Twilight and the other ponies in the library explained once again to the princesses what had happened. This human calling herself Artemis had just stormed in, said she was sorry and raised an orb then everything went dark.
"How's that even possible? Another human, that somehow sucked the magic that made you all Alicorns right out of you. A process that took almost a week I might add. In less than a minute? All that power had to go somewhere." Exclaimed Luna. "It makes no sense!"
Celestia seemed almost calm about something, but intervened. Something was still wrong after all. "Maybe not all of it, remember what I told you at the castle earlier Luna."
It looked as the moon goddess had been struck with something out of nowhere. "I forgot that part. But still if somepony or something has that kind of power then it's probably extremely dangerous."
"It didn't mind me taking a sweep at it." Grunted Spike. "I maybe little but canines still hurts. Alot!"
"And you should not bite anypony ever again Spike." Said Twilight She was clearly irritated.
"I won't if you stop being grumpy." He said smugly.
"Not easy as I'm trying to recall what happened for the last eight days save for the moment before we were assaulted." The others quickly started to agree with her. "I can't remember anything after we went to sleep that night at the tower in Canterlot, to five seconds before that human stormed in."
Celestia mumbled to herself softly, again. So Luna took word. "That's one more thing that's strange." She tapped the floor. "I tested all the memory recalling spells I know and none of them works. It's like the memories wasn't there. Thus there is nothing we can do get them back." She mused.
Celestia's horn lit again for the third time since they came, an adding the ones on the way here made it five. She looked more and more concerned with each since they arrived. Luna knew that she connected to the scryer orb that Tia kept in the palace.
"Something bothering thy dear sister?"
Celestia slowly nodded. "I think I found Artemis and Nero." She said slowly. "But you won't like it."
"Why not? He better be alright." Rainbow said. "Especially after him." She pointed to Eclipse. "He remembers more than us but still not much."
"As I said I found Artemis, but Also Nero. I tried multiple times and it goes to the same place."
"Is he in trouble?" Twilight asked. "He's immortal but that don't means he's invincible." she added.
"Not from what I can tell. It's just as I searched for Nero before I found nothing. Now I do, but here is the thing. I found Nero as I first searched for Artemis. Now if I search for ether of them I get just him."
"An' what's that suppose' tha mean?" AJ asked and the others added in. Making a small ruckus.
"Girls calm down!" Celestia commanded; Dead silence. "It means that from every angle possible. As so far I can see it. Is that Nero and Artemis is the same." She paused again letting the confused ponies regain some sense.
"The same?" Twilight said almost dumb folded. "That would take a transformation spell on par to."
"Me." Said Luna. "Or Starswirl the bearded. So long it was not a illusion that is." Celestia cleared her throat. "And Celestia of course."
"Yes, I believe we need to pay our bipedal friend a visit. Hmm. Then again, Luna I need you to." She leaned in to her sister an whispered in her ear. "Do you think that's possible?"
"I think I can manage, the perception filter would been strong enough." Luna nodded to herself. "Okay, you get Nero back and I see what I can do in the meantime."
"I count on it, Twilight and Applejack. I need you two to come with me, the rest of you are to do what Luna commands." All of them looked around for a bit but came to a confused agreement. It was Celestias orders after all.
The last memory flashed before Nero's eyes as he lay looking into the clear sky, with a sigh he sat up. His armored hands clinked lightly in the joints. He looked down on the trimmed steel. He felt the mark move again, fading and reappearing to his shoulder. The tattered white robes rustled lightly in the breeze, he pulled the cloak over his head. "I... Did all that? Ouch." He headed east. "I might have some explaining to do." Then something hit him. "Why am I talking out loud?" 'I'll sound like a crazy person if I continue to do that.' He quickly traversed the forest between the hill and the town. A green blue pony ran on the trail towards him. Nero recognized him as River Skipper.
River skidded to a halt before him. "White! The major wanna see you, it's important. Majorly dude!" The pony took back to the town of before Nero had time to ask why. Nero just shock his head. 'Just great.' He thought. A few minutes later he heard much mumbling and a few stomping hoofs. He didn't notice the orange blur that speed towards him before it was to late and before he knew it he laid on the ground, tied up. The orange blur reveling to be Applejack promptly sat down on his chest. She adjusted her seating as he huffed for air.
