,” he shook his head.  “You cannot keep your composure, and so you lash out with violence.  Is this the conduct of a worthy archmage?”

Nova let out another yell and unleashed a barrage of every spell he could think of in this limited plane.  Beams, conjured fire, ripping chunks out of the archmages’ statues and hurling them at Vanitas, he even tried to charge and physically punch the pony, but each time, the pony evaded or blocked the attack.  Nova reared back and threw a hoof at Vanitas’ cheek, only for Vanitas to duck under it, for something to coil around his leg, and yank.  Nova crashed to the ground, feeling the wind be knocked out of him.

Vanitas stood above him, sneering.

“If you truly put your everything into preparing to become the Archmage, I would not have downed you so easily.  But that’s all you are, isn’t it?  Slacker!”

He brought a hoof down, smashing it into Nova’s face.

“Child!”

A kick to his gut.

“Clown!”

To his side.

“You have no place among them,” Vanitas ceased in his assault.  “They, who are the beacons of hope in the world.  To them, you are a liability.  And if you do not recognize that fact and quit while you can, Nova Shine, you are going to get someone killed because of your incompetence.”

Nova whimpered on the ground.  This wasn’t a physical plane, so he would sustain no permanent injuries, but everything Vanitas had said so far was ringing in his ears.

Failure.  Clown.  Unworthy.  Pathetic.  Incompetent.

“And on top of everything,” Vanitas straightened up, “you cannot even control yourself to a point where you do not shout intolerable things at your own beloved.  So truly, Nova Shine, are you even worthy of her?”

With that, whatever will Nova had left to try and clamber to his hooves was gone.  He allowed himself to fall limp and accepted defeat.  This action seemed to only make Vanitas even more disappointed, however.

“I was wondering what would break first,” he commented softly.  “I thought I would have to break you down physically, but no, it would seem your spirit was the weak link all along.”

He turned around, and began to walk back toward the white again, fading as the light began to surround him.

“This is all you were capable of?  How very disappointing.”

As Vanitas faded into the white, darkness crept around Nova, and before long, everything went black.





Nova opened his eyes.  He wasn’t in some strange astral plane anymore.  He was here, in the damned Shrine.  Twilight, Huati, and Gleam were all crowded around him, watching him intently.

“Nova!” Twilight exclaimed stepping forward.  “What happened?  what did you see?”

FAILURE!  CHILD!  LIABILITY!

Nova’s eyes clenched shut, and he jerked his head away, not even bearing to be near her.

He could hear Gleam gasp, and Twilight let out a confused noise, but Huati simply let out a sad sound of his own.

“Is everything alright?” Twilight asked, clutching his hoof in her own.

“No,” Nova whispered, sliding off the chair, pulling his hoof away, pushing past her, and stepping back out into the cold without even waiting for them.  “No, nothing is alright.”