Chains Of Gold

by Dawn Leaper

Nothing Gold Can Stay

Twilight smiled as she left the Hall, leaving Luster to be swarmed by her friends, laughter mingling with soft tears of joy and amazement.

She had known it was Luster's time for a few weeks coming. But the selfish part of her, the mortal part of her- however small it may be- still clung to the Element, clung to the triumphs and safety and memories of her friends, her old life, the small comforts it brought.

Letting it go had been like saying goodbye to an old friend. But Twilight knew she had to pass it on, has to create a new set of Elements strong enough to withstand the test of time, as she herself had done with her friends.

And to do that, the Elements needed to belong to ponies who understood each other, who knew how to read each other, whose friendship would power the Bond of Harmony itself.

She had made the right choice. She had been sure of it.

The Element had glimmered slightly as it left her, and she felt it twinkle, magic dwindling in her horn and her heart and her wings for a few moments longer before it turned wholly towards Luster and embodied a new soul. And even still, a small, tiny, miniscule part of it clung to her still, a whisper in the darkest corner of her heart, as if it too was not willing to part. As if a small part of itself has now too become a part of the Princess.

It was a small comfort. A reminder of what had been, and the great things to come. She had hope for these new Elements. They had a bond so unlike any of the others.

She was pushing open the door to the study when a pegasus guard rushed in, flanked by two others, wings quivering and voices breathless as if they had flown a great distance with swift urgency.

"Princess," the middle one said, hurriedly, and Twilight recognised him- recognised the commanding hazel eyes and the polished golden medal that crested his chest.

"Captain Swift Shield," Twilight tilted her head in question, "whatever is the matter?"

"It's the Ambassador, milady- it was a freak accident, a rogue wind machine from one of the new apartments they're building- but he's injured, got hurt flying back from-"

Twilight interrupted him, her tone deathly quiet, steely with unnerving calm. "Take me to him."

The streets of Canterlot turned into a blur as Twilight flew, flew faster than she ever had in her life, pumping her wings to keep up with the guards, for although she was a divine alicorn, the Royal Aerial Guards that guarded the Palace in Canterlot were some of the fiercest and swiftest fliers in the skies.

Why they didn't just teleport there, Twilight didn't know, but in their hurry the guards has forgotten to deign exactly where the accident had occurred.

Where Spike had gotten hurt.

Her heart crumpled slightly, before she pushed on harder. She couldn't lose him. Not her longest friend.

Ponies on the street turned their heads upwards and marvelled, some of them calling out to her, but while she would usually stop and offer a wave, there was no time that could be wasted.

She smelt the smoke before she could see it. It rose in thick, opalescent fumes, bellowing into the sky, and smelt of crisp, cold air tinted with burning and iron.

"Everybody, MOVE," Twilight bellowed, raising her voice in a way she had never really had to before.

The paramedics and police ponies and firefighters shuffled hurriedly out of the way, parting like the Red Sea in front of their Divine Princess.

She could see him then, her vision tunneled as if he were the only thing in the world. She teleported to his side instantly, for they did not have even the seconds it would take her to fly over to him.

One of his wings was completely torn, shredding so horribly that Twilight knew that even if the most skilled alchemists in Equestria would have a hard time concocting a remedy to heal it. His entire left half of his body was crumpled and splayed at an awkward angle, a bone sticking out so horribly from his leg that it was all Twilight could do not to retch, there are then.

And the blood. Oh, Gods, the blood.

It was everywhere, painted across the ruined, burning wind machine that lay in sharp, burnt metal debris, a great turbine still slowly rotating. Lost blood that had escaped the paramedics' bandages spilled out onto the cobblestones, bleeding through the grout tracks as if the earth itself wounded, like water on a fiery sunrise.

Spike's eyes were shut, his scales bruised and blackened to a rusty darkness with soot and petrol and blood. He was holding onto life, clinging onto it with sheer force of will.

