Archmage - Chapter 38 “End of an Era - Part 1”

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Despite the disturbing events, Twilight was able to follow Celestia’s advice well enough. She remained depressed for a few days following Silver’s murder spree, but being around Luna and her other friends improved her mood considerably. Still, for the remainder of that week, Twilight spent a lot of time sitting in front of the graves of the two guards that had died in Silver’s attack. It pained her greatly to know that others had to pay for the machinations of one pony, and she struggled to find justification for his terrible actions. Nothing came to mind, and Twilight cried until her eyes burned for three nights after that.

On the fourth day, she made love to Luna. In the princess’ loving embrace, Twilight found solace once more. The oppressive feeling in her chest was lightened, and in the post-coital glow, she smiled happily. For the umpteenth time in as many days, she was reminded of how fiercely she loved the princess, and how completely she was loved in return. It was because of her that Twilight continued going. As she resumed her duties, Twilight found happiness in developing spells, and had soon outlined a new enchantment.

Her life progressed normally from then out. There wasn’t a day that passed that Twilight didn’t find something to be thankful for, something to keep her head above the occasional bouts of sadness and depression. Her job was stressful at times, but for the most part just kept her busy. She advised on plenty of matters, or at the very least spent her days researching and learning. In time, she became the authority on all things magic. There wasn’t a single pony in the entirety of Equestria who knew more about one particular branch of magic than she did, save for Celestia, Luna, or Cadance.

Her brother was soon the father of two strong unicorn foals, which he named Glimmer and Orion in honor of their parents. He visited frequently, often at least once a year, and many times made it to Canterlot for major holidays. Cadance was just as happy as ever, and proved herself to be a capable mother, and a fantastic mentor. Her children were beautiful and calm, and never stressed her more than a normal parent. Shining was a brilliant father, and in a few years’ time, had nurtured two talented and promising unicorn students. Twilight watched with pride as her niece and nephew were enrolled in Celestia’s academy at record-setting young ages.

Meanwhile, her own teachings had progressed admirably. Archer had cooled off significantly after the episode with Silver. He began to see how a life of passion and exuberance could lead to disastrous results. He slowly became more and more grounded in reality, much to Rainbow Dash’s chagrin. She stayed with him, though, and together the two of them lived a happy life, if only for a time. Bastion retired two years after Archer had become Twilight’s student, and handed his title off to the silver-coated unicorn with a happy smile on his strong face.

Archer proved to be a capable commander almost right away. At the time of his instatement, a conflict had arisen between Trottingham and a nearby nest of dragons. Archer acted quickly and concisely, deploying a contingent of unicorns gifted in shielding magic to the archaic town, and alongside his comrades, had withstood the onslaught of raging dragons without losing a single soldier or civilian. He then proceeded to very calmly and evenly negotiate with the massive beasts, and had reached an agreement with the disgruntled reptiles. Prior to learning from Twilight, Archer would have rushed into the situation and tried to destroy the dragons; which would only have ended in pain and suffering. Instead, his passion and exuberance had saved the city from destruction, and the calm, level-headed negation afterwards had secured a peaceful resolution.

Twilight was proud to say he was the first of many of her great successes. Each future student she took on, including Rarity’s sister Sweetie Belle, excelled at what they wanted to do in life. Whether it was music-making, research, archaeology, tending to trees, or even serving the guard, Twilight ensured she equipped them all for their future. With her help, they learned to keep their heads above the madness around them, and find peace and enjoyment in life.

Rarity married Cross Stitch the year after she had re-united with him. They were wed in the early spring, as the winter gave way to the warmth of a new season. With their newfound love, they were soon given a child. Gemstone was a beautiful young mare, but she was born an earth pony. Rarity was overjoyed at having a young foal to look after, but Cross Stitch wanted his child to be talented and gifted as Rarity was. While he would never admit to it, Twilight knew he wanted a unicorn.

