Twilight smiled as she put the last of her books away, then trotted out of her study. "Spike! I'm going out!"

"Okay, Mom!" the younger dragon called back, before she heard the sounds of wings flapping and her son came into the room. "Need me to do anything while you're gone?"

"Not that I can think of," Twilight told him. "Just take care, okay?" She leaned over and wrapped a leg around him. "I love you, Spike."

"I love you too, Mom," Spike told her as he hugged her back.

Twilight smiled again, then trotted down the hall towards the front door of her castle.

A lot had happened since the day she got it, some good, some... less so. But her relationships with her friends and loved ones remained as strong as ever, and her school and Equestria's relations with other nations were doing well. Now, she happily reflected on these events as she walked through the streets.

Not long after the Pony of Shadows' defeat, Applejack had told the group she was going out on another trip, and wanted to take the Crusaders with her. Their families had approved, and the trip to Appleloosa that followed had ended with the trio practically deafening everybody there with happy squeals. They had met an infamous and burly stallion known as Troubleshoes, who was wanted for causing havoc at rodeos all over Equestria, but discovered he wasn't doing it on purpose - he was just a big fan of rodeos who was also very clumsy. The trio had helped him accept his Cutie Mark, an upside-down horseshoe that he believed symbolized bad luck, and find a new role in life entertaining people as a rodeo clown. In the process, and after being so happy they'd helped a pony who needed help, they'd earned their own Cutie Marks in helping others who had trouble earning their own, or were suffering from Cutie Mark Failure Insanity Syndrome or other problems related to it. The party when they'd gotten back home had been positively immense, and even Slice n' Dice and her family, Bramley included, had come to attend. Since then, Applejack had continued visiting her family and other farmers, and strengthening the bonds between them, while the trio expanded their roles in helping others.

Another of the Apple family had also had an exciting moment when Big McIntosh had gotten married to Sugar Belle, a resident of Starlight's former town, after falling for her when they'd met during one of his trips to make an apple delivery up there. The two had dated steadily for a few years before the wedding, which had taken place in the same clearing where Pear Butter and Bright Mac had wed. Happily, Grand Pear had been in attendance for the big day, having been fully accepted by his daughter's family.

Rarity had successfully established a business partnership with Gem Polisher, providing him with the gems she dug up, and had opened two new boutiques, one in Canterlot (run by a unicorn mare, Sassy Saddles, who'd had a few hiccups at first with her way of running things before Rarity straightened her out) and one in Manehatten, run by her friend Coco Pommel. She'd also gone on a few dates with the shy Earth Pony after Coco had confessed an attraction to her boss, and while neither of them had said the "L" word yet, they remained close. Spike had also spent time with the pair on one date, and had admitted later that he thought Rarity was good for Coco. He hadn't gotten over his crush on Rarity though, and in fact her caring heart had made him like her even more.

Fluttershy had realized her own dream, opening an official animal sanctuary near Ponyville. Discord and Well-Hidden both still visited her often, and helped out around the sanctuary when she needed it. There were rumors about she and either of them being more than just friends, but none of them had deigned to comment on the subject.

Pinkie had received a surprise visit from Cheese Sandwich one day, who'd taken her aside to speak to her privately. The screams of delight that followed had startled everyone, but when she came back out in public with an engagement ring hanging from her neck, the townsfolk were more understanding. The two were now happily married, and while they hadn't become parents yet, most figured it was just a matter of time. Pinkie had also happily celebrated the marriage of her sister Maud to an Earth pony stallion named Mudbriar, and was openly hoping that her other sisters would find love too.

Rainbow Dash had realized her own dream, successfully joining the Wonderbolts - first as a reservist, then a full-time member. She had also quickly put a stop to their habit of giving their members embarrassing monikers when she'd coldly informed Spitfire that the one they gave her was the same one her foalhood bullies had used. Spitfire had been taken aback by that, but had agreed to cool it and just call her Dash.

Spike had finally undergone his Molt, and true to her promise, Twilight had made sure he stayed inside until it was done. When he emerged with wings and stronger fire, she'd happily embraced him and congratulated him on it, along with having a big party to celebrate the event. He had also applied to a culinary school at long last and was doing phenomenally from all reports so far. As far as Twilight knew, there were several dozen kings, queens, celebrities and renowned chiefs jockeying for him to work for them once he graduated.

