6:30pm, 11th of Viglyd, 6 Days After the Tirek Incident – Canterlot Castle Throne Room
“I can’t ever just end open court on time can I? All day everyday these nobles come to me with their every little problem, and they all expect me to solve them as if there was nothing better I could be doing with my time. These stallions have been going on for almost an hour, and they still don’t realize I’m barely paying either of them any attention.”
Celestia took a brief moment from her thoughts to make sure one of the stallions was still going on about resource allocation, and unfortunately for her it didn’t seem like he planned on stopping on his own any time soon.
“Court was supposed to end at 6pm, and I was supposed to get some free time to myself before dinner and quality time with Luna. Normally it wouldn’t bother me, but I don’t have time for this today.” Celestia had finally had enough of these childish squabbles, and she was going to end the disagreement for good.
“Enough! Just because you disagree with what he chooses to sell in his shop doesn’t mean you can come to me and try to force him to sell his shop or stop doing business. Mr. Toys you are free to sell whatever you want in your shop within Equestrian law, and as long as you keep your adult products out of the way so fillies don’t see them you are fine. Mr. Zealot do not enter my court again with another case similar to this one, now both of you leave and enjoy your evening.”
The unicorn Theo Zealot was a regular complainant; he always had a problem with something saying it was an affront to Lord Faust or some other nonsense. Every time she saw him, Celestia was tempted to enlighten him to Faust’s actual role in their universe but that would’ve just been cruelty for her own amusement. So she kept her information to herself as she watched them leave, and called one of her guards over in the meantime.
“Captain, make sure Mr. Zealot doesn’t do anything he should regret,” ordered the Princess once the pair had walked out of earshot. “I’m returning to my quarters before dinner; reassign four of my guards to High Mage Spiral, my sources say he might be in danger of being attacked tonight.”
“On your orders it shall be done Princess,” said the guard as he saluted and pointed to a new pair of guards. “You two, you’re with me. We are going to track Theo Zealot and make sure he doesn’t do anything stupid. Gear up and meet me at the main gate in five minutes.” As he turned back to the Princess he finished, “I already sent out the reassignment message, and your guards are on their way to guard Spiral. It may not be my place, but are you sure about that Princess?”
“Yes I will be fine,” smiled Celestia warmly. “Spiral needs far more protection than I do, even on his best days he is a bit careless. I’m sure you all remember the giant cricket incident when he was experimenting a few years back; he tends to blot out his surroundings while he is working. Besides it is just for tonight and tomorrow, don’t worry about it.”
The Captain clearly disagreed, but he pushed Celestia no further on the subject. He got the feeling there was more going on than she was saying, but orders are orders even more so when they are from the Princess. He made a note to personally stand guard later tonight, but for now he had a nutjob to follow.
Celestia was relieved to watch her Captain go without pressing her further, for she hadn’t been completely honest with him. Spiral was her court mage that maintained the barrier around the castle since Shining Armor left, and there was a chance that Artemis might try to take him out if he wasn’t coming alone. While she didn’t doubt he could get to either her or Spiral with some effort no matter how many guards she placed, she hoped not having as many guards herself would be a slight lure, and it had the added benefit of making it less likely that her guards were going to interrupt them or get hurt.
“Alright let us go,” sighed Celestia as she turned to leave with only two of her normal guards following her.
“Zealot’s needless complaint took up some time, but I should be able to at least wash up before I meet with Luna. I want everything to be perfect tonight,” worried Celestia as she thought about Artemis’s approach. “Oh Luna, I’m sorry I don’t know what is going to happen, but this is what must be done. I know you are going to be angry with me, but I have to know what has returned to Equestria, Artemis or the Savage Beast.”
“Tomorrow will be another day that shapes history, not just for Equestria but the whole planet,” Celestia brooded as she approached the door to her room. “Regardless of what happens it shall be resolved in a few hours.”
6:40pm, 11th of Viglyd, 6 Days After the Tirek Incident – Celestia’s Bedroom
The sound of familiar hoofsteps approaching the door snapped Artemis away from his thoughts. He had spent the past couple of hours trying to figure out exactly what he was going to do or even just what he wanted, but he hadn’t made any progress.
“7 hours of introspection and I still don’t know what I’m going to do. I had hoped to contain some of the potential collateral damage by figuring it out, but it looks like that’s not going to happen. Well either way this is the moment of truth, no point in worrying about it now,” thought Artemis irritably to himself as the door opened.
For the first time in a millennium he could see the one who took everything from him, and to his surprise, anger wasn’t the most overwhelming emotion he felt. It was certainly still there and burning hotter than ever, but it wasn’t as strong as the sorrow that enveloped him. It was almost like he was being drowned in an ocean of loss, but what shocked him most was that it wasn’t just for Luna, he mourned the loss of his best friend. The best friend that had planted the knife in his back and left it to fester for the rest of time was right in front of him, and it took all his willpower not to do anything to reveal himself as he sat camouflaged in the corner of the room.
He watched silently as she quickly shut the door and began to remove the jewelry she wore on a daily basis. After she had removed what little she wore, she disappeared into a side room where he heard sudden rushing water.
“She is probably cleaning herself,” thought Artemis as he briefly considered how a confrontation now would look. “A thousand years of anger and misery hasn’t prepared me for the awkwardness of that encounter,” he chuckled to himself lightly as he found himself thinking back to other times they had bumped into each other under similar circumstances. He was surprised to find himself smiling, though the memories dragged him deeper under the waves of sorrow. “Reminiscing on the glory days isn’t going to make this any easier, but let me check in on their progress with the newest princess in the meantime.”
“Vinyl,” he thought hoping to get a swift response.
“Woah that is still weird, what’s up big guy? I don’t know if I’m supposed to, but I ‘ve been feeling a lot of sadness from you.”
That caught Artemis off guard, his link was supposed to be largely one-way when it came to emotions. For her to be feeling his emotions meant that either she was more magically attuned than he initially gave credit, entirely possible, or his emotions had flooded the barriers he set in place to prevent his links from feeling his emotions, equally possible.
“Sorry about that,” responded Artemis has he distanced himself from the link. “I wasn’t trying