Twilight managed to convince the new father that his child would find her calling in life, and no matter what it was, would enjoy herself. And of course, she was right. Gemstone became an avid archaeologist, who would much rather spend her days exploring the nearest wood she could find than cooped up inside with dresses and thread. Ever since she was a young foal, her philosophy had always been “What good are those silly rocks if they don’t sparkle in the sun?” She was a far cry from Rarity’s uptight thinking, much to her mother’s chagrin. Twilight laughed at every letter she received with Rarity’s complaints about her ‘unrefined’ and ‘crass’ daughter, dragging home the most recent discovery and a fair bit of dirt and mud. Rarity and her family settled in Trottingham, living their lives as happily as anypony could.

Pinkie Pie turned out to be a very admirable business pony. She wrote frequently to Twilight, updating her about the Manehattan exploits. Over the years, Pinkie’s bakeries became known Equestria-wide. She based the main one out of Ponyville, but had plenty of other stores that baked her signature style across the nation. Twilight visited the one in Canterlot frequently, and utilized her manager-given discount often. Each time she ate a cupcake or pie from her friend, she smiled. Pinkie Pie always loved to make ponies smile, and it seemed she could make it happen without even being there anymore.

Fluttershy’s veterinary work kept her busy, but happy. Twilight didn’t hear from her all that often, and saw her less than her other friends, but each time she managed to visit was a treat. Nothing spectacular happened in her life, though she did start an unremarkable romance with Applejack’s bigger brother. Every time Twilight heard from her shy yellow friend, she never alluded to anything major. It seemed the two of them simply enjoyed one another’s company. As far as Twilight could tell, the two were together for companionship, and nothing more. They lived in Ponyville their entire lives, but saw fit to never have children. Fluttershy, despite her motherly qualities towards animals, was much too frightened to raise a child with all of the pain and suffering she witnessed at the hospital. Twilight hated to admit it, but Fluttershy’s life was incredibly boring.

Applejack, on the other hoof, was a whirlwind of excitement and drama. Each new letter from the eccentric farmpony was filled with one grandiose tale or another about her most recent romantic exploit. Twilight rather enjoyed hearing from her, but after three years and ten different colts, she began to wonder if anything was wrong with Applejack’s sense of commitment. As it turned out, she just had to find the right pony. She finally did, in a simple weather pegasus from Appleoosa. As it turned out, Applejack hadn’t found a single pony that was honest with her until that particular colt. By then, she was running two separate stores, one in Ponyville in one in Appleoosa. She settled there with her new husband and had three children, all of whom prospered in the simple farm life her family seemed so accustomed to. Applejack often wrote how she missed Ponyville, but with her extended family in Appleoosa, she soon came to love the dusty desert town just as much as her old home.

Unfortunately, Rainbow Dash and Archer fell on hard times. Twilight knew her flighty friend, despite her loyal tendencies, couldn’t stay devoted to someone like Archer, whose main priority was his country. Twilight was assured up and down by both parties that things would end well, and there would be no bitterness involved. True to their words, both ponies ended things on a positive note. Rainbow Dash even convinced the Wonderbolts to conduct Archer’s induction ceremony. The flyover was extravagant to behold, and had ponies talking about it for weeks on end. But as far as Twilight could tell, Rainbow Dash and Archer were never close after that again. Archer was too devoted to the protection of Equestria, and Rainbow Dash was too much of a free spirit to settle down with him. She continued to tour with the Wonderbolts until her retirement, when she became a flight school instructor of incredible renown. However, her busy lifestyle kept her from falling in love again, and she had no children of her own.

Archer himself went on to be a successful - though single - commander of the guard. With the combined efforts of both Twilight and himself, Equestria prospered. There were occasional episodes of tension between them and the gryphons, but careful negotiation and peaceful resolutions always won out in the end. Archer continued to stay calm and level-headed, but at the first sign of danger to Equestria directly, he always acted with gusto and passion. Nothing ever happened on Equestrian soil, not if he could help it. Archer served the guard until his dying breath, when he was replaced by yet another student of Twilight’s, a strong young mare named Arrow Rain.