Moondancer and Trixie... Twilight blushed at the thought of her two marefriends, whom she loved as much as ever, and who had been sharing her bed now for quite some time (though sleeping was all the three were still doing). The pair had continued their duties as the Captains of the Dreamguard, training new recruits in helping ponies and others in their sleep. Moondancer had also taken her role as Prince Regulus's godmother seriously, especially when, one night, he'd gone wandering in the dream plane and found himself under attack by a monster known as the Tantabus, a naturally-occurring predator that lived in the dream plane and fed off the emotions of sleeping people. The creature had attempted to steal the young prince's inherent dream magic to make itself stronger, until Moondancer and Trixie arrived, fought it off and brought Prince Regulus home safely. Soon after, Pharynx and Luna had found the wounded beast and destroyed it, ending its threat, while Prince Regulus had learned a valuable lesson about being more careful when he dreamwalked.

They'd also introduced their families to one another. Morning Espresso had immediately and fully supported her sister's relationships, both romantic and familial. Jackpot and Showcase Spectacle had been more surprised, but ultimately accepting of the trio, while Twilight's parents, who'd known the longest, already approved. They were all good friends now, and visited one another regularly.

Starlight and Sunburst, meanwhile, had gotten married about a year after the Pony of Shadows fell. They'd also been appointed headmare and vice-principal (since calling Sunburst "Vice-Headmare" didn't exactly make sense) of the second School of International Culture and Friendship when Twilight had opened the new campus in Canterlot the previous fall, and were doing very well. In fact, Starlight was expecting her first foal, and had told Twilight that the filly she had seen in her dreams would be named Luster Dawn.

Her first class of students had all graduated, many with honors, and were doing well in their new lives. Ocellus was working as Starlight's assistant while working on getting a degree so she could serve as the Canterlot campus's guidance counselor in a few years; Smolder, who had the same goal (she'd pointed out that they could use more than one, and Twilight had agreed) had gone with her and served as Sunburst's assistant for now, while Garble was head of security for the new campus, having decided he'd rather stay in Equestria with his sister instead of going home, even after Ember had lifted his banishment. Gallus, meanwhile, had gone into guard training after graduation, and Yona and Sandbar were working at Rarity's boutique in Ponyville. Silverstream also remained in Ponyville, where she'd become an assistant teacher at the original campus.

Two of her other students were also doing well. Diamond Tiara had taken a correspondence course during her time at the school and received a degree in business; she was now managing her father's store, while Silver Spoon had chosen to stay at the Ponyville campus for the School, where she worked as an assistant teacher like Silverstream, before being promoted to running a full class of her own just this year.

The Pillars had all gone traveling around Equestria and the world, experiencing things anew. Starswirl had gone to Laronda and happily reunited with Scorpan, while Meadowbrook met her descendant Cattail, and had been very glad to do so. Somnambula had been introduced to Daring Do and become her second full-time partner in archaeology; she'd also stood up with Daring when the other mare and Teomitl got married a few years later. Mistmane had visited her homeland and, like Meadowbrook, had happily met her descendants, while Stygian had become the published author of his own book on legends from his time, and Rookhoof, though he'd had a hard time adjusting, had eventually received help from Applejack and was now happily working at one of the many Apple farms across Equestria. Flash Magnus, meanwhile, had had the easiest time adjusting to the future when he asked Tempest to come with him while he saw what the modern Equestria had to offer. By the time they'd finished their trip, they were happily engaged, and married soon afterward.

Twilight's thoughts next turned to her friends from outside Equestria. Her initial mission to the Packlands had taken her along a different plan than she'd originally intended, but the Alpha had been most understanding when she'd finally gone to talk to him about it again, not long after the Pony of Shadows' defeat, and made arrangements to finish what she'd started. Together, they'd begun their study, and several members of the Apple family and a few others were still hard at work on their observation and analysis of the Packlands' weather and growing methods, with the matching study of Equestria's same due to start about four years from now.

Swift-Pad and Maxilla were as happy as ever, and Twilight had indeed accepted their first pups, a litter of three, into her school at the start of its third year in operation. The trio were as rambunctious as the Crusaders, but she adored them and all their younger siblings (Maxilla had had two more litters in the intervening years).

