//------------------------------//
// Epilogue 
// Story: The Apprentice, the Student, and the Charlatan 
// by Rytex 
//------------------------------//


The Apprentice, the Student, and the Charlatan
Epilogue


Music in this chapter.  As always, please open in a new tab.





A little over two and a half months had passed since the events at the Everfree Vaults took place.  For the next couple of weeks, Nova Shine had stayed in his home in Neighton, resting and healing from the injuries he sustained because of his little spill.  Twilight and Aegis visited from time to time, making sure he was alright.  But injuries aside, Nova couldn’t have been better.

Aegis had been promoted because of his actions.  No longer a corporal, now he was a sergeant in the Equestrian Royal Guard.  He was still living in Canterlot, and though he refused to admit it to Nova, he and Trixie had struck up an unlikely friendship.  Nova had a feeling that it was probably going to snowball into more.  He and Twilight, for example, had started off as “just friends.”

Sharp Eye continued to serve as Ray Novus’ aide, though after he had another taste of combat, he was out taking contracts.  Often, these were passed his way by Aegis, when he felt situations would be better suited for one pony instead of the guard.

And speaking of the guard, Twilight Sparkle had to stand between Nova and her brother when he had heard Twilight had been kidnapped and held at knifepoint and was coming to give Nova a piece of his mind about that.  While Shining Armor glowered at him, Nova had explained that Twilight had refused to stay behind, and that Envy had targeted her directly.  Then he explained that Twilight’s presence was largely responsible for their victory, which, in Shining’s words, “bought him a few more years.”

in time, however, Nova was fully healed.  Much to Twilight’s bewilderment, he had decided to stay in Neighton.  For the time being, at least.  When Twilight asked why, Nova gave a vague little smile and said, ”I’ve got some things I need to do.”

And so, two and a half months later, Nova sat in the basement of his home in Neighton, looking over a hoof-drawn blueprint of his home.  He’d had an epiphany when lying in bed one day a month or so back.  What was stopping him from actually moving to Ponyville?  Sure, he was living with Twilight, but technically speaking, he was still just a guest in the basement.

But he didn’t exactly want to part ways with his house.  He liked his house.  He also liked Neighton, but as he liked Ponyville more, and it was worth the three hour walk, he figured it was high time he left.

Which meant he needed money to buy a house.  But he had plenty of money.  He had sold some of those small items from the past to the Canterlot Museum of History for a very hefty sum of bits.  He had plenty of money, but as much as he wouldn’t mind purchasing one of Ponyville's bizzarely-constructed houses, he would much rather have his house.

The last month or so had been spent measuring every last bit of his house and drawing up blueprints, taking cost estimations, and generally making a plan to reconstruct his house from Neighton in Ponyville.  Everything was almost in place for this project of his.  He had even made an off-the-record purchase of land from Mayor Mare.  The plot of land he owned was located just on the path to Neighton, right on the edge of town, and it was just large enough to build an exact reconstruction of his house.

After calculating the total cost of all of the items, he had plenty of bits to make this large purchase, and enough to have it hauled out as well.  He didn’t hire any builders; he wanted to do this entirely on his own, as he figured he might appreciate it more that way.

With everything in place, he and Twilight had scheduled a date night.  He wanted to surprise her with all of this.  And now, he was only four hours out of his date with her, making sure there were no errors he hadn’t found the last hundred or so times he had looked the blueprints over.  Once he had looked his fill, he rolled up the blueprints and stored them in his Source.

Now it was time to prepare for the much-anticipated Date Night.

Humming happily to himself, he practically galloped upstairs to the shower, where he set to work cleaning himself up.  He even made the valiant effort to tidy up his hair.  He wanted everything to be perfect tonight.

As he finished showering and set to putting the finishing touches on himself, he summoned his Night Master cloak.  It still made him smile to know that he and Twilight were equals again, but this time without teachers.  Sure, they were of age and were living on their own, but now they could call themselves adults.

Nova was in the middle of attempting to comb his hair when it happened.  A sudden shockwave of magical energy rolled over him.  It hadn’t been as strong as Envy’s, so he felt no discomfort, but it still perplexed him.  The magic had felt like Twilight’s!  Whatever she had just cast must have been powerful.

Well, she’s probably alright, he thought to himself.  I’ll just have to ask her what she’s been up to when we get to talking tonight.

There came a loud banging at his door.  He sighed, knowing this guest would probably be there for a few minutes and set him slightly behind, but he trotted downstairs to answer the door all the same.

He was not expecting to see Princess Luna standing outside with two of her Nightmares.

“Princess Luna?” he asked, surprised.

“Good evening, Nova Shine,” she said, inclining her head.  “May we come inside?”

“Sure,” he said, gesturing into his living room.  “I was about to leave for Ponyville, but, well, you are royalty.”

“Yes,” she said slowly, following him inside with her guards, “that is exactly what we have come to speak to you about.”

“Me going to Ponyville?” he asked.

“Yes,” she answered.

“What about it?”

“Don’t.”

The single word hit Nova pretty hard.  He had really been looking forward to tonight!  It was important!

“Why not?” he asked, trying to keep the sudden irritation out of his voice.

Princess Luna said nothing for a moment.  She was thinking of how to explain.  When she decided how to, she gestured at one of the couches.

“You’ll probably want to sit down, Nova.  This will take some explanation.”

They both said on different sofas, with Luna’s guards retreating to a different part of the room.

“You remember that my sister was guiding Twilight toward a great change, correct?” she queried, casting him a glance.

“Kind of hard to forget the time I had an argument with her,” Nova said dryly.  “I’m still pretty opposed to the idea, if that’s why you’re asking.”

“It no longer matters whether or not you are opposed to it,” replied Luna.  “It has started.  The spell you no doubt just felt was a result of Twilight initiating the process that will confirm whether or not she can do what we believe she can.”

“Which is?” Nova asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Do you remember the spell Star Swirl was attempting to create?” she asked.  “The one he always spent his time working on?”

“Yeah,” Nova said, nodding.  “Never finished it.”

“She has been sent a journal with the incomplete spell inside.  He was never able to complete it.  The spell that has just been cast was the incomplete version of that spell.”

“What does it do?” he asked curiously.

“At the moment, it creates a separated bubble of time, inside of which the destinies of those ponies closest to the caster are switched around,” she said.  “You are not affected because you are outside the area of the spell, and unlike her friends, you share a unique connection to Twilight Sparkle alone, rather than many friends with her, which leads me to believe your destiny would be switched with hers.”