Luna was flawless. Throughout all the stressful years together, she and Twilight remained strong. And the years were very stressful on the two of them. The Archmage’s constituency was a 24/7 deal. Twilight was unable to take vacations or even days off. If she ever got any rest, it was thanks to chance and fortune that nothing went wrong, and she had nothing to take care of that particular day. Twilight spent months at a time developing and refining her spells, many of which went into the preservation society’s records, to withstand the test of time. She drew inspiration from her students, from the passion she and Luna shared, and from the world around her. Twilight’s spells were bar-none the most powerful and exquisite demonstrations of power any unicorn could hope to achieve.

But time began to take its toll. The day in and day out living of the Archmage was stressful. Twilight very seldom got to see anything outside of Canterlot, and even when she did, it was always on strict and official business. She never spent more than three days away from the city at a time, and never for anything personal. She slept little, ate less, and worked hard. Upon returning to the city, she would resume her duties, no matter where she had left off. Be it in the middle of developing a new spell, or mending the shields beneath Canterlot.

But nothing extravagant happened. There were ups, mostly when she developed a new spell or watched a student of hers go on to do something they enjoyed… And there were downs. Whenever violence struck Canterlot from within, or when somepony close to her passed away. As the years dragged on, the latter happened with increasing frequency. And above it all was the depression of knowing she was going to leave Luna alone someday.

Her friends began to pass away one by one. Either from old age or disease, they left behind plenty of laughter and smiles, but still reminded Twilight of the inevitable end that would eventually come for her. She began to grow old. Her body was failing in many different ways. Getting up in the morning was becoming painful, and when winter came around, her joints pained her incredibly. Her magic remained healthy and her will strong, but her body couldn’t keep up with the test of time and stress from all her years of servitude.

Finally, at age one hundred and ninety-five, Twilight knew her time was coming. And it was coming fast. Every doctor she spoke with told her it was inevitable. Time, it seemed, had finally caught up with the indomitable Archmage. One night, sitting alone on the balcony, Twilight reflected back on her life. With the wind pulling at her frail mane, she recalled all of the memories she had shared with her friends, both recent and old. Specifically, she remembered their exploits as the elements of harmony, and the time she had spent learning about friendship in Ponyville.

Her life had been happy. She was old, and had accomplished much. What’s more, she had overcome a lot of adversity and stress to get where she was. She was no stranger to loss or violence, and had been the victim of grief more than she’d care to admit. But through all of her triumphs and failures, at least the most prominent in her mind, one figure stood out among them all.

“Good evening, love.” Luna swooped onto the balcony beside her, rousing Twilight from her almost dream-like state.

“Hello, Luna.” Twilight’s wrinkled lips curled in a warm smile, and she leaned against the princess’ side. “Beautiful night.”

“As beautiful as any I’ve been lucky enough to spend by your side.” Luna’s melancholy tone brought tears to Twilight’s eyes, but she managed to blink them away. Luna had become increasingly sentimental over the past few years. The older Twilight grew, the more concerned Luna became. She would find her lover fretting over her well-being, sometimes even shadowing or following the elderly Archmage during her daily routine. While Twilight knew she was only doing it because she was concerned, it was still a warm and comforting sensation. She nuzzled Luna’s mane and heaved a gentle, almost imperceptible sigh.

“What a long, crazy trip it’s been.” Twilight muttered softly. While the past twenty years or so had been relatively peaceful, her life had been a whirlwind of activity, day in and day out, for over a hundred years. Much of it ran together in a long blur. Twilight was saddened to find that looking back on her life yielded much regret about not appreciating the finer things. She had spent so much time working that she never saw much of the world. She had traveled a small amount while she was Celestia’s student living in Ponyville, but had never seen all the wonders of Equestria. She had never been to Manehattan, and had only passed through Trottingham on her way to the crystal empire. There was so much in her life she hadn’t seen or done, all because she was wrapped up in committees and spell research.