"Howdy partner. W'at's up? How do ya do and so forth." She said smugly.
"Ha Ha very funny Jack. Did you really need to hog tie me?" Nero wheezed.
"I think it's appropriate 'Artemis'. Enjoying Catersville?" Twilight looked down on him.
"Hard to breath, was gonna call you know." He took a deep breath. "Then I remembered that I didn't have my phone." He joked as casually as he could.
"You mean this one?" She levitated the black device by her head. "It was on the guest nightstand. You can thank me later. AJ." Applejack jumped of him and almost bumped into River that thought it was a great time to disturb the ponies, one of the only local pony not admiring the princess for the moment.
"What the buck are you doing!" He sharply said.
Nero saw the great opportunity to casually joke again. "Ah you know, just laying around."
"Could you please stop joking!" Twilight snapped. He had never seen Twilight annoyed before. Taking the hint and knowing that he was no match against Twilight, without the backing of Nocturne anyway he decided to stop.
"Yes, mam." He almost squeaked.
River who still didn't know why one of the towns hero's was laying on the ground asked. "I thought you was friends. Why tie him up?"
"He's not up to speed. Better tell him," Nero glanced at the crowd. "or he might make a fuzz."
Twilight turned to River. "Due to matters not concerning you, this individual has to be restrained until said matter is resolved." She then added. "Orders from the princess."
"So you just going to let him be there? on the ground?"
Twilight looked at him then to Nero then back. "Fine." She propped the human against a nearby wall around the corner.
"Thanks." Nero said.
"Now to business." She said as she lowered her horn towards him, she noted that he tried to repel backwards. "Don't worry I just have to make sure your not possessed."
"Can't you just take my word for it?" The look on her face said one word. Nope!
Twilight went in for the spell, both of their eyes lit up with an eerie light. After a minute her breath suddenly became raged and she torn away from him. "What in Celestia's sun was that?" She said in bewildered confusion.
Nero looked like he wanted to vomit, he even gagged a few times. "Never try to search my memories again please." He said sickly.
"Agreed. What the buck was that?"
"Psycho killer. I really did't need to relive that." He groaned. "Hunted the sick fuck for a week."
"What happened to him?" she gagged to
"Her, it was a her. And shes six feet under by now. GOD! I did not need to see that again. I might need therapy again."
AJ and River Just stood there watching their friends squirm and gag. "Wanna show me around town while they finish?" AJ asked.
"Sure." Said River and the two ponies left as quickly as they could, afraid if they stayed longer they might catch the crazies.
"What happened to your eye?" Asked Twilight when her stomach and mind stopped revolting.
"Got stabbed for no reason." He now just wanted to rub his temples to nurse the pounding headache that the spell gave him. "Mind letting me go now? I'll tell you all about it." Twilight pondered for a few seconds and then let him go.
"Try not to disappear, you apparently did that earlier." She said threatening with the rope.
"Oh yea the memory erase. Sorry bout that, side effect." He rubbed his temples blissfully.
"Side effect? From attacking us? And who is Artemis?!"
"I am, and it was no attack also for me it happened over a week ago. Fucking headache, I was sent to do that." Twilight looked at him confused.
"Why?" She flopped down beside him leaning against the wall.
"Balance of the world. I then gave my future self the orb I used, then suddenly I was sent to that forest over there." He pointed west ward. "Then boom! This big mansion on the hill over there." He pointed to a ruin on a nearby hill. "goes out in a massive explosion and all hell breaks lose. Heck! I think the ponies would have attacked me if I didn't already fought the monsters off with Nocturne."
"Balance of the world and fighting monsters, sounds like a cliche story to me." Twilight said also rubbing her head.
"You tell me! I had to live the damn thing. Oh and I remember most of my life back on earth. Hence the name Artemis."
"That was your real name?" She said in her Oh Interesting voice.
"Yea apparently I was part of the ghost program for two years. They wiped my identity when I was in that and when I left it stuck. It was that or Jr and I didn't even know what that was short for." He said.
"What did you do after that?"
"I picked up my dads work as a chef. Heck I trained to do that stuff since I was thirteen. That and music, mom apparently loved music." He made a circle in the dirt with his finger.
"And what was that? The ghost program?" She wondered.
