//------------------------------// // Chapter 6: Deception // Distractions // Story: Truth and Reconciliation // by sincarnation //------------------------------// 11:15am, 11th of Viglyd, 6 Days After the Tirek Incident – Octavia’s Luxury Apartment “She’s been in there for a while, should we do somethin?” worried Applejack. “There is nothing we really can do,” sighed Rarity. “I don’t know what will happen if we do anything to her.” “She’s been standing there with her hoof on Vinyl’s flank for 15 minutes,” added Rainbow Dash. “Should it be taking her this long?” The room of mares all waited nervously for Twilight to move or do something. Ever since she started tracking Artemis, she hadn’t so much as moved an inch. She just stood there head down, eyes closed, with her hoof on Vinyl’s flank. “Hey I’m not complaining,” snickered Vinyl nearly earning her a hoof to the back of her head. “If I weren’t afraid of interfering with the Princess’s search, I would smack you,” said Octavia with a smirk that gave-way to a caring smile. “Are you sure it doesn’t hurt or anything?” “Not any more than when you last asked, just the same warm tingling. I really hope she hurries up though, I’m ready to hit the hay.” No sooner than she finished yawning, she felt a slight jolt race through her. “Woah, that was weird.” “Are you alright?” “Yeah I’m fine, better even. There was a weird jolt, and suddenly I don’t feel tired anymore.” Shortly after she finished her sentence suddenly the mare touching her flank started dancing. Her hoof never moved and her eyes were closed, but she was still doing some old traditional dance. “Oh Twilight, you never told me you knew river stomp,” gasped Pinkie as she ran over to Twilight and began to dance with her. “We could’ve been practicing together.” There was a brief moment of relief, everypony was hoping her dancing was a good sign that she was alright. Though after a couple moments, they grew worried that something might’ve gone wrong. “Twilight? You alright?” asked Applejack as she worriedly looked upon the dancing princess. Suddenly, the dancing stopped. Twilight’s head jerked towards Applejack and her friends. Her eyes opened and they were glowing a bright white, but they quickly faded revealing unusual green eyes. “The Princess is fine,” said Twilight with a voice that was clearly not her own. “She is merely busy at the moment.” Everypony in the room was surprised at the sudden turn of events, but no one was really sure how to react. “Artemis, what have you done with Twilight?” yelled Rainbow Dash as she moved face to face with Twilight’s body. “It is as I said, the Princess is fine. In fact I’m talking to her even now as we speak. She should count herself lucky to be able to do that, few who have tried to enter my mind by force could say the same.” “Artemis or Orion, who are you? What’s going on, and why did you lie to us?” Vinyl suddenly interrupted sadly. “Admittedly I can be deceptive, but I don’t lie period. Artemis and Orion are two of many names I've been called before, I will answer to both. Orion is a name I used more in the past, but Artemis is what I have been using recently, well relatively speaking. As for my reasons for deception, shortly after I decided to help you, you gave me a smile that told me you had something planned. I didn’t know it was a prank for Octavia, but out of caution I gave you an older name. I'm sorry circumstances were such that it was necessary, but I won't apologize for the action.” Impressively Artemis still managed to give a look of ancient weary even in Twilight’s body. “Do you trust me Vinyl? If you do, don’t ask me to explain right now. After this is over with, I promise will explain everything, and if you need me to I will even show you my memories. Right now however, it is for the best that you don’t get involved.” Vinyl thought about asking him, but she decided not to. She decided to trust him, but she feared that the Princess and her friends wouldn’t. While attempting to think of a solution, Vinyl remembered the connection they shared, and she figured now was as good a time as any to test it. “ARTEMIS,” she thought as loudly as she could hoping he would hear. “No need to shout,” he replied quickly and calmly. “Call me, and I will answer.” “Sorry, never done something like this before, I want you to know I trust you, but I don’t think they do. I think they have been searching for you an-” “I know, and thank you,” interrupted Artemis. “Thank you for your trust and concern. I know I’m not giving you much to base that off of, but that only makes me appreciate it more. I’m sorry I dragged you into my problems, but don’t worry about those six I will figure something out.” Artemis didn’t wait for Vinyl to answer before he decided to look upon the mares in front of him fully. “That goes for all of you by the way,” he said as he briefly looked over them all. “Alas, I am not so foolish as to believe you will heed my warning, but luckily I figured out my own solution,” he finished with a deceptive cheer. Suddenly there was a flash of green light, and a medium sized scroll appeared floating in front of the mares tracking him. “Shortly after I finish explaining this, Twilight will return to her body. However before she can interact with you, she is going to pass out. If you don’t want her to fall asleep forever, I recommend you get everything on that list. Grind and combine all the ingredients and pour it down her throat at EXACTLY 7:30pm not a moment too late or soon, and your precious Princess of Friendship will wake up untouched.” Artemis was telling a completely different story to Vinyl however. “I’m just putting her to sleep for a couple hours so she doesn’t bother me. The ingredients are merely a distraction to keep them busy, she will wake up at 7:30 regardless of if she gets the mixture or not.” “I gotcha, but what is the mixture anyway?” “It is something you actually should get a laugh out of, just a little something to teach her a