6:30am, 11th of Viglyd, 6 Days After the Tirek Incident – Canterlot Castle Throne Room
Celestia appreciated the girl’s sentiment, but it didn’t do much of anything to ease her feelings of guilt. Only the one she had wronged could ease that, and she wasn’t even sure he would and even less so that he should. Still the elements had given her the resolve to reign in her emotions, but she wasn’t going to make the same mistake as before by bottling up her feelings. Now was as good as any to start dealing with them.
“Thank you girls, I’ve been holding all this back for too long, but it is about time that it came out into the open.” Celestia had regained most of her composure, but only those who knew her well could see she seemed more vulnerable than usual.
While the rest of the group gradually released the solar princess, Twilight lingered a bit longer. “Princess you have always been there for us when we needed comforting or reassurance, and I think I speak for us all when I say we will be here for you if you need us.”
After seeing the Princess’s smile return a bit stronger Twilight finally realized all of the questions she had. “Princess how is Artemis still alive, where has he been, how could we recognize him, if you the three of you were friends why would he kill you, and wh-“, Twilight would’ve continued if Rarity hadn’t stopped her this time.
“Why don’t you let her finish her finish the story dear? I’m sure by the end all of your questions will be answered.”
“I’m sorry Princess, please continue”, squeaked Twilight meekly as she finally released Celestia.
Celestia could only smile at her personal student, for she already knew twilight had plenty of questions for her. “It’s ok Twilight. I can answer a couple of those now and the rest you will understand by the end. Artemis is one of a kind in more ways than one. He is muscular and large, even amongst the wolves, standing about a half head higher than me or at least he did last time I saw him. He is bipedal, meaning he walks on his hind legs, and his coat is a charcoal grey and his eyes are usually a greenish-yellow. For a time he went around like that terrifying everypony around him with just his appearance, so a while back he opted to use magic to disguise himself that way Luna and I could have him around without driving ponies away. When he was among common ponies he appeared as a large earth pony sized unicorn with blue-gray coat and a charcoal mane.”
Celestia actually smiled at this before continuing, “It was the best I could get from him, but he was determined to come off as slightly intimidating as deterrence. It wasn’t exactly a subtle disguise, but it served its purpose,” Celestia sadly chuckled as she fondly remembered their friendship. “Listen girls I’m telling you this so you can recognize and avoid him. I’m serious if you see anypony like that come tell me, but do not under ANY circumstance confront him especially not with hostility,” Celestia knew all too well how Artemis easy and dangerous it was to be on his bad side.
Twilight tried to not interrupt she really did, but her nature got the better of her. “Wait he can use magic? How? I thought wolves weren’t able to cast spells, but they were more in tune with ambient magic.” Twilight could only look at her teacher sheepishly before she let out another “sorry.”
Celestia couldn’t help but be proud of Twilight for picking up on the subtle details, and even if the questions were interrupting they were a welcomed distraction. However this was a particularly difficult question to answer because not even Artemis knew the exact answer to the question.
“Similarly to Luna and I, Artemis is a physical manifestation of the Natural World, but Artemis is connected to Nature in all its aspects. He seems to share many similarities with chimeras, but we never found a link when we did try to find more about his origin. He has has aspects of all of the major intelligent species even if they don’t all show physically; he has the body of either the ultimate survivor or the ultimate predator depending on whether you are on his good or bad side. We think that he gained magic from his pony aspect ,” explained Celestia as she hoped to answer the question and that there would be no more on the subject.
Celestia took a deep breath, this was what she had been dreading and avoiding for so long. “Luna has always known that I blamed myself largely for her transformation into Nightmare Moon, but she never knew the entire reason why,” Celestia started slowly as the painful memories tormenting her were just as vivid as the day they occurred. “Artemis and I were close friends, but our relationship was nothing like what he had with Luna. He too noticed Luna’s subtle changes, and he did everything he could to help her including coming to me. Unfortunately I was too preoccupied and, even though I’m ashamed to admit it, jealous to take him or Luna seriously when they came to me."