"They picked out orphans, homeless. etc. As long as you wasn't missed. Wiped your mind, your records and trained you to be a sniper. If you didn't fit the bill they got rid off you. Nasty place. Anyway after a month or so I began to remember things."
"That's horrible! Who would do that?"
"A government that need less homeless, jobless people that also need soldiers in a highly secret program to wage their pity little wars. Anyway my mindwipe failed and I played along, then after my third mission; I saw the opportunity to leave, so I took it. During that time I also remembered that my dad was training me to be a chef. Still this way I still got paid and got a normal life back. Alas no official past. Then after a year of cooking and odd jobs as a Civil consultant I ended up here."
"They took children and made them into mindless killers?" She cried with something he recognized as shock.
"Not mindless, just not... I donno how to phrase it. Had no other past. That was what they was meant to do." He looked at the clouds in the sky. "That's why I was reluctant to return so soon, I only now remember of what I did back on earth and I hate me for it."
"But your not like that right? A mindless killer? Right?"
He looked at the unicorn "I don't know. What would you feel if you suddenly wake up and are completely different?" Her eyes of pity changed to annoyance.
"I was a Alicorn I remember that. But I don't remember what it was like, that's your fault you know." She frowned at him
"I'm sorry about that. But it had to be done, I saw what I become and I was shown what might happen to Equestria." He sighed. "Then again I have been told if I take back the excessive power I gave you all and you don't try to force it back, Equestria will be fine." He said as sympathetic as he could to her.
"Really? That's all you have to say? I thought we were friends."
"Ain't we? I did what I did for Equestria, your home. I had the choice to go home! Also if you or the others had somehow would have came to harm I would have stepped down. If a fight would break out then I would step down. I pinned the girls and Spike to the wall as gently as I could but only after Spike bit me. God! Did that hurt! I was lucky I transformed back into a guy after that." He rubbed his thigh. "Thanks for the phone by the way." He spun the black lump in his hand.
"Your welcome, but I still haven't forgiven you." Nero whimpered and did puppyeyes with little effect. Twilight managed a chuckle. "Nope still not forgiving you."
"Is it only you that know all this? The Artemis thing I mean." He asked.
"All know the name and what happened so far, AJ know that your not possessed or controlled. I.. I guess I can give them all a quick version." Twilight pondered, she respected her friends privacy. Breaking Nero's was just as bad. Still she needed to explain something to them.
"I'll tell them if you want me to, the princesses deserve a explanation anyway."
"You do! Your really do. Celestia won't be happy with you if you don't. Even if I tell her what you told me."
"That's true." He chuckled, then sudenly stopped. "Or Luna might banish me." He swallowed and his eye twitched.
"What? Why?" Twilight could not possible know, not after the memory wipe. Nero decided to use the slight confusion in his advantage.
Nero got up. "Anyway, we can't sit here all day." He gestured to the more populated area of the town. "It's a wonder that it looks as good as it does now really." He said grimly as he watched the ponies now walkabout like nothing had happened except the hammer strikes from the reconstruction. It worked.
"How so. I heard that there was an attack, not about property damage."
"Yea five days ago. Like I told ya I time looped a little." As they walked ponies cheerfully greeted him and Twilight. They bee-lined towards the townhall and was interrupted by the occasional pony wishing White or Artemis good luck on his journey.
"Journey? You where going somewhere?" Twilight wondered.
"Of course I was. I needed to get back to you guys after all, I just stuck around this long not to create a moment in time where I meet a alternative version of myself and such creating a time paradox." He shuddered. "Last time that happened." He pointed to his blind eye.
"Oh that I was meaning to ask you but was you blind as Artemis?"
"Umm I am Artemis right now, Twilight. That's how most of these ponies know me. It's my name. One of them anyway."
"That makes sense in someway." She pondered. How was that not clear by now.
"And to answer you question, No I was not blind. I did on the other hand only see magical radiation. Lucky for me this world is full of it."
"Oh, interesting. Can you see that now? Your blind eye I mean."
He shook his head. "No and due to my regenerative abilities it won't stay blind for much longer. Especially if a healer steps in."
"So why have you not fixed it yet? There must be some doctor here that can preform that kind of magic." She almost snapped.
"Hey why are you getting angry for? It's my eye."
