History Fanfic / TheArchmagesLastBow

''The Archmage's Last Bow'' is an ongoing ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' fanfiction written by [[Website/FIMFictionDotNet FIMFiction]] [[https://www.fimfiction.net/user/Rytex user]] (and [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Tropers/Rytex troper]]) Rytex, and is the sequel to ''FanFic/TheApprenticeTheStudentAndTheCharlatan'', taking the place of a separate sequel that had taken too long to write and been overwritten by canon in the process. It can be found [[https://www.fimfiction.net/story/451442/the-archmages-last-bow here]].

** When Princess Luna and Princess Celestia reveal that they've known Nova had arcane oversaturation and didn't tell them, she goes into such a rage that her Flamelight form, normally red/yellow/orange/white, burns so hot that her fires are closer to blue, purple, and black.

* ClingyJealousGirl: When Nova came back still with a soft spot for Clover, Twilight did not get over it so easily.

* DrowningMySorrows: Alcoholism catches up to Nova ''hard'' this time round after mostly not being touched on in the previous story. Nova drinks to cope, and this has a serious effect on his relationships with Nova and Trixie.

** When Twilight sees him for the first time after his energy crash, she's just as angry at him for scaring her out of her mind.

** For Nova, hurting children, or threatening Bright Gleam. When it looks as though either Flurry Heart or Gleam may be in danger, he becomes much more focused and serious in a given combat situation.
** When Princess Luna and Princess Celestia reveal that they've known Nova had arcane oversaturation and didn't tell them, she goes into such a rage that her normally-red/yellow/orange Flamelight form burns so hot that her fires are closer to blue, purple, and black.

* {{Bizarchitecture}}: Twilight notes that the city of Elysium has buildings that seem geometrically-impossible to build.

** Gleam idolizes Nova and Twilight, and when she starts to see their flaws and their friction with one another, wrestles with it for a time, but ultimately remains totally starry-eyed with them.

* CardCarryingVillain: Envy remains a Type-3, though she clearly has a distaste for it now that the circumstances of her villainy are known to the protagonists.

* CharacterTic: As before, Nova has a tendency to rub around his horn whenever he's in deep thought. Similarly, Twilight taps her chin when doing some serious thinking. It rubs off on Nova, because he starts doing it too. As well, Bright Gleam picks up on the horn-rubbing from her master.

* CosmicChessGame: According to Harmonia, there is one being played between two mysterious players over the Gems of Being, neither of which are aware of the other's existence. This game has been going on for so long, it predates even Star Swirl and Sombra by ''millennia''. One of them is implied to be Ars Arcanum.

* CryLaughing: Upon learning he is dying, the four mares in the room at the time (as well as the thestral guards outside) are startled to hear that Nova's first reaction to the news is to laugh. The laugh gets more and more unhinged, until he starts sobbing.
* CrystalPrison: Nova, when inside of Shimmer Silvermane's head, sees Summer Blossom's soul trapped in a crystal the same shade of red as Envy's pendant.

* DeadpanSnarker: [[WorldOfSnark Everyone has their moments]], but mostly Nova. Even Bright Gleam gets in on it, though it takes her a while to actually mouth off to Nova. Nova finds it ActuallyPrettyFunny and is glad she's loosening up around him.

* ExactlyExtyYearsAgo: Lampshaded, then justified. Harmonic Convergence happens every TenThousandYears. Nova finds it awfully convenient. Star Swirl then notes that it was an event so significant to the alicorns that they oriented their entire dating system around making it line up.

* ForgottenFirstMeeting: Averted. It takes him a bit of prodding, but Nova is able to remember the first time he met Bright Gleam, four years ago on the day of his visit to Celestia's School, when he came to talk with Tantalus Lulamoon and Thomas Hoofman.

* FromHeroToMentor: Nova Shine becomes Equestria's latest Archmage, having previously been Princess Luna's Night Apprentice only a few years earlier in ''Fanfic/TheApprenticeTheStudentAndTheCharlatan'', and one of the first things he does is take on his own apprentice, Bright Gleam, a unicorn filly he had a brief encounter with in ''Apprentice'''s early chapters.

** Trixie also goes out of her way to annoy Twilight every chance she can when it isn't a serious moment.

** Ars Arcanum's arcanosmithing talent is apparently prodigious in nature, to the point where it's implied he advances arcanosmithing forward by centuries working on the Crown of Life.

* GoodHurtsEvil: At one point, Harmonia herself uses some kind of spell of pure piercing light on Shimmer, and it actually causes Shimmer to suffer excruciating pain. According to Harmonia, it's because she is attempting to [[spoiler:forcibly remove Sombra's soul from corrupting her, but it wouldn't let go]] which causes the pain as Shimmer's soul is being torn apart.

** In a desperate attempt to squeeze more time out of his [[LivingOnBorrowedTime limited supply]], Nova overdoses on Elixir of Energy, suffering from a catastrophic energy crash in which he doesn't even have enough energy in his body to keep his own heart pumping. The only reason he's even still alive is because of his HealingFactor just barely keeping him so. The end of Chapter 9 sees him whisked away to the hospital to deal with this.

* HopeIsScary: Lord Star Swirl cautions Nova that hope of survival to someone condemned to die can be more dangerous than helpful, because it can drive a being to [[SlowlySlippingIntoEvil do worse and worse things for the sake of staying alive.]]