The Alpha had surprised everyone when he informed Celestia that he'd married her Other in a private ceremony on the other side of the mirror. He'd also told her that Principal Celestia was still living on the other side, and expecting their first child. While the two had to live apart most of the time, Sunset had guaranteed that he could visit whenever he wanted, which was almost every weekend.

The young Guardian of the Gateways was doing well too. She was currently attending college with her girlfriend, Twilight's Other, and the two remained as close to their other friends as ever. They'd also expanded on their grasp of Equestrian magic not long after the Friendship Games, during a school visit to Camp Everfree. There, they'd had to stop one of its owners - a young woman named Gloriosa Daisy - who'd been corrupted by an overload of Equestrian magic that had leaked through in the spot the Alpha had warned them about. In the process, through talking Gloriosa down, Sunset had tapped the powers of her own Mantle and become a full Power, though she was unaware of it at the time. She'd only fully met Empathy later on after talking down yet another person corrupted by magic, having discovered her classmate Wallflower Blush was abusing an artifact sent over by Clover the Clever and using it to make people forget about her because she couldn't stand to have any of her embarrassing moments remembered by others; by accepting Wallflower and showing her she didn't need to be afraid of not being perfect, Sunset had brought her around, and they were fast friends now.

Sunset wasn't the only one from that side that she'd kept in touch with. Flash Sentry had written to her from time to time as well, and she'd been overjoyed to hear when he told her he'd started dating the local Derpy Hooves. The two were planning to get married soon after they graduated college, and she'd happily accepted when both invited her to attend the wedding.

Cadance and Shining Armor continued to rule the Crystal Empire, where Flurry Heart was growing up into an excitable young filly who loved playing with her cousins Tagma and Regulus when the two visited. Aria and Sonata still lived with them, working with Cadance on her and Aria's Duties, though they did visit the Siren kingdom from time to time. Lady Aputsiaq, on the other hoof, had moved out, along with many of her people. They now shared some of their homeland with the yaks, while other parts of it had turned out to still be uninhabited after all this time, and the windigos had reclaimed that territory for themselves. They were still wary of outsiders but more were starting to interact with the rest of the world every day now.

Thorax and his wife still lived happily in Canterlot, and Celestia had authorized the young king to run Day Court for her while she was on vacation, which she had established was going to be a Thing from now on. Both for her own mental health as well as to help reduce the dependency Equestria had on her. Celestia and Velvet often spent these trips together, and there were rumors that the two were closer than just friends. Velvet, however, had privately told Twilight that while she cared deeply for Celestia, it was strictly in a familial way at the most, and Celestia had concurred. She had also mentioned that, with a great deal of pride, she also managed to introduce a young pegasus to Celestia whom she was quickly becoming attached to and there might be another wedding in a few years, though Celestia was still hesitant to let someone fully into her heart.

Luna and Pharynx continued their duties of caring for the Night, the dreamscape and their son, and the trio were all quite happy. Moondancer spent plenty of time with them as well, along with the astronomy club that she'd been part of before and since introduced to Luna, much to the other mare's delight.

Queen Scolopidia and her wives had all had their first foals together (though they'd declined to explain how it had worked), and all were very happy with one another. Their hive had also begun to become the first one to truly co-mingle with the natives of Ponyville, with more mixed marriages happening and foals of both heritages being born.

Even Chrysalis had gotten something of a happy ending. Nearly five years of good behavior had resulted in Celestia, after much discussion with the Alpha and High Queen Tegmina, reluctantly granting her parole with strict monitoring. The former queen now lived in a cottage in the Everfree, where she spent most of her days just looking out the window, reading quietly or crocheting, with the blankets she made being taken to Ponyville's marketplace and sold after they were completed, the funds going towards upkeep of her home. There had been no signs of plotting from her, but her guards were keeping careful watch, just in case.

Not everyone had been so fortunate though.

After some long and careful planning, they had sent a team into Tartarus to check on their prisoners. Their first priority had been Tirek; to this date, he had never recovered his sanity, and likely never would unless Twilight or Lord Health intervened. He remained in his cell there, slumped on his side and drooling, barely moving and only making the occasional moan of pain.