“Indeed.” Luna returned her sentiment with a tender kiss to Twilight’s forehead. “I’m glad I’ve journeyed by your side, Twilight.”

“Luna,” Twilight raised her head, frowning up at her age-old lover. “You’re so melancholy lately. Almost like you’re saying your farewells pre-emptively. I’m not gone yet.”

“No, but you might be.” Luna gave a soft whimper as the tears began to build in her eyes. “We’d be lying to ourselves if we said you won’t be passing soon… I’m sorry, Twilight, but I’m scared of losing you…”

“Hey,” Twilight cupped Luna’s cheek with a hoof, drawing her face close. Their horns touched at the very tip, and Twilight closed her eyes. “You’ll never lose me. I’ll live on in your memories, and in your heart. If you ever miss me, just remember all the good times we shared.”

“Heh.” Luna gave a nervous laugh, a few tears spilling out of her eyes. “Like that time in the gazebo?”

“Like that time in the gazebo.” Twilight grinned as she pulled Luna into a passionate hug. “Or the time on the balcony, or in the library…” She pulled away enough to look up at Luna, smiling faintly. “Or like the time we gave each other these.” Her necklace pressed as close to Luna’s as the two of them were hugging.

“Or the time I accidentally summoned a darkling in front of you.”

“I still flinch each time I hear its voice.” Twilight laughed, though her eyes began to burn with tears. “Oh, remember when Bastion walked in on us?”

“I thought he was going to burn a hole in the carpet. I’ve never seen anypony blush so much!” Luna’s nervous laugh came with a chest-shaking sob. Her lower lip quivered as she pressed her face into Twilight’s neck. “What about… The time you came back from the library?”

“Or the first time you told me you loved me.”

“Our first time making love.”

“That first, drunken kiss…”

“Watching you fluster when I told you that you had to lose your virginity.”

“It must have been torture waking up each time I had a nightmare.”

“I think it was worse trying to protect you from all of them.”

Eventually, the two of them broke down into tears. While they wept silently, Twilight felt her fatigue build to a head. She pressed close against Luna, shaking and sobbing, her eyes closing more and more.

“I love you, Luna. Now and always.”

“And I love you, Twilight. Honestly, truly… I love you.”

“Kiss me?” Twilight pulled away, looking up at Luna with wide, teary eyes. “Just one more time?”

“A hundred more times, Twilight.” Luna captured her lips, inhaling through her nose. Twilight could taste the tears on their lips, but that only sweetened the embrace. Luna pulled her tight, her embrace warm and comforting. Twilight felt consciousness slip away, but she wanted another kiss. Just one more kiss.

“Twilight.” Luna breathed between her kisses. “Twilight, please… Not right now.”

“Luna…” Another kiss. Twilight was fading. Her eyes wouldn’t open anymore. “You’re so beautiful.”

“Twilight, no… No, no please…” Luna kissed her ear, her neck, her horn… Anything she could reach. “Please, I’m begging you… Please, no.”

“Luna, I love you…” Twilight breathed. The strength left her withered and worn muscles. She couldn’t stand anymore.

“I love you too, Twilight. Please, don’t die… Please, stay with me. Just one more night…” Luna laid them down on the balcony. The cold stone made Twilight shiver, but she accepted it. Her skin was as cold as the night around them. She couldn’t draw another breath, even as Luna kissed down to her collarbone.

“Banner… Will be my replacement.” She wheezed.

“Twilight?”

Her eyes opened one last time, looking up at the ephemeral, everlasting beauty that was Princess Luna. Her princess. Now and always.

“I love you.”

“Twilight?”

Her eyes closed.

”TWILIGHT!?”