** Envy starts calling Nova "bonehead" early-on, and it becomes less and less of a genuine insult over the course of the story.

* LivingLieDetector: Anyone who has basic energy-sensing, apparently. A being who lies generates a physical reaction that causes a change in the energy the body is giving off, referred to as "the telltale flareup," that an energy-senser can detect. But it's not infallible. If someone knows what to shield, then there's no telling whether or not they're lying, but the presence of shielding magic makes it suspicious all the same.

* LivingShadow: Envy, and apparently Sombra.
* LostTechnology: Orichalcum-mining. Modern ponies are able to shape it, but nearly all orichalcum was extracted from alicorn ruins.

* LoveTriangle: An interesting case. Nova and Twilight clearly love each other, but Nova still can't get over Clover despite her being gone from his life for years, and Twilight has been leading Flash Sentry on to make Nova jealous because of this, despite feeling no attraction to him.

* OneSteveLimit: Thoroughly averted, and even lampshaded by Shimmer Silvermane, who wonders aloud why unicorns seem confined to the same several names, coupled with how there's supposedly two Shimmers running around (herself and Sunset Shimmer), and then wonders if there's a third out there somewhere (there is, Nova Shine's mother Shimmer Novus).

* PowerAtAPrice: Soulular magic, a branch of Dark Magic that actually takes a "Blood Cost" from its caster.

* PraetorianGuard: The Crystal Guard to Sombra and Cadance after him. Two of them are able to take down a {{Nuckelavee}} on their own.

* TheProphecy: See the page quote. Empress Verita left one final prophecy that young Prince Imperius stumbled upon that has haunted him ever since, as it speaks of a doom and "the final emperor", and Imperius wishes to defy it. It is unclear whether the prophecy has been fulfilled yet (given the first flashback to finding the prophecy was 10,000 year prior to the present day), or whether it remains unfulfilled.

** Twilight continuing to press the Flash Sentry issue as Nova tries to cool down eventually goads him into screaming at her.

* SummonMagic: Envy has apparently been taught how to summon shadow nuckelavees by Sombra.

* SwitchingPOV: Thus far, we have had point of view chapters for the following:
** Nova Shine, with his slowly-unraveling psyche over the course of the story.

* SwordOfDamocles: The wearer of the Crown of Life becomes this to literally everyone in the world, just due to their sheer magical power. Who could stand against them, and who would deny them what they want?

** Sombra's seven servants are titled after the SevenDeadlySins, but three of their names are after precious stones (Rubeus for Ruby, Saphira for Sapphire, and Esmeralda for Emerald), and four of them are named after precious metals (Shimmer Silvermane, Platina, Pronssi for bronze, and Auric for gold).

** Bright Gleam is the Child, as the young, wide-eyed and naive character who slowly realizes that the ponies she looked up to have flaws.

* VitriolicBestBuds: Nova and Aegis, Nova and Twilight, Nova and Trixie, Twilight and Trixie... Basically, Nova's friendships are built upon mutual insults.

* WhamEpisode: just like the previous story, every chapter in some way alters things, though there are several moments that hit particularly hard.
** Chapter 2 - [[spoiler: Envy is actually Shimmer Silvermane, and Summer Blossom has been trapped in her Spirit Gem this entire time.]]
** Chapter 4 - [[spoiler: Nova and Twilight engage in a shouting match that takes a sledge hammer to their relationship.]]

** Chapter 6 - [[spoiler: Harmonia, the Consciousness of Magic/Spirit of Harmony, takes control of Bright Gleam to save her life. Nova discovers he has a healing factor. He then undertakes the Trial of Black and White and fails completely.]]

** In terms of physical prowess, the Crystal Guard are established to be a badass PraetorianGuard for both Princess Cadance and King Sombra before her, and their leader is Captain Cinnabar, personally trained by Sombra and a self-described Master of the Seven Styles. She holds her own against Envy at first, but Envy is still able to easily defeat her and slash out her eye.

* YouAreBetterThanYouThinkYouAre: Lord Star Swirl totally believes in Nova Shine, as do Twilight, Cadance, Luna, Celestia, and so on, but Nova just cannot see or accept their insights.
* YourDaysAreNumbered: Nova Shine is informed that he is dying because [[PowerIncontinence there is too much magical energy in his body, and it's only growing]]. He [[CryLaughing starts laughing, which rapidly turns to sobbing]], and even a few weeks later, he is still completely despondent, from which Star Swirl is able to glean that Nova fears dying and offers him a small, fragile chance at survival.

* ThemeNaming: The Knightmare Brigade, with the exception of [[Fanfic/ToLoveTheMoon Starstep]], are named after the Lunar Mares.

* {{Catchphrase}}: It's practically [[OncePerEpisode once a chapter]] that Gleam will go off on a mental tangent, before stopping and telling herself "Focus, Gleam." to get herself back on track.

--->Before any of them could respond, however, the most unexpected sound they could ever have expected rang out.\\

* JoinTheArmyTheySaid: Gleam exclaims "Sign up to be the Archmage's apprentice, Gleam! It'll be so fun!" when she's lost in a maze of identical hallways in the Crystal Spire.

** Nova's magical ability is expanded on to the point where he is a total savant with magic. As Twilight puts it, Nova could metaphorically sing with magic on his worst day. It turns out, however, to be a byproduct of his arcane oversaturation, and his greatest gift is ironically what will ultimately kill him.

[[folder:A-M]]