"Oh! So I have no opinion on my friends health, if there is something I can do about it? Your half blind for Celestias sake." She had by this point stopped him and stood in front of him baring the way.
"Ah common. Please don't make a fuzz over it here. I bet Celestia can fix this in a matter of seconds, she has been in the business of being immortal for thousands of years and I certainly have not seen a scar on her. I admit it's harder to notice on ponies. But I think I can make my point clear. There is absolutely no idea to fuzz about it." He made appropriate gestures to everything as he spoke.
"But." She tried to protest but Nero would have nothing of that.
"I'll be fine, the scar on my face has almost already faded. The injuries I got from the fighting earlier are mostly gone to thanks to said healers in this town. I have just not gotten to the part to fuzz over my eye. It's not like it's very important like gee, my lung?"
"You injured your lung?" She asked with a terrified squeak.
"Nah just an example on a vital organ. Most of my injuries was superficial, quickly healed. Also I have some armor." He showed his hands. They clicked gently as he wiggled his fingers.
"But gloves aren't enough."
"The local smith threw some more together. I gave it back now when I don't need it, and what can I say they needed nails." He shot a thumb towards the construction site. "A quarter of this town is still damaged after that attack. So you have to have priorities. Not everypony got out as lucky as I did." The gloves made some more noise and the fingers retracted. "Also the armor pieces that I got when I came here to equestria is awesome."
"That's the same ones?" She asked dumbstruck. "They didn't look like that."
"Yeah.. Upgrade and we are attracting a crowd, oh look there's the Princess. Lets go." He slipped past her and quickly continued the relatively short walk to where the town major swooned over the presence of the royal, leaving Twilight to wrestle with the local ponies. Perks of fame. When he came closer he was immediately noticed by the princess. Not a hard feet considering that the average pony only went up to about his rib. "Sorry that we was not here earlier. Twilight made a fuzz." He bowed lightly as he approached, looked back as he did. "seems like shes stuck in the crowd."
"she usually do that when she worries, especially about her friends. And thick crowds can be tough." Celestia scanned him up and down for a bit. "Are you alright?" He was just going to answer when she added. "And speak truthfully, Luna won't go easy on me if you are."
"So you know?" He now silently dreaded the wrath of Celestia. How bad that now could be. Then again when he thought about, it he resisted to gulp.
"I know most I need to know about my subjects. Especially if they are close to my ward." He sighed, not one of the annoyed sighed that he usually did but a tired one.
"No, I'm not." He shook his head. "I remember everything I lost before and truth to be told it have taken a toll. Emotionally I'm a wreck, I have a pounding headache and I have not slept more than four hours the last week. Which in itself can't be good for my mental state. I'm also in dire need of a massage and a sauna. Because good lord am I tense. Last time I spend almost a week scouting for stragglers in the woods." He took a deep breath. "I need some time off, just saying."
Celestia whiffed the air. "You are in the need of a bath now when I think about it, add some TLC while we are at it." Celestia said to which Nero fully agreed. "But's that's not all. Is it?" He nodded and looked around.
"That's not something I want every one to know." He pointed behind himself to the now re-crowded town square. "We are quite the spectacle are we not? One of the town saviors and the Princess, something you on normal occasions don't want to miss."
"Yea I heard the general story from the mayor, are you ready to leave for some R&R? The others are worried about you too; you know."
He let out a sighed "Yea." Nodded a few times. "That I am. Is the town to get any kind of help?"
"I have already set up for a supply run and extra guards, the few I can spare for now. We have... A situation to discuss with you. Privately." Twilight had finally gotten herself past all the ponies after she remembered her nifty teleport spell. Applejack had also managed to find herself back, somehow she lost River in the process. Twilight gave AJ a quick update and Celestia took point in their leave after giving her subjects some more comforting words in their tough time, riddled with sweet smiles. Nero was just happy to get out of the town. He had never wanted that many persons, no matter species; Ponies nor humans to be on his back. Standing on the edge on the royal carriage he lightly waved and smiled to the ponies of Caters, knowing that he would not be back for a long time. As the small town shrunk in the distance he slumped down, exhausted and somewhat hungry. He heard the Princess order something to her pegasi, Twilight and AJ casually chat as he let himself drift off to dreamland. Dreams filled with odd, distant times; Things he was not old enough to remember.