"After her transformation Artemis tried to remain loyal to both of us. He wouldn’t follow any of Nightmare Moon’s orders unless they were for trivial matters such as fetching a drink or fanning her, but he also wouldn’t allow anypony to do anything that might’ve harmed Luna’s body even though Nightmare Moon was in control. I tried to build up the resolve to fight Nightmare Moon a couple times, but I always faltered when I saw them both. Conversely he didn’t allow Nightmare Moon or any of her followers to hurt me either, so many of our confrontations ended fruitlessly for both sides. After a couple pointless stalemates and seeing my subjects injured, I finally made the decision t-,” Celestia’s words died in her throat as her eyes threatened to tear up again. She looked to ceiling hoping to hide her face for a moment to compose herself, but it was too late. She was tired of fighting herself, tired of fighting her feelings, it had been going on for too long, and it was only making the pain worse as each time they resurged even stronger.
Twilight and her friends had only seen Princess Celestia ever cry one other time, and that was when she was reunited with Luna after 1,000 years. They could only imagine how the Princess was feeling, but as they moved to comfort her Celestia cut them off with a hoof and began to continue.
“My subjects were being hurt. I decided that I couldn’t continue to allow it to happen anymore, and that I would do whatever was necessary to make sure they were safe,” Celestia said softly as a few tears had formed and were slowly moving down her face. “I came up with the plan to banish Luna if I couldn’t convince her to back down on my own, but I knew Artemis would never allow that to happen. So I did the most cruel thing I could’ve done to him, I lied to him."
"We had an entire language of emergency signals between the three of us to let the others know we needed to talk to them, and I used it to pull him away from Luna. I told him that I had figured out a way to save Luna without hurting her,” Celestia bitterly spat these words as her tears began to fall. “If it had been anypony else he would’ve laughed at them, but Luna and I were the only beings he trusted so completely."
"He was so relieved he let his guard down, and in that instant I cast a spell that flung him into Tartarus imprisoning him in special cell that siphoned away magic before restraining him with a chain enchanted to regenerate when broken so long as the seal held.” At this point tears were freely streaming down her face as she continued, “After I closed the portal, I went on to confront Nightmare Moon with the hopes of appealing to Luna, but when that failed I banished her to the moon.”
Celestia ‘s emotions were in full control now, “the look of shock and hurt on his face still haunts me to this very day, but my cruelty and cowardice don’t end there. I knew Artemis and Luna had linked themselves together using powerful magic, but I never considered what could've happened. They always had some sort of feeling of where the other was and how they were feeling, and I can only imagine what it felt like to have that suddenly shut off. I was so ashamed of what I had done that I couldn’t bear to face him. I never checked on Artemis or even Tartarus again, and that’s partially why Tirek was able to escape and remain undetected until he started harvesting pony magic,” Celestia choked out as she continued to sniffle.
“All of this happened because I was too jealous to see the urgency in both Artemis and Luna’s pleas for help. I lost my sister for 1000 years and my best friend probably forever not to mention Tirek’s devastation and the regression of the wolves were indirectly caused by my cowardice and jealousy,” finished Celestia as she could do nothing more than sob.
For a time the throne room was silent except for the sobs of the Princess, everypony needed time to take in everything the Princess had said. They knew that the decision to banish Luna had been the hardest and most costly thing Celestia had ever done, but not even they could have imagined how much she had sacrificed for her subjects.
Twilight was the first one to break the silence, “Princess you weren’t wrong to – I mean you did what you had to Princess, and if you hadn’t there is a chance that none of us would be here today. Nightmare Moon would’ve plunged the land into eternal darkness, and we couldn’t have survived that. I’m sorry to hear about what happened between you and Artemis, but it was what had to be done. I know that doesn’t make it hurt any less, but we will always be grateful for what you did.” Twilight really hoped that she wasn’t going to make the Princess feel worse, but Celestia’s sobs seemed to be slowing down.
Celestia knew Twilight’s reasoning all too well, for they were the same things she had told herself over the centuries. She expected no less from her student, but it still didn’t make her feel better. “Twilight, I know that I did the best I could for my subjects at the time, but there is always that nagging what if? What if there was another way and I just wasn’t looking hard enough or in the right area? I can even tell myself there is no point in worrying about it, but the feeling still doesn’t go away,” Celestia managed to say between sniffles.