“Wait, so when a pony’s destiny is changed… what does that mean?” he asked, puzzled by how this would work.

“Let us take Applejack and Rarity, to use an example,” Luna explained.  “Upon the spell washing over them, it would be as if their histories had been switched.  Rarity would have been a farmpony her entire life, and Applejack would have been working with clothing for the majority of her’s.  And when their destinies switch, so do their cutie marks.  Rarity would have the apples, and Applejack would have the diamonds.

“Now, the reason you are not to go to Ponyville is because, like I said, right now, it is its own separate bubble of time.  Ponies with no relation to the caster could come and go as they pleased, but whenever a pony close to the caster who was outside the spell’s target area entered the little bubble, it snapped reality back on course.  We want you to be aware, we may need you to go to Ponyville, just in case, but until Tia gives the word, you are forbidden from stepping hoof in that town.”

“Am I to take this all to mean that you’ve done this before?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.  “Just cast the spell willy-nilly and experiment?”

“Not exactly,” said Luna.  “Many ponies tried to solve the spell, but none thus far have succeeded.  Every time, either Tia or I would have to end the spell ourselves, or we would keep a pony close to the caster away until it was certain they failed.  Let’s just say we have experience with the spell and leave it at that.”

“How long will this take?” he asked.

“Well,” said Luna, glancing out the window in thought, “Tia has set the limit at a week.  If she cannot succeed in that time, we will have you end the spell yourself.”

At most a week, then, he thought.

“Well, I just want to say right now, I’m not responsible for any injuries sustained from an angry Twilight when I see her again because of me missing Date Night tonight,” he said.  “I told her I had something important to tell her, and I’d like to get it off my chest too.”

“If she breaks your ribs, we will pay the hospital bill,” said Luna in stride.  “Now, I am leaving my two Nightmares here with you,” she said, gesturing to her guards.  “In the event that Twilight is to succeed, you will be chauffeured to Canterlot as soon as possible.  If the time goes by and she fails, they will take you to Ponville for you to end the spell.  Do you understand?”

“Yes, Princess,” he said, resigning himself to a long week.

“Very well.  Farewell, my Night Master,” she said, getting up and trotting out the door.  Her guards remained in his living room as he saw her out, and when he got back inside, they were watching the night’s Equestria Premier League highlights.

“Oh good,” Nova said.  “And here I thought the two of you would just stand by the wall the entire time.”

“Yes, well, this certainly beats standing at attention for a week,” said one of the Nightmares in a bored-sounding voice.  “We’ve never been properly introduced.  My name is Frigoris.  I’m one of the few true Children of the Night, the ponies Nightmare Moon created, that still exist to guard Princess Luna.  This,” he added, gesturing at the other, “is Starstep.  He’s relatively new to the guard, so he came with me.”

“‘Sup?” Starstep called, waving a hoof as he watched the Marechester United vs. Princess’ Park Rangers highlights.

“Well, make yourselves comfortable,” Nova said.  “The bedrooms are on the second floor.  Mine’s the last door on the right, so pick any other one.”

“Thank you for your hospitality,” said Frigoris bowing.

“My pleasure,” said Nova, half-truthfully.


{T} {A} {T} {S} {A} {T} {C}


Nova sat in his study, early the next morning, reading through his old diary from the Old Times.  He really didn’t know why.  Perhaps for some nostalgia?  Maybe to remind himself of Clover and Steelshod?  Whatever the reason, here he sat, reading every entry.

He was about halfway through when he detected the slightest bit of magic, resonating from somewhere inside the book.  Toward one of the back pages, if he was not mistaken.  That was not what surprised him.   What surprised him was who the spell signature belonged to.

It can’t be… he thought, suddenly perplexed.  Unless… a timed-release message?

He flipped through the pages to inside the last cover.  It appeared as blank as ever, but Nova could sense the magic working inside.

Even as he watched, words began to appear in ink on the page.  He smiled as he watched.  She had used magic to mask the ink, only to show it after he was back in his own time.  What a wonderful spellcaster, Clover was.

Dearest Nova Shine,

        It took a while, but I finally managed to translate your code.  As you can see, I even decided to write in it.  I didn’t really know how magic would work when it was within Time Stasis, since that’s what Star Swirl said he wants to keep your diary stored in, so I did the safe thing and set the spell to reveal itself some months after the day you’re supposed to return.  I told Princess Celestia like you said, and she immediately went and wrote it in one of her own diaries.

        I wanted to write to you, just this one last time.  I don’t know if you’ll actually get this letter.  For all I know, Time Stasis could just delay the spell’s effect, and you might miss it entirely.  Naturally, if you’re reading this, disregard that.  I kinda had to jot that down just for myself.  But like I said, this letter is what I think will be my final goodbye to you.  I know we said our goodbyes face to face before you stepped into that tile, but I think it might be because I just want some closure.

You have no idea how tempted I’ve been to just pull you out and keep you here with me.  Steelshod told me himself he’s not exactly opposed to the idea.  He really misses you.  I think he might even break up with me so that I could be with you, if it meant that it would make me happy.  He’s always been a sap like that.  Must come with having so many brothers.  Someone had to get some of the feminine traits.  But that aside, I won’t pull you out.  That would be selfish of me.

        I’ve thought about our last night, up on the battlements, about this Twilight Sparkle of yours.  I can’t help but admit that I was always jealous after I found out.  I think that’s why I got so upset every time you beat Steelshod in a duel for me but never did anything about it.  It’s only been a few months since you left, and it already hurts so much without you.  I even found myself staring right at your frozen self a few nights ago, my horn shimmering, already about to cast the spell to pull you out.  But like I said, that would have been selfish of me.  I knew you would want me to be happy, even without you, so I guess it kind of clicked that I wanted the same for you.  That, and I would be depriving Twilight Sparkle of such a wonderful stallion like you.

        Speaking of mares and stallions, Steelshod proposed to me last night.  Literally, the words out of his mouth when he first asked me for permission to court me were, “I don’t think I’ll be what he was, but I’ll still be here.”  Ever since we lived in Canterlot, he’s always been my knight in shining armor.  I guess it took this long for me to realize it.  He knows I prefer you, but that didn’t stop him from stepping forward and asking.  Well, after taking time to really think about it, I said yes.