Throwing out her magic, she heard ponies around her gasp lightly as they felt the shock wave of only a small segment of her full divine magic, glowing purple and golden and blue as it wrapped itself around Spike.

Heal him, she willed it- willed herself. Heal him, move his blood, knit his flesh, breath air into his lungs.

She would pull him back from the brink of death. She would. She would. This was not how it was going to end. Over a century's worth of life and laughter and friendship and joy was not going to end like this, in a freak accident.

Twilight felt the world glow white. She may have been a powerful alicorn, but she was no match for the unyielding natural forces of death, and life, and rebirth. She could not change time.

But she would save this one thing. She had to.

Twilight felt something thrumming then, against her magic. A heartbeat- then another, and another. Hope in the pain.

She continued to pour her magic into Spike, and as the connection between them grew, his heartbeat pattered with increasing steadiness.

His eyes flickered open, and their gazes locked, and the broken creature on the floor was suddenly Spike again, eyes pitiful and sympathetic and anguished and... and oddly calm.

"Can I ask you a question, Twi?" Spike had asked as the Princess and her closest companion overlooked the city of Canterlot one evening.

"Shoot," Twilight had replied, crossing her forelegs over the railing of the balcony as she watched the sun melt away over the horizon.

"Who do you think will come after you?" He asked, picking casually at a nail. "I know it's a bit of a morbid thought, but like, have you ever thought about it? I mean, Celestia and Luna were immortal, nobody thought they would ever die. And yet, they are gone. Do you ever think that will happen to you?"

Twilight pondered on the question for a little while.

"You know, I had a similar conversation with Star once," she replied, voice thick with the memory of her daughter. "I told her that perhaps one day, when I exist only in legend, I will still live on in the friendships of ponies all across Equestria, just as Cadence lives in eros, or Celestia is imbued within day's majestic glory, and Luna lies omnipresent, within the night's cool beauty."

"And who will come after you have Ascended?"

Twilight shrugged. "Who knows. Perhaps it will be Luster. I have yet to crown her Element of Magic, but I have no doubt in her faith. Or perhaps it will be sweet Flurry Heart, who could unite both Empires. Perhaps it will be someone else entirely. It does not matter to me, as long as they are worthy."

"Hmm." Spike hummed, grinning at Twilight in a familiar way. "I'm glad you're always there to answer my questions, Twi."

"Always, Spike. Forever and always."

The flashback seemed to have triggered another level of her magic, and light and warmth and searing vitality flooded down her entire body and tingled in her hooves.

Spike's heart was beating wildly now, erratically, and Twilight knew she had to let go of her magic before his mortal body was overwhelmed. For he was mortal, despite his unfathomable life span.

She let go of the connection, her healing magic reserve nearly drained from bringing someone back from the brink of death.

For a moment, it was the most intense relief she had ever felt, as Spike smiled sadly at her.

But something was wrong.

Some was very, very wrong.

She could not feel his heartbeat anymore.

She couldn't feel anything from him anymore.

She was so stupid- he had been relying on the source of magic to survive. And she had just cut it off, for she knew it would have killed them both if she had held on a moment longer.

She was so- so foolish. Who was she to stop death? Perhaps yes, a divine alicorn might have been able to stopper it, but she was only young, compared to the other Greats, and unpractised in the art of revival. She felt it coming now, swift and hungry and impeding, unswerving. She tried to spark her magic, but there was nothing she could do as she watched the light fade slowly out his eyes.

She should have said something. Should have thought tender and reflective and pensive thoughts, should have honoured him and spoke to him as Soarin did to Dash.

But she just watched, in absolute and utter shock.

And she had just- she hadn't been able to-

There was darkness, then, that exploded from her cracked heart. She was grateful for its unyielding numbness. It seemed to swallow her whole, lifting her above reality, taking her away from the ailments of pathetic mortal plagues.

Spike. Spike. Spike, she wanted to call out.

But he only let out the smallest breath of air, as if he were turning over in sleep.

Then he was still.