It had taken some doing, but Cozy Glow (whose arrest and imprisonment had been upheld, despite her lawyer's best efforts) had finally had her physical problems cured and undergone a growth spurt into the form of an adult mare. However, her psychiatrists had eventually been able to fully investigate her mind and, reluctantly, concluded that despite her physical change, there was no curing her lack of empathy and other mental illnesses that lurked within. Celestia had thus had her petrified, with the approval of all others consulted (including the doctors and her fellow Royals), and Cozy's stone form now resided in a private storeroom somewhere in the castle with a dedicated guard patrol to keep an eye on her.

On the other side of the mirror, Adagio's mental condition had also deteriorated badly over the course of a few years, until she was found in her apartment one day, rocking and holding herself and unable to speak sense any longer. Even Sunset's powers as Empathy had been unable to bring her out of it, and the former Siren had been committed to a charity mental hospital in Equestria. It seemed, according to the Summit of Powers that had convened not long after this was discovered, that she had been heavily drawing on her former Mantle during her time on the other side, and losing it so suddenly had caused a mental breakdown that only got worse every passing day. Sadly, what they saw of Adagio losing her tact was not just a simple side effect of losing her Power, but a warning sign that they'd all missed until it was too late.

Twilight sighed sadly at the thought, then shook herself out of it. She was finally at her intended destination.

A few minutes later, she entered the basement of the Golden Oaks Library to finally take up the last things she needed to move out of there and into her Castle of Friendship. It was just one item, really, one she'd hidden for safekeeping all those years ago, until she could find a way to destroy it - a task she had yet to succeed at. She'd put the strongest safeguards she could on its hiding place, and double-checked them after her first transformation into the Lady of Magic. They'd been fine then, as had the item she'd hidden away - in fact, she'd just checked on it last week, in preparation for moving it.

But when she opened its hiding space, she stared in horror.

"Where is it?" she asked frantically. "Where's the gem?"

She felt a shiver run down her spine, and a tingle within her head. I don't know, Magic said nervously. This is bad, very bad. Something... disturbing was here. I got the same feel from it as I did from the magic that hid Tirek.

All right. Twilight was silent for a moment, then thought to her Mantle. We'll figure it out, Magic, she said. I promise.

There was a sudden twinkling sound about them, and a calming effect.

And with it came the absolute certainty that ultimately, though both still had an uneasy feeling about the gem's theft, everything would be just fine.

In the Place Between Realms, the Void Between Dimensions, a windigo walked up to a mighty being, and gave the mighty being a bow before handing a crystal to them.

"The Gem of Sacanas," they mused. "Is mine again."
`
They had invested much time in that world, and while Tirek had failed in the goals that had been intended for him, in the long run the Lady of Winter had performed her duties as the extra agent in place with the centaur and the few others flawlessly.

The mighty being mused that their colleague had managed to find a somewhat competent Storm King to act as their agent; an unexpected play but one they could not complain against. The Storm King was a loud fool and they were glad when Sweetie Drops had slain him; if allowed to live, the Storm King might have revealed the state of the Great Game to the Powers which they were not ready to do so. With the recent death of Subtle Dancer and her unique talent in selected forgetfulness, their agents had to be even more careful not to be noticed for their unnatural life span and reappearance over the years and a rival agent could upend everything..

Still, how the Storm King had managed to get the Gem from the Arimaspi king it had first been granted to was intriguing, but it did not matter in the end.

True, if the Gem's intended purpose - the removal of Powers - had been achieved, that would have been useful. But the being would get back to that goal eventually. Sliding the Gem into the Spear of Reclamation restored It to its full Purpose, and they nodded at the grand progress. Another step forward towards their ultimate plan was now accomplished and so few were remaining. The Armour of Creators and the Peytral of Powers still needed to be retrieved and the agents were working diligently towards that goal, among other Items. The agents in place were already working with the Cult of Chaos to retrieve one of them while the other needed more searching to find where it had been hidden by their Companions.

Then they turned their attention to another world and watched it spin before them in the Void Between Dimensions.

Let us see how things turn out here, they mused. Sooner or later, all worlds will fall before me, in...

Author's Notes:

In all seriousness, The End is the name of an upcoming fic, the grand finale of this multiverse. It's still a ways off, to be written once we finish all the fics in all the different sub-series of this multiverse. Then and only then will the true identity of the supreme Big Bad of this saga - the being who was just shown - be revealed.