        I’m running out of space to write.  There’s only so much I could say to you on this page, but I have so much I want to tell you.  I guess I’ll have to settle, though.  Just like I know you would want me to be happy, I feel compelled to say that I also want you to be happy, and I mean every word.  Twilight is such a lucky mare to have somepony like you in her life, and if she’s the one pony who makes you happier than any other mare would, then I hope you will hold her close and tell her that every night.  I wish the two of you nothing but the best, and I hope that you find happiness in each other.

Love, now and always,
Clover

As soon as he read the signature, the book dropped from Nova’s hooves.  His eyes had welled up immediately, and by the end of it, he was starting to cry.  Clover’s final farewell had really hit him hard, and he felt so homesick for the time in the past.

But something now made itself known in his mind.  He had something he wanted to do.  He didn’t know how long it would take to accomplish, so it was probably best that he started immediately.

Wiping his eyes and crying no more, he trotted out of the house, leaving Frigoris and Starstep to continue their time-wasting while he set out to do one of the most important things he had ever done in his life.


{T} {A} {T} {S} {A} {T} {C}


It was now well into the day.  Nova was already reduced to rereading the entire Harry Trotter series for the umpteenth time.  He had found everything he had needed, and he had accomplished his goal, all within a couple of hours, so now he just had to wait some more.  Frigoris and Starstep were downstairs, watching the day’s hoofball games.  Even with Arsenal playing Trottingham Forest, he just couldn’t get over how worried he was for Twilight.  A letter shedding light on more details of the situation had been sent to him by Princess Celestia that morning, and he was now concerned about everything in Ponyville.

Rarity the weathermare?  Rainbow Dash the animal caretaker?  Applejack the fashionista?  Fluttershy the comedian?  And worst of all, Pinkie Pie in charge of the cake-making supplies?  How was Ponyville even going to last a week?  And how was Twilight going to solve this one?

The letter hadn’t said anything about how Nova was going to know if she had succeeded.  They would contact him via the scrying ball if she failed, but as for if she succeeded, all that was said was, “You’ll know.”

“Argh, it’s no use,” he said in exasperation, setting the book down on the table next to him in frustration.  “Why can’t I get my mind off of Ponyville, even for a moment!?”

And then another shockwave of energy hit him.  Again, no ill feelings came from it, but his jaw dropped.  That had to be it!  It just had to be!  The magic hadn’t been Twilight’s, but he had recognized it as belonging to the Elements of Harmony, having used them himself.

Almost as if on cue, the scrying ball emitted a light, which was replaced with Princess Luna’s face.

“Night Master Nova Shine, come here at once!” she shouted, making sure to alert the house if he wasn’t in the study.

“I’m here, Princess,” he said, galloping forward.  “What--”

“She’s done it!” Luna crowed, beaming.  “Tia has already left, so while we wait for the two for them to return to Canterlot, you need to instruct Frigoris and Starstep to bring you here at once!  We will talk more later, but now, just get to Canterlot as fast as they can bring you here!”

“Yes, Princess,” said Nova, not needing another word.  He galloped downstairs as the spell ended.

“Frigoris, Starstep!” he called, bursting into the living room, where they were both watching a match.  They glanced at him curiously from their spots.

“Has it happened, then?” asked Frigoris.

Nova nodded.  “Time to go.”

Both of them nodded, and they made their way outside.  The sun was getting close to the horizon, which meant they would probably be spending the night in Canterlot, but Nova didn’t care.  He made sure everything was off before following them.  As he locked the door, they strapped themselves up to the carriage, which Nova quickly jumped on.  At once, they took off.


{T} {A} {T} {S} {A} {T} {C}


Twilight Sparkle, still reeling from all of the things that had happened to her today, made her way along the halls of Canterlot Castle with Princess Celestia.  The Element of Magic was still perched on her head, and her new wings were folded at her sides as she followed her former teacher.

“Princess--” she tried to ask, but Princess Celestia hushed her.

“Please, Twilight, there will be time for all of this later,” she said gently, keeping her gaze forward as she led Twilight toward one of the many empty multi-purpose rooms in the public wing of the castle.  “I’m sure you have many questions, but right now, there’s somepony you need to see.”

“Is Nova here?” Twilight asked.

“Funny you should ask,” said Princess Celestia with a smile.  “He arrived here just before we returned from that place.  As Luna has been telling me, he has been pacing around different parts of the castle non-stop, waiting for your arrival.  He still doesn’t know, by the way,” she added.  “Make sure you capture the memory of the look on his face.”

“When…” Twilight swallowed nervously, “when is the coronation?”

“Tomorrow afternoon,” Princess Celestia said, “and your friends will arrive tomorrow morning by train.”

Twilight smiled, glad that her teacher knew exactly what she was going to ask before she actually did.

Princess Celestia stopped, cracked open one of the doors, and peeked inside.

“Yes, he’s in here,” she said, closing it again.  “Now, Twilight, we’re leaving you two alone.  Don’t get up to any… hijinks while we’re gone.”

Twilight blushed furiously and started stammering about how they weren’t married, so they wouldn’t, but her words fell on deaf ears, because Princess Celestia was already trotting away.

Still got it, she thought happily.

Twilight watched her mentor go, suddenly feeling like she had just been flung into the deep end, and her lifeguard had swam away.  What did she do now?

Well, she had been led to this room, and Nova was inside.  Guess that’s as good a place to start as any.  She pushed the door open, noting vaguely that this was the room they had first taken their assessment in, and trotted inside.

Nova sat on the floor in front of her, facing the opposite wall, and sitting in some kind of meditative stance, all the while five random objects from around the room floated around him.

“Nova?”

The objects were set down on the floor, but Nova didn’t get up and turn around.

“So,” Nova said, “I hear you’ve been pretty busy lately.  Trying to solve Lord Star Swirl’s unfinished spell, and apparently you succeeded.”

“Yeah,” Twilight said, trotting forward, but she stopped right behind him.  She prodded him with a hoof.  “Hey, why won’t you turn around?”

“Princess Luna told me not to,” he said, shrugging.  “Don’t know why.  She just said to wait until you gave the okay.”

Twilight giggled.  “It’s okay.  Turn around.”

Nova got to his hooves, yawned slightly from the late hour, and turned around.  At once, his jaw fell open and his eyes widened more than she had ever seen them before.

“Tw--”” he tried to say, but it died in his throat.  She had wings!  She was an alicorn!