lesson about invading someone's thoughts.” “As a sign of good will,” Artemis continued aloud. “I will even provide one of the ingredients,” he said as green energy seemed to pour in from the windows and gather on Rarity’s extended hoof. “That is the concentrated essence of life, extremely valuable and difficult to harvest for most, use it wisely.” As the girls looked over the list, their eyes grew larger and larger at the crazy demands. “Where the heck are we supposed to get changeling molt? yelled Rainbow Dash. “Timberwolf Fangs?” questioned Applejack “Dragon tears? said Rarity as she thought of their resident baby dragon. “Cockatrice feathers?” shuddered Fluttershy remembering the last time she saw a Cockatrice. “Phoenix Fire?” thought Spike. “That should be easy enough.” “Oh Manticore Venom?” yelped Pinkie. “Mmmmm that stuff is spi-cy, but if Twilight needs it.” Pinkie’s comment about the spicy-ness of manticore venom drew everyone’s attention, but they all decided it was better not to question how or why she knew what it tasted like. “Well to answer the rainbow one, I don’t really know. In the past I could’ve and probably would've told you, but either way it’s more your problem than mine right now.” “Why I oughta,” snarled Rainbow Dash as she rushed back into Artemis’s/Twilight’s face. “You wouldn’t, unless you want to hurt your precious princess and dear friend,” spat Artemis bitterly. “I respect your loyalty to your friends though; it reminds me of myself during a better time. Every hero has an often times fatal flaw, and the most dangerous ones are those that are good in moderation. Loyalty is admirable, but it makes the wounds from betrayal all that much deeper. I hope, for your sake, that what happened to me doesn’t happen to you.” Rainbow Dash backed away slowly, slightly confused at the sudden unwanted compliment and wisdom. “It was interesting to meet the ponies that saved Equestria and stopped Tirek,” smiled Artemis suddenly. “I wish you the best of luck, I would say good bye, but I know we will meet again.” “Hey wait a minute,” cried Applejack. Her words fell on deaf ears as suddenly Twilight collapsed onto the floor. 11:30am, 11th of Viglyd, 6 Days After the Tirek Incident – Canterlot Castle Garden Maze The silence of the garden maze was interrupted by a sudden but subtle yawn as Artemis arose from his trance. “And that takes care of that,” thought Artemis contentedly as he started to stretch his limbs. “Celestia’s student turned princess is taking a nice nap, and her friends are on a wild goose chase for pointless items. That should give me just enough time to resolve things with Celestia, but for now let’s focus on getting into her bedroom.” Since he wasn’t in a hurry anymore he spared a moment to chuckle to himself about his previous thought. “If only they hadn’t been sisters, oh those could’ve been truly great nights with endless possibilities.” Though he chuckled to himself about good times past, the worst parts eventually came to the surface of his thoughts like they always did. “Oh Luna, I’m so sorry I failed you. I’m torn inside, and I don’t know what to do. Part of me says not to blame Celestia for my failure, and another part of me says to burn everything she loves in front her. Yet another part of me just wants to enter the void to be with you, and another part still tells me you wouldn’t want that. There are infinite differing pieces waging war inside me on what to do, and the only things they have in common are hurt and loss.” As he brought his gaze down from the sky he saw the tower that was to be his final destination, it refocused him if only for the moment. “I will have plenty of time to sort out my feelings tonight. Let’s get out of this maze and up to that balcony first.” As he walked through the maze he was shocked at how distracted he had been before, he didn’t even feel the lingering chaos in the area before. “Discord has clearly been here, but how? He shouldn’t have been able to escape as long as the princesses ha-”. His thought was cut off as yet another realization struck him, and it was the most confusing one yet. Without Luna, they couldn’t have wielded the elements of harmony against Discord the way they did originally. “I don’t think Celestia can wield the elements alone, and if that is the case Discord would’ve broken from his prison as soon the connection between the princesses and elements wavered,” he thought as he carefully made his way through the maze. “If Discord is free, why isn’t this place a chaotic hellhole?” He briefly considered searching for Discord’s magic, but he very quickly decided against it. He was too close to the Princess to open himself up, and the Draconequus was unpredictable and irritating on his best days. Plus if something went wrong it would be damn near impossible for him to fight Discord and Celestia at the same time. That was assuming Celestia hadn’t managed to get rid of the chaotic nuisance for good. As he neared the entrance/exit to the maze another thought occurred to him. “Why are there no guards patrolling the maze? Why aren’t there any guards standing outside her balcony?” thought Artemis angrily. “I was the one who selected and trained the first royal guards, and it was done to protect what had been the two most precious things in my life. This is how they would’ve protected the Princesses from danger?” “A thousand years without me, and those maggots already dismissed my training and warnings! I know I told them that their rooms needed more guards when they weren’t in them than when they were. The Princesses were perfectly capable of handling most threats, but even they could be ambushed I told them.” “Well they are going to learn the hard way now,” he thought as he looked up at the balcony above him. “This barrier spell stops all attempts to magically alter oneself and travel through it, but I doubt it completely inhibits all magic.” After some thought he figured the simpler spells would be less likely to be