“To make matters worse there is a chance that it was all in vain, and that I may have postponed the inevitable while condemning Equestria to a worse fate,” started Celestia as her eyes started to tear up again. “Before Artemis became our friend he was our bitter enemy, the three of us fought many times never able to best each other. We never really talked until the aftermath of our last clash. We had foolishly used so much power none of us were able to move afterwards, and everypony had long since fled for fear of getting caught by an errant blast. We were all stuck in the center of a crater too exhausted to move. Luna made a joke and started laughing at our situation, which was all it took to break the tension. It was then that we got to know each other, and I realized that I had rushed to conclusions in starting our conflict. Before that he was known for his polar attitudes. He was kind and compassionate towards his subjects and apathetic towards those who left them alone, but his brutality and cruelty towards his enemies was legendary. He was incredibly quick to anger and even faster when it came to retaliation,” said Celestia sorrowfully. “I fear that my betrayal will make him revert back to his old self, and if he does the land will know war for the first time in 800 years. War is something I have worked so hard to prevent, and I very well might have doomed Equestria by trying to save it.”
Applejack was the first to react to the mentioning of war, “Woah woah there Princess, now we’re talkin about a war? Princess, shouldn’t Luna know bout this? And if this Artemis feller was so important to her why hasn’t she asked about him? She’s been back fer over a year right?”
The potential war on their hooves was making the elements quickly regret pinkie promising not to tell anypony about what was going on. They were being put in a situation where they had to choose between keeping a pinkie promise to the Princess with the potential to work out in the end, and risking the utter destruction of Equestria. They all really hoped the Princess knew what she was doing.
“She probably should know just in case something goes wrong, but this is something I need to resolve on my own. You six are my backup plan this time instead of her, so I have no intention of telling her and I hope you don’t either, “ said Celestia as she was finally starting to reign her emotions back in. “And Luna has asked about him, more than once in fact, one of the first things she asked when we first got back to the Castle was how we, Artemis and I, had managed everything over the 1000 years. However as you can see I still have trouble talking about what happened, and it is much worse when I try to tell Luna. Every time she brought him up I would always choke and tear up remembering all the pain I had caused and was about to cause. After enough times I think Luna mistook it as me grieving his death, and she stopped asking to spare my feelings even though I know she still thinks of him. ” Celestia paused to sigh before she continued, “More than once I have found Luna crying to herself, mourning a lost friend that I know is still alive. The guilt has been eating at me for years, and it has only gotten worse with my her return.”
Celestia could feel the gaze of the elements of harmony upon her, but she could not bear to bring herself to look upon them. So she instead turned her gaze to the sky outside the windows, it wasn’t even time for open court and she was already emotionally drained. However Celestia had to admit that she felt like a massive burden had removed from her back, it wasn’t everything that was weighing on her but it was certainly noticeable. After a deep breath Celestia felt more like her normal self, as she prepared herself for the inevitable questions and the rest of her day.
“Thank you for listening girls, I know that was lot to have suddenly dropped on your plates especially with Twilight’s new kingdom. Do you have any more questions?” Celestia asked prepped for the worst.
Twilight was about to ask another question, but before she could even start Rainbow Dash cut her off. “Princess hearing all this about the past is nice, but what's the point of telling us all this? What do you want us to do about it?” Rainbow Dash more than willing to face down anything that threatened the Princess, but the Princess wanting to handle business herself was something she understood all too well even if she didn’t like it.
After a couple moments of thought Celestia could only think of one answer, “Nothing. There is nothing you can do to stop him, the elements would only work if Artemis had completely reverted back to his old self. He could very easily be angry with me and still be good as a whole, but in either situation he deserves answers and I deserve whatever results from them,” Celestia said solemnly. “I called you here to ease my guilt, and so that somepony else knows the full story in case I don’t make it.” Celestia’s expression softened as she looked at each of the ponies in front of her, “No matter what happens in the next couple days I want Luna to know the truth, even if I’m not able to be the one to tell her. Could you do that for me?”
Celestia’s heart ached from seeing the pain in the element’s faces, especially Twilight’s. She knew how awful the situation she put them in was, but she needed them to be strong now just as much as before. If something should happen to her it was up them and Luna to take care of Equestria, and she knew they were more than capable of doing so.