Twilight’s giggle developed into pure laughter.  Princess Celestia was right; she did need to capture that memory forever.  If only she had a camera…

But then he did the one thing she had hoped at the back of her mind he would never do.

Nova turned his face to the ground, and he knelt.

“N-Nova?” she asked, feeling the smile slide off her face.  “What are you--”

“You’re a princess now,” Nova replied.  “I’m only a subject.  This is what subjects do before princesses.”

Why did that make her want to cry?  How did he not know that this changed nothing between them?  He would never be her subject!  He was her equal, and nothing less!

“Nova, stand up,” she said.  “You are never to bow before me again, and that’s an order.”

Nova complied, rising to his hooves, but still not quite meeting her eyes.

“Nova, I may be a princess now, but please understand, this doesn’t change anything!  I’m still the same,” she said almost pleadingly.  “If you still want to exalt me, I’ll just have to order you to treat me like an equal.”

Nova felt himself smile.  Yep, she was still the same.

“Sorry,” he said, shaking his head.  “I guess it just took a moment for it to really sink in.  Sorry about… that.”

“It’s fine,” said Twilight, smiling wanly.  “First Princess Celestia, then all my friends, now you, I guess I’ll just have to get used to all of this.”

“It’s only been part of a night,” Nova reminded her.  “I think it’ll take a while, but ponies will mostly stop bowing after a while.  Only out of courtesy, I suppose.  Especially those of us who know you personally.”

“Speaking of nights,” said Twilight, suddenly giving him a very stern look, “you, sir, missed Date Night last night.”

Nova rolled his eyes.

“I think we both know why I wasn’t allowed to come,” he replied.  “Mommy told me that I couldn’t play with you until you got your homework done.”

Ignoring his dry snark, she continued with her point.  “You said you had something important to show me.  Mind showing me now?  We’re the only ones here.”

“Ah,” said Nova, summoning the blueprints.  “Yes, I did have something important to show you.  Take a look at these,” he said, laying them down on the floor.  Twilight trotted over next to him and leaned her head down to study them.

“It’s your house,” she noted.

“Exactly,” he said.  “Good to see your skills of observation still serve you well.”

She gave him an amused-but-annoyed glance, before looking back down.  Nova just launched into the whole explanation.

“This project here is what’s been keeping me from the library the last few weeks.  I’ve measured every dimension that my house has to offer, simply to draw up these blueprints.  And when I say every dimension, I mean every single different wooden plank on stone, and all that sort of stuff.”

“Alright, Nova, enough with the build-up of suspense,” said Twilight.  “Where are you building it?”

“Wow,” said Nova, giving her the amused, annoyed look right back.  “Just kill all the fun, why don’t you.  Whatever.  Yes, I’m rebuilding my house in Ponyville.  Reconstructing it, more like.”

“So you’re moving to Ponyville?” she asked, looking surprised.  “But you like Neighton!  Why move?”

“Well, first and foremost, you,” Nova answered.  “I like my house, but three hours away is just too far to maintain a house I barely use when I’m sleeping over.  Second, I’ve really come to like Ponyville.  Yes, even more than Neighton.  Still kinda tied to the first reason.”

Nova felt his heartbeat speed up a bit.  He was starting to get rather nervous about what was coming.

“Third,” he continued, with a slight waver in his voice that Twilight didn’t seem to notice, “It’s convenient for both of us because Ponyville is closer to Canterlot, both by train and by actual distance.  Which means if Princess Celestia sends us some kind of project to do or wants us to come to Canterlot, it’s easier.  Plus, faster postage to and from Canterlot as well.”

“Writing Aegis again?” she asked.

“And my parents,” said Nova, nodding.

“But I still don’t get something,” she said, looking back down.  “You have all this unused space.  Like here, four bedrooms that are never used,” she indicated one of the four bedrooms on the second floor that were not in use.

“Actually,” interrupted Nova, “I did end up using them as guest rooms for Luna’s guards.  But that’s beside the point.  Continue, please.”

“Why not just downsize it?”

“Because I like my basement and study to be as big as they are,” he responded.  “It wouldn’t feel right without those bedrooms.  The house would be smaller, and so would my evil lair downstairs and my procrastination station upstairs wouldn’t be as big either.”

“But you can replace them with other rooms,” she protested.  “You could move your study into all that open space, or move what’s in your basement.  Why do you need those extra rooms?  I mean I understand having one guest bedroom, but three more?”

Nova sighed.

I guess it’s time, he thought to himself.  Well, here goes nothing.

“Well,” he said, choosing his words carefully, “I was thinking about the possibility of putting stuff into them.”

“What do you mean?” Twilight asked, arching an eyebrow.

“I’m a High Noble now, right?  The High Nobles have certain privileges that most other ponies don’t have.  For example, I could come and go before Princess Celestia unannounced as I pleased, receive free Royal-class service on trains and the like, ask for a small private magical laboratory in our homes, things like that.”

“How does that help you occupy those rooms?” she asked, narrowing her eyes.  Nova had a feeling she was trying to figure this out on her own based on his intentional vagueness.  “I know you don’t need a magical laboratory because you already have one in your basement.”

Nova’s heart briefly leapt up into his throat and back down.

“W-well,” he said, now feeling the nervousness skyrocket, “there’s one privilege I didn’t think I’d be using when I was made Night Master.  Only recently, in fact, did I find out a good reason to put this privilege to use.  One of the privileges the High Nobles have that common ponies don’t is…” he swallowed, “...is the r-right to…”

He sighed, trying to take a deep, calming breath.  Twilight just watched him in total bewilderment.

“The right to…” he tried again, but when it died in his throat, he forced it out.

“The right to marry royalty.”

Twilight stared at him for a moment, puzzled.  Nova seized his chance.  His horn shimmered blue, and a small box appeared in midair, which he caught in one of his forehooves.  Realization flashed through Twilight’s eyes as he did this, and she clapped both of her hooves to her mouth as she fell into a sitting position in shock.

And Nova knelt down in front of Twilight Sparkle, opening the box to reveal an earring, set with a glowing blue gem in the middle.

“Princess Twilight Sparkle,” he said in a surprisingly steady and calm voice, “will you marry me?”

To Nova, it seemed like everything else around them had vanished.  The only two things that mattered right now were the ring box in his hooves and the mare he was offering it to.  She was alternating between looking at him and the box in shock.

“I…” she said softly.

Nova, eyes focused right on her’s, sat there desperately hoping she would say the one word that would make him the happiest stallion in all of Equestria.  Scratch that, in all of Equus.