affected by the barrier, and he cast a simple spell to create a simple floating disk of glass anchored solidly in the air. “Perfect.” As he turned to head back towards the maze he stopped at a nearby bush, briefly debating the best way to cause a distraction big enough that no one would be looking to the sky to see him. “Hey there little one sorry to wake you,” he whispered as he extended a claw towards the bush. “I need you to do me a favor.” At the mentioning of a favor, a small cricket bounded out of the bush and onto his claw. “Of course I don’t ask something for nothing,” smiled Artemis at the small insect. “Just go over there and start chirping as much as you can. I will let you keep the magic afterwards; it should help impress a mate without any problems.” He said as he pointed to the opposite side of the castle. After the cricket chirped in agreement, he cast a spell that would be certain to be a perfect distraction. “Be swift, and don’t get caught” “There are few things in nature that don't recognize authority when it confronts them, I probably didn't need to bribe the little thing, but oh well what's the worst that could happen?” chuckled Artemis to himself. Artemis got onto all fours are he prepared for his distraction to begin, but he didn’t have to wait long. As he expectedly heard the sound of hundreds of crickets chirping at once, despite the distance the loud chirp was still painful to his sensitive ears. “Not my brightest idea, but it should work.” “There they go,” he thought as he watched the guards take off to handle what was he hoped they thought was a giant cricket. As soon as the guards went chasing, Artemis took off at full speed sprinting straight at the tower wall. Though as he got close he leapt as high as he could, and when he hit the wall, he grabbed the wall and pushed off it sending further up but away from the castle. As he was going through the air he created a slightly slanted glass disk for him to land on, and when landed he repeated the same jump as before only towards the castle. It didn’t take too many repeated makeshift wall jumps before he was able to reach the balcony. Though as he landed he heard something he didn’t expect. “What that buck!” came a voice from nowhere. Reacting purely off of instincts and his other senses he grabbed the space where the voice came from, and to his surprise he grabbed a mare with some form of chameleon spell on her as he could vaguely see her against the background. Though at the sound of her voice he heard what sounded like a different stallion waking up. “Well, it’s good that they aren’t that naïve,” he smiled as he forced his way into the mare’s mind. “Sleep” was the only command he gave her, and before she could swing her weapon she went limp. “What going o-, CREST!” shouted the suddenly awake chameleonic guard. “What did you do to her you monster?” Artemis looked that slight distortion caused by the spear leveled at his chest, but what caught his ear was the fear in this guard’s voice. “Oh I’m a monster am I? Haven’t heard that one in my lifetime,” Artemis laughed darkly. “Maybe I should play the part, drop your weapons,” he told the guard as he moved the unconscious mare in his claws to dangle over the balcony. “Unless of course you think she could fly right now.” “WAIT no please,” said the guard as he dropped his spear and threw his badge to the ground. Suddenly visible the guard began to plead, “Please don’t drop her, I dropped my weapons just like you asked.” Artemis found himself sympathetic and angry at the same time, but he couldn’t immediately decide which he should act on. “What is your name and rank soldier?” “First Sergeant Stalwart Shield, Royal Guard, Special Ops.” “Soldier, do you love this mare?” “With everything I have and more.” “Soldier, would you do anything for this mare?” “Yes, I would do anything, so please don’t hurt her.” “Then resign from the guard both of you. Your love for each other is a weakness that leaves the Princess in danger; there is a reason why you aren’t supposed to be romantically involved with other guards. I understand your love, and I don’t fault you for it. If you truly want to serve the Princess you will let someone else fill your position.” As he finished he brought the mare back over balcony, and examined both the mare and her lover. Stalwart Shield’s love for this mare reminded of him and Luna, and it made it much harder for him to be angry at the young couple. “I’m not a monster anymore, that was long ago,” he said more to himself than to the guard. “The burdens of leadership, loneliness, and the responsibility to your subjects can make you do horrible unspeakable things.” “I won’t harm either of you. However I can’t just leave you two here otherwise you would be duty bound to alert your whole squad.” The guard opened his mouth to protest, but Artemis had already forced his way into his mind. “When this door closes, you will resume normal activity as though nothing had happened here, not until tomorrow will you remember our encounter” After taking care of them Artemis used their keys to open the door, figuring it was better than risking some random trap or undetected spell. As he looked inside he was only mildly surprised to see that Celestia hadn’t changed her room much in 1000 years. “She never changed her style as much as Luna,” he chuckled to himself as he went to return the keys to the guards. “This seems to work in here, this could be useful,” he thought as he picked up the badge the guard threw down. “Just a simple duplication spell should work,” thought Artemis as he held a second badge in his palm. Shortly after putting the badge on, he started to blend in to background of the tower, and all he could think of was how perfectly this was working out. “I hope you consider what I said, though I wish you nothing but the best in your relationship,” said Artemis to both the guards. "Now all that is left is for me to wait," he thought as he closed the door to the balcony.