The elements all had different expressions, but none of them were good at hiding their feelings that well. However they reluctantly agreed to the Princess’s final wish, before they embraced her for what could actually be the last time.
“Be strong my little ponies, I know I ask a lot, but I also know you can handle it,” said Celestia confidently. “Open court for will be beginning shortly, and I need a few minutes to compose myself. If you choose to stay in Canterlot for the next couple of days your usual suites are already prepared for you. Please don’t give anypony any reason to panic when you leave.”
Celestia sadly watched the elements as they left the throne room, and afterwards she waited in silence with nothing but her thoughts. Thoughts she didn’t want to deal with at the moment, it was time for those irritating nobles to come whine to her all day. For a brief moment she considered taking the day off, but the realization that it might alert Luna to something being wrong quickly shot down that idea. “2500 years of listening to their petty squabbles, I can handle at least two more days of this I guess,” said Celestia as she composed herself for the incoming onslaught.
7:00am, 11th of Viglyd, 6 Days After the Tirek Incident – Streets of Canterlot
Vinyl and Artemis made their way through the increasingly busy streets of Canterlot, Vinyl couldn’t help but notice how strange this stallion carrying her was. He was larger and more muscular than most earth ponies, when most unicorns are scrawnier than normal since there was little they needed to do that they couldn’t with magic. His coat didn’t quite feel normal either, it felt rough much more so than it looked. Then there were the scars, which she couldn’t really see so much as she could feel them as she ran her hoof across his coat absentmindedly. It wasn’t until she noticed the strange look he was giving her that she realized exactly what she had been doing.
“Woah sorry, I wasn’t feeling you up… or at least not like that. Uh sorry I got distracted,” Vinyl said with a flush growing on her face. Something was wrong she realized, she had been drinking a lot earlier. She hadn’t been able to stand a while ago, but now she was thinking more clearly than she did while sober. She had been like this the entire time they had been walking. Suddenly that flush changed from one of embarrassment to one of anger as she yelled at the stallion carrying her,”DID YOU USE MAGIC ON ME?!”
“I thought that was obvious from your inability to get down, but I guess not. Yes I did,” responded Artemis absentmindedly.
Vinyl’s anger and fear had started to block her ability to form complete sentences, and as she tried to stutter out a toxic response Artemis spoke again.
“Before you say it, yes I know what you mean. Yes, I cast a couple spells. One to keep you on my back, a second to gradually rid your body of the alcohol you consumed, and a third to focus your mind so you don’t forget where I was supposed to be taking you.” Artemis didn’t think anything of it, but the tone of the mare he was carrying told him she clearly thought otherwise.
“WHAT THE BUCK?! YOU DON”T CAST SPELLS ON PONIES WITHOUT ASKING! ,” Vinyl continued to yell drawing the attention of many ponies that were passing by. However once they looked at the stallion most of them turned and pretended they didn’t see anything.
“Sorry if I scared you by not telling you, but I’m not apologizing for casting the spells. It needed to be done, and I wasn’t going to let the mare who clearly didn’t know when to stop drinking decide what was best for her while drunk,” Artemis said with the same uninterested voice as before. “Now will you quiet down? All your yelling is drawing attention, and it is making a few ponies shoot some flashes our way. What are they doing with that communication device?”
“Communication device? “ Vinyl was more than a little confused at his choice of words. “You mean their phones? I think they are taking pictures of you big guy, they probably think you are ponynapping me which isn’t that far from the truth honestly,” Vinyl paused before a realization struck her. “Have you never seen a camera phone before? Have you been living under a rock for the past 1000 years?” Vinyl laughed though she wasn’t sure what to make of this strange stallion growing even stranger by the moment.
Artemis thought back to Tartarus and the volcanic cave he was trapped in before he answered with a succinct and flat, “Yes”.
Vinyl’s eyes bulged at his response, her laugh immediately and guiltily died in her throat. “Wait, are you serious? Woah where are you from?” This stallion was getting stranger and stranger every second, and it was starting to worry her.
“I’m from Lupinia to the west of Equestria if I’m not mistaken. It been a long time since I’ve checked a map though,” said Artemis absentmindedly as he was directed to make another turn.