Pleasesayyespleasesayyespleasesayyespleasesayyes…

“I… you…” she tried again, her voice failing again.   Nova thought she literally had no idea what to say.  He noticed her eyes appeared to be getting slightly watery.  Was that a good sign or a bad one?

“You… have a lot of nerve, you know that?”

Nova suddenly felt dead.  It was funny, really.  A moment ago, his insides had been shaking so hard it’s a wonder the whole castle didn’t feel it.  But now?  It felt like he didn’t have any insides at all.

“Whenever you’re around,” Twilight said, her voice soft and dangerous, “I find myself getting more stressed than usual, getting more flustered than usual, arguing with you about the dumbest things…”

Nova’s head drooped and he stared blankly at the floor as she continued to tell him why he sucked.

Why…? he thought.  I… I thought… I thought tonight was the night…

“...and we insult each other left and right.  Nova, what did you think I was going to say!?” she asked, practically screaming that last line at him.

“A simple ‘no’ would have sufficed,” Nova said dully, already lowering the hoof with the ring box.  That was it, then.  It was all said and done, and she had made her choice.

A lavender hoof entered his vision and caught the hoof of his that was lowering.  A second one touched under his chin and raised his head to meet her eyes.

There were tear trails streaming from both of them.  She was breathing heavily, and still staring at him in shock.

“You don’t understand, Nova,” she said, shaking her head.  “After all the time we’ve spent together, after you’ve saved my life and just been there for me, even after all of the stuff with Envy, did you think I was going to say anything other than ‘yes?’”

Did I think she would… hang on.

Something wasn’t quite registering in his brain properly.  Did she just say…?

“Goodness, for such a brilliant spellcaster, you are rather stupid at times,” she said, placing her hooves on his cheeks and looking him directly in his eyes.  “Nova Shine, yes.”

Case in point, Nova blinked stupidly.

“Yes?” he repeated, confused all of a sudden.

Twilight giggled, took the engagement earring out of the box, and clipped it on her right ear.  “Yes, Nova.  Yes!”

Nova stared at her.  She had said yes.

Wait a minute!  She had said yes!

He started to laugh nervously, which only made her giggle harder.

“She said yes,” he said to himself.

The nervous laughter started getting louder and more giddy.

“She said yes!” Nova whooped, suddenly feeling light as a feather.

Simply out of joy, he embraced Twilight, who returned it just as eagerly.  Nova pulled out the cushion for Twilight’s ring to show his own, which was dull and colorless, since he hadn’t gotten her resonance yet.  When she saw it, she immediately placed her own resonance inside, and Nova attached his ring to his ear as soon as his diamond began to glow the bright magenta of Twilight.

The door opened.  Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were standing there.  Celestia appeared somewhat bemused, but Luna was looking quite expectant.  Nova had explained the whole situation to her as soon as he’d arrived and started to wait.

At once, she spotted the small glowing gems attached to their ears, and she immediately broke into a wide grin.  Celestia eyed the gems as well, an her eyes went wide.

“Nova, did you--?” she asked, but Luna had already bounded forward and started wringing both of their hooves out of socket with the sheer power of her hoofshake.  Not to mention shouting their ears off in the Royal Canterlot Voice.

“CONGRATULATIONS, NIGHT MASTER NOVA SHINE!  WE ARE PLEASED TO SEE THAT THINE ENDEAVOURS WERE SUCCESSFUL!  WE INSIST ON--”

“Luna, quiet down,” admonished Celestia, but like her sister, she was beaming.  “We don’t want to wake up the entire castle.”

She trotted forward to them both as Luna gave them whole room at large an apologetic smile..

“Well, this has certainly been an eventful evening for you, hasn’t it, Twilight?” she noted.  “First your ascension, now your engagement…”

“Heh, looks like your brother and I are going to have a lot in common now,” Nova noted to Twilight, whose already-wide smile grew almost imperceptibly.

“I’m sure the two of you would love to celebrate your engagement,” said Celestia, “and I honestly do not mean to rain on your parade, but we have an important ceremony tomorrow, late morning.  I remember when Cadance was coronated, the preparation for the ceremony took quite some time. so I must ask the two of you to please turn in.  You will have time to celebrate with your friends tomorrow.”

Celestia and Luna both made their way out of the room, but not before Luna trotted forward and gave Nova an affectionate nuzzle, leaving Twilight and Nova alone.  Twilight immediately sidled up to him and started nuzzling him quite fiercely, but while Nova did enjoy a good nuzzling session with his new fiancée, Princess Celestia had a point.

“She’s right,” he said to her, after stopping her for a moment.  “You do have a big day tomorrow, Princess, and it’s pretty late.  I think it’s high time we got to bed.”

Twilight shook her head, her smile not even slightly diminishing.

“Nova, I don’t even feel slightly tired,” she admitted.  “All of today… I don’t really know how to describe it.  It’s just so overwhelming.”

Nova started walking out, with Twilight following him.  Walking was made somewhat awkward, because Twilight seemed to want to press every inch of herself onto him, and while Nova appreciated the gesture, he had to gently push her off after a few moments of tripping over each other’s hooves.

“I wonder what it’s like,” she finally said, as they continued up to the guest wing of Canterlot Castle.

“Wonder what what’s like?” he asked.  “Being a Princess?”

“Well, yes,” she said, “but I was talking about being married.  I asked Princess Celestia if there was a book on how to be a Princess, but considering there are thousands more ponies that are married than there are princesses, this one seems more likely to have a book about it.”

Nova laughed.  It’s good to know that even after getting wings, she’s still the same Twilight.

“Well, I can think of two pairs of ponies you can ask,” he said.  “I’m sure Mom, Dad, and your parents are going to be ecstatic when they find out about us.”

“Speaking of,” she said, “when do we tell them?”

‘That’s a good question,” said Nova, as they rounded a corner and ascended some stairs to the Residential Wing.  “Considering how huge tomorrow is, I would suggest not making this information public just yet.  And by public, I mean alerting the general populace.  As far as friends and relatives go, how does tomorrow night sound?  After all the craziness dies down?”

“How exactly do you intend to break the news to them?” Twilight asked.  “Just sit them down and say, ‘Hey Mom, Dad, friends, we’re engaged!  Right on the day Twilight got coronated!’?”

Nova snickered, which didn’t give Twilight any good feelings about how Nova intended to tell them.

“Actually, I think that might just be the best idea.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean exactly what I said,” said Nova, smirking.  “After the coronation, we just sit them all down in a room, minds still reeling from you becoming an alicorn, and drop this particular bombshell on them.  Then we count how many of them we overloaded!” he finished cheerfully.

“Oh,” groaned Twilight, bumping into him, “you’re terrible!”

“Oh come on, Twi,” said Nova, glancing down at his fiancée, “you know you love me.  Why would you have said yes otherwise?”

“To keep you from running off and doing something stupid,” she responded, trotting forward and caressing under his muzzle with her tail.  “Besides, it’s not like you’re complaining.”

Nova stopped, staring at the marvelous pony in front of him as she gave him a rather satisfied grin of her own.

Damn, he thought.  What did I ever do to deserve her?

Shaking himself of the thought, he followed her up.  Instead of entering the first room in the wing, Nova led her back towards one that was pretty familiar to him already.

Once the two of them entered what had once been Clover’s room, it seemed the fatigue of the day finally washed over them.  Winin seconds, they were curled up in each others’ hooves and in the bed.

“I love you, you beautiful overly-introverted mare,” he whispered.

“And I love you, you wonderful thick-headed stallion.”


{T} {A} {T} {S} {A} {T} {C}


Considering he had graduated, Nova had wondered when the next time he would feel Luna's Dreamcall would be.  He could honestly say he hadn't expected it to be the night before Twilight's big day, considering there had been more of an opportunity during the time he had spent bedridden with his demolished torso.

Yet here he was, trotting through a shining blue portal where he met his teacher in a large, classroom-looking sort of dream.

"Good evening, my Night Master," Luna greeted him warmly, before a silken pouf appeared out of thin air for him to sit on.  "Please, have a seat."

Nova did as he was told, the generic classroom starting to become more familiar to him.  It was the lecture hall in which he had taken his examination for Celestia's School, as well as made his peace with Tantalus Lulamoon.

"Evening, Princess," Nova inclined his head as he took his seat.  "How's things?"

"Things are quite well, Nova," Luna beamed.  "My sister is preparing the Chapel Hall as we speak for tomorrow's ceremony.  I, however, have a different mission to attend to before I join her."

"Another mission, eh?" Nova asked, already smirking.  "Princess Luna, are you trying to seduce me?"

Luna's smile turned to a death glare.  "I already get enough teasing from my sister.  I don't need to hear it from you, too."

Nova's smirk deepened.  "I'm an engaged stallion, now," he shrugged.  "I can't help it if mares are trying to prise Equestria's most eligible bachelor out of Twilight's hooves."

"And as we said before," Luna smiled at the earring dangling from his left ear and glowing a bright magenta, "many congratulations."

"Thanks," Nova dipped his head.  "So, why call me tonight?"

"Simply, because we-- that is to say, my sister and I-- have spoken at length about your future."

Nova felt himself bristle a bit.  Hadn't he already had a row with Celestia about this?

"What about it?" he asked, trying to keep the displeasure out of his voice.

If he had failed, Luna didn't show any offense.  She did, however, have a bit of a knowing look in her eyes.

"In light of Twilight's ascension, we have decided to offer you two paths to tread from here, though if you wish to reject both of them, it is your decision."

So it required Twilight to ascend before they'd offer these paths to me? he thought.

"What paths are we talking about here?" he asked. pressing his hooves together in his lap.

"As we said before, you may reject both choices.  Do not feel compelled to choose one," Luna advised him, before she grew a bit more serious.  "The first choice is the path you initially rejected.  The first path we wish to guide you on is the path to princehood.  Simply, we would guide you as we did Twilight, with the ultimate goal of helping you to achieve ascension and take your place at our side, standing even with all four of us."

Nova nodded.  Surely Celestia and Luna had to know he didn't want that choice, so why offer it to him anyway...?

"You're not gonna pull a fast one on me and just guide me along anyway, are you?" he asked, giving Luna a very meaningful look.  "I told you, I don't want to be a prince.  I just want a normal life with Twilight."

"Even if we were to guide you along without your knowledge," Luna brushed a stray few hairs out of her face, "when the time came for you to ascend, you wouldn't.  Even if Twilight had completed Lord Star Swirl's spell exactly the way she had, had she not wished to ascend, she would not have been transported to the Plane of Ascension.  Twilight, ambitious as she is, wanted to be just like her own teacher, and when the time finally came, she accepted the burden of the crown.  If the time comes for you and you do not wish to ascend, you will not."

Even in dreams, Nova was able to sense energy.  There were times in which Luna hid her energy from him with magic, though those times were not often, and he always knew when she did.  This was not one of those times, and so after a moment spent mulling over it, Nova accepted her explanation with a nod.

"Very well.  What is the second path?"

"The second path, one I do believe you will find much more appealing," she added, with a smile, "is that Tia and I would like to guide you on the path to becoming Equestria's next Archmage."

Nova's jaw dropped.

"...what?" he asked weakly.  She didn't say what I think she just said, did she?

I think she did.

But I'm not qualified!  I'm the Night Master, but I'm not even close to being Archmage level!

Almost as if she could read his thoughts, Luna smiled knowingly at Nova as Logic and Emotion went at it in his head.

"Nova, come now, surely you didn't think we were just going to give you the title immediately, did you?  We both know you are not yet ready for the position, which is why Tia and I desire to continue your magical education."

"Why me, though?" he asked, still reeling.  "There are better spellcasters than me out there.  Hell, even Twilight was better than me when she was still a unicorn, and now look at her!"

"We understand your trepidation, Nova, we really do," Luna reached over and gently placed a hoof on his shoulder to calm him.  "Your apprenticeship to us is finished, and in that short time, you have developed from a colt who closed himself off from almost everyone he met and struggled to cast many spells into a very fine stallion and an incredibly formidable spellcaster.  But consider why we believe you are an excellent fit for the position."

She leaned back.

"Firstly, such a position of importance would warrant a tremendous amount of influence and magical power, which, when coupled with your wife-to-be's, would deter any would-be manipulators from trying to use either one of you for their own ends.  Second, because Tia and I both are well aware of how much you enjoy learning new spells, techniques, and so forth.  This would essentially allow you to continue doing just that.  Third, because though I know you wish for a normal life, you know that this option has the potential to provide the perfect mix of adventure and normalcy to keep your life from being completely dull and boring.  Finally, and perhaps the largest reason for the short-term," here she grew very serious, "you and I both know that Envy must have survived your encounter."

Nova could only nod his head.  "She can't have gone down that easily.  I tried to make sure she wouldn't be back, but Dad--"

"Your father saved you," Luna interjected, even placing her hoof onto his lips to stop him from completing that statement.  "He saved you so that you could be there to stop her again when she returned.  We are offering to help you with that.  You would learn entire new schools of magic to add to your arsenal, with myself, Tia, Cadance, Discord, and even your wife-to-be herself there to help you along the way, all to prepare you for the day in which you and Envy will again do battle."

She leaned back.  "The choice is yours.  Bear in mind, you need not make your choice immediately, and you may change your choice at any time.  If you wish to quit, you have that right, and we will still be ready to continue training you if you change your mind.  Equestria has lived without an Archmage since the death of Amethyst Sparkle, and it will continue to do so whether or not you take the mantle."

"But what if I want to choose tonight?" Nova asked, getting to his hooves.  "I already know what I want to do.  I want to be the Archmage.  Sure, I was nervous about it, but if you believe I can do it, then let's start training immediately."

Luna's serious look deepened.  "We had a feeling you would choose that, but be warned, Nova.  This will not be an easy journey.  You will learn many schools of magic.  Spellblade, Love magic, the magic of Friendship, chaos, even Dark Magic.  You will be one of the most powerful individuals in all of history, behind only myself, my sister, Cadance, Twilight, Discord, and the few who have stood on our level.  You will face temptations most ponies live blissfully ignorant of.  Many times, you may even be called on to be the one pony who will stand against forces that would destroy us.  You would willingly accept this path, knowing the risks?"

Nova walked right in front of his teacher, who rose to her own hooves, and bowed.

"Princess Luna, if you believe I can handle it, I would willingly accept this path."

Luna's grave look gave way to a bright smile.  She motioned with a hoof that he should rise, and the new Archmage-in-Training did.

"We will let our sister know immediately," she assured him.  "Your training will begin in precisely one week, and will begin with some of the much more advanced spells of normal magic.  Tia and I have agreed that we would like to make you a true master of normal magic before we touch on any other schools.  But we can worry about all of that later," she said, beaming down at him.  "For now, rest, Nova Shine.  Your next journey will begin soon, but we have a coronation to get past first."

The room around them dissolved into inky blackness.

"Farewell, my Night Master," Luna began to fade into the darkness as the young stallion began to return to sleep.  "May thou enjoy the coming days."


{T} {A} {T} {S} {A} {T} {C}


The invited ponies stood inside the Chapel room of the castle.  Nova, however, stood outside of it with Twilight.  It had taken two hours to prepare the coronation ceremony, and now she stood before him looking almost nothing like Twilight at all.  She was wearing a fancy pink and gold dress, her mane was styled, and she looked absolutely beautiful.

“Is my tail straight?” Twilight asked, a note of nervousness in her voice.

“For the fourth time, yes Twilight, it’s straight,” he said.  “Your dress is perfectly smooth, your tail is straight, your mane is flawless, and you look absolutely stunning.”

She went pink, but shook her head.

“Please don’t patronize me.  I have to make a good first impression in there!  This’ll be the first time many of them see me as their newest princess.  What if something goes wrong?”

“It won’t,” said Nova firmly.  “I know everything will be just fine.”

She chuckled, still sounding very nervous.

“Oh, and before I forget,” said Nova, suddenly reminded of something Princess Luna had cautioned him about, “Princess Celestia’s going to want you to address the masses outside.”

“Yeah, Princess Cadance told me the same,” Twilight said.

“Twilight, you and her are equals now.  You don’t have to call her ‘princess.’”

“I-- I know,” she said, giving an annoyed smile at herself.  “It’s going to take some getting used to, all of… this,” she gestured at herself.

“Nova?” came a voice behind him.  Nova turned to see Princess Luna wearing an… interesting dress and a moderately-sized tiara on her head.

“Good morning, Princess Luna,” he said, inclining his head.  “Has anyone told you the dress looks awful?”

Luna rolled her eyes and grinned sheepishly.

“Yes,” she said tersely.  “Tia insisted I wear something like this, and this was the only one I could find.  I’m sure the Royal Seamstresses could make me something more to my liking later, but with the suddenness of the event, it’s important that I have something.”

She eyed him, noticing that he had no clothing at the moment.

“Speaking of having something, you should probably don your cloak and head inside.  The ceremony will be starting soon.  Twilight, your color guard will be here shortly.  They will follow you inside.  Please enter and stride directly before Tia as soon as the doors open.”

“Yes, Princess,” Twilight said.

“Twilight,” said Nova, bumping her.

“Oh, I mean, thanks, Luna.”

Luna smiled at them both.

“Well, my former Apprentice, Twilight Sparkle, I wish you both the best of luck, and I will see you after the ceremony.”

She turned and strode off toward one of the doors that led behind the dais inside.  Nova followed her advice, and with a flash of blue light, his cloak was on.

“I need to head inside,” he said, “but before I go, like I said, you’re going to have to make a speech to the masses.”

He stared at her sternly.

“I don’t want you saying anything about me, alright?”

“Why not?” she asked, cocking her head.

“Because you’re not standing here as an alicorn because of me,” he answered.  To his surprise, she didn’t try to protest, but he continued all the same.  “I may have saved your life, but I didn’t help you become a princess.  That honor goes to your friends, and I expect you’ll be talking about them, right?”

She nodded.

“That being said, I want you to do me a favor.”

“What kind of favor?”

“I want you to Pinkie Pie Promise me you will not mention me in your speech.”

She gave him a look.

“Is that really necessary?” she asked, arching an eyebrow.

“Just do it.”

She groaned, but nodded.  “Fine.  Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye,” she recited, performing the accompanying motions as well.

Nova nodded, then leaned forward and kissed her.  They let it linger for a couple of seconds, before Nova broke it.

“Time to head on in,” he said over his shoulder as he started trotting toward the large doors..  “Remember, everything will be fine.”

With that, he cracked them open and slipped inside.  The crowd of ponies was quite large.  Nova remembered a crowd this large at the wedding, about this time the year before, having read about it in the Equestria Daily the next day.  Already standing to the far-left of the dais were Twilight’s friends, and standing by the door Nova knew the princesses waited behind was Spike.

Despite the large size, he was able to find Aegis in the crowd.  Aegis, for once, was not wearing his armor.  This was the first time in some time that Nova had seen him without it, and he was absolutely shocked by what he saw.

Aegis’ non-uniformed appearance looked exactly like Steelshod’s, but without a horn and with wings.  So shocked was he, that for a moment, he didn’t even register Aegis waving toward him.

“What’s up with you today?” Aegis asked, eyeing him with concern as he sidled through the crowd to stand next to him.  “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

“Sorry,” said Nova.  “I hadn’t seen you without your armor in so long, I had forgotten what you looked like underneath.  And I had never noticed that you looked like a pegasus version of this unicorn I was great friends with back in the past.”

“Speaking of, when are you going to tell me about your little escapade?” he asked.

“Soon,” promised Nova.  “Let’s just get the coronation behind us first, shall we?”

“Nova,” said Aegis, suddenly sharp in his voice.  “What is that?”

He gestured at Nova’s ear.  Nova had forgotten to take off his engagement earring.  He hastily started to remove it, but not before Aegis’ face lit up in recognition, shock, and utter joy.

“You… the two of you are engaged!?” he breathed, which Nova was devoutly thankful for, given that the Sparkles were only a few rows in front of them.

Nova nodded, unable to stop the smile from working its way onto his face.  “Asked her last night, right after she arrived,” he said.  “Figured we’d tell everyone tonight, but I forgot to take it off.  Don’t know how she didn’t notice back there.”

“That’s great news!” he whispered excitedly.  “Heh, never thought I’d see the day when you’d settle down.”

“Speaking of mares, how are things between you and Trixie?” Nova asked.  Aegis blinked, but he gave a small smile.

“She doesn’t do big ceremonies like this,” he explained, “so we’re meeting for lunch.  Of course, the moment I mentioned the possibility of it being a date, she was quick to correct me with at least four arguments to why it was not a date.”

“Just a casual event where two best friends can hang out in a completely platonic manner?” Nova asked, the opportunity too good to pass up.

“What?” asked Aegis, confused.

“Nothing,” said Nova, with a wave of his hoof.  “Inside joke.”

“Yes, well, I suppose we’ll just have to call them civil meetings, for now.  Of course, ’civil' might not be the proper word to describe the situation, but--”

The doors behind the dais opened.  At once, a great hush fell over the room as the three princesses, each wearing extravagant dresses, strode to the forefront of the dais.  Princess Celestia stood slightly ahead of Cadance and Luna, with a gap between Celestia and Cadance for the newest member of their ranks.

Nova couldn’t help but chuckle at the dresses.  Cadance’s looked alright, but Celestia’s was downright superfluous.  He guessed she thought her subjects needed a reminder of who was really in charge.

The giant crown on her head didn’t help her case.

“Mares and gentlestallions, welcome,” Princess Celestia announced to the room.  “We are gathered here today in celebration of a momentous occasion.  My most faithful student, Twilight Sparkle, has done many extraordinary things since she’s lived in Ponyville.  She even helped reunite me with my sister, Princess Luna.”

Nova’s perpetual smile broadened as he saw the sisters give each other a fond look.

“But today,” continued Celestia, “Twilight Sparkle did something extraordinary.  She created new magic, proving without a doubt, that she is ready to be crowned Equestria’s newest Princess.”

“Fillies and gentlecolts,” she said, announcing to the room at large, and indicating the back doors with her hoof, “may I present for the very first time, Princess Twilight Sparkle!”

The doors opened, and there stood Twilight, in all her regal majesty.  She strode into the room, her head not high or low, but level with everypony else’s, which Nova couldn’t help but admire.

Thou Princess Twilight cometh.  Behold, behold.

“Are you going to cry?” Aegis whispered to him.

“I thought you knew me better than that, dude,” Nova said, hitting his shoulder.  “Of course I’m gonna cry!”

Thou Princess stands before us.  Behold, behold.

Twilight stopped before the Princesses, and Spike held up a cushion with her Element of Magic on it.

Behold!  Behold, behold!  Thou Princess Twilight cometh!

Princess Celestia placed the tiara on her head with magic.  Twilight glanced back at her with a watery smile, then over to her friends, who were giving her signs of encouragement.

Behold, behold!  Thou Princess is…

She turned to face the crowd, and sunlight glinted off of her tiara.  At that point, Nova lost all self-control, and he felt the tears of pride start to trickle down his cheek.  Up ahead, he noticed Twilight Velvet was almost sobbing into a handkerchief, and Shining Armor, who was further ahead, couldn’t have looked more proud in his life.

Thou Princess is here!

The crowd erupted into cheers.  Nova shouted his approval as loud as he could, but he knew it would be drowned out by the thundering of the crowd.

Now, of course, the time came for the pledges of loyalty, to be followed by the Addressing of the Ponies.  Nova joined the line of ponies that led directly up to the new monarch just as instructed, and he waited patiently.

All the while, Twilight was accepting the pledges of everypony who came forth to cite them.  Nova knew with Princess Celestia watching, no one would make any kind of hidden statement, but that was at the back of his mind.  She kept meeting his eye, and then looking back down at the next pony in line.

And then it was finally his turn.  Despite her telling him never to do this, ceremony called for it.  So he bowed before her, recited the pledge of loyalty Princess Luna had asked him to memorize in lieu of some extravagant promise, and made to get out of line, but a motion from Princess Luna stopped him.

“Come and stand beside me, my Night Master,” she said with a subtle wink.  “You are as large a part of this day as anypony.”

Grateful, Nova trotted forward and stood beside his former teacher, and he continued to watch as the day’s events continued.

We will be prepared, he suddenly thought.  We will be prepared for what will come.  I just know it.  Everything’s going to be just fine.


{T} {A} {T} {S} {A} {T} {C}


Miles away from the celebrations in Canterlot, some miles away from the Princess’ home, deep within a clearing in the Everfree Forest, lies a near-forgotten ruin.

The ruin was nothing more than caved-in rubble, but deep below the surface, there is a chasm, created by magic.  Most of the chasm is filled in with rock.  But the rocks did not fall to the bottom.

The rain of Soul Jars had scattered many along the base of the ravine.  Most of the ones that fell shattered on impact with the ground.  Others suffered some damage, but not enough to destroy them.

But one intact Soul Jar lay next to a broken amulet.  And that Soul Jar emitted a faint orange light…


TO BE CONTINUED, IN THE ARCHMAGE'S LAST BOW