“Lupinia? Never heard of it, but you’re not from Equestria? That explains a lot actually, but what brings you to Canterlot then?” asked Vinyl as she started to calm internal panic that had been building just a moment ago.
Vinyl’s response was enough to pull Artemis’s attention away from his thoughts. It wasn’t a good sign that she hadn’t at least heard of Lupinia, granted she probably wasn’t the most well informed mare she was still under the effects of his clarity spell. If she had heard anything even vaguely she would’ve remembered. However Lupinia could wait he had more pressing matters to deal with namely Celestia, and he was positive she had a hoof in whatever has happened to Lupinia anyway. “I’m here to see an old friend,” said Artemis tersely.
It hadn’t lasted long, but it lasted long enough for Vinyl to feel his body tense up. It was really weird how easy it was to read body language when you are forcibly held against somepony. “I’m guessing you two fell out?”
“Excuse me? What makes you think we fell off of something?” Artemis had to double check to make sure his magic hadn’t failed him and she wasn’t just babbling drunkenly, but everything still seemed to be working.
“Oh uh falling out means, like you guys had an argument and are no longer friends. I mean it’s none of my business, but you don’t seem happy to be visiting.” Vinyl was curious as to what would be enough to drag this stallion from another country to Canterlot.
“As I said before I hate practically everything about Canterlot, and that on top of the fact that I’m here to see somepony I don’t really like at this point in time. So no I’m not happy to be here,” snapped Artemis. It wasn’t until he saw the shocked and slightly embarrassed face of the mare he was carrying that he realized what he had done. “Look I’m sorry, you don’t know about my past or why I’m here. It was unfair of me to snap at you, it’s anger that should be reserved for somepony else. Please forgive me.” He really felt bad, for letting his temper slip even slightly. His time in Tartarus had eroded much of his emotional control, and it was something that was starting to irritate him. He was supposed to be helping this mare, not snapping at her over things she doesn’t know.
“Nah it’s ok, I shouldn’t have been prying anyway,” said Vinyl hurriedly. She was shocked at how quickly his attitude changed. It was obvious he genuinely sorry and he seemed to be beating himself up about it. “It’s no big deal really; I know what it is like to lose a close friend so I should’ve known better. Anyway we are here,” said Vinyl thankful for the change of subject.
Before them stood the golden gate to a massive community of luxurious apartments, Artemis could only look on with a combination of disgust and awe. He couldn’t believe these ponies had found ways to make their homes even more extravagant than before, and he was only looking at the outside. The glorious golden gates were a waste of a rare metal, the elegant fountains were a waste of precious water, and the over-sized buildings themselves a waste of land, space, and resources. “This place is unbelievable,” said Artemis as he couldn’t help but wonder if Celestia had somehow managed to fix the poverty that had “plagued” Equestria. He only snapped out from his thoughts when he heard his companion chuckling.
“Wait till you see the inside, isn’t it great?”
“No, it’s just unbelievable,” said Artemis sadly as he thought of how much was destroyed to create the expanse before him. “You live here?”
Vinyl noted the sadness in his voice, but after earlier opted not to press him about it. “No it’s my ma- uh friends place, I just crash here pretty often.” She knew there were still many close minded ponies in Equestria; she didn’t want to take the chance with a stallion from another country she knew nothing about. What he didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him. “Just go up those stairs on the left, and knock on the door,” said Vinyl as the mischievous smile returned to her face. This was gonna be good.
Artemis knew this wasn’t going to end well, but he did as she said. The golden plaque card next to the door said Octavia Melody. “I should probably ask this mare for her name before I drop her off,” thought Artemis as he raised his disguised hoof to knock on the door. “I know you have something planned, but I might as well get it over with now,” said Artemis as he gave the door three solid knocks.
There was no immediate response when suddenly the mare on his back shouted out. “Hey Octy open up, it’s Vinyl.”
It was another minute before Artemis could hear hoofsteps and grumbling coming from the other side of the door. “Really Vinyl? One of the few days I get to sleep in a little bit, and you start it off by coming unusually ear-“, the mare didn’t get to finish her sentence before there was a bloodcurdling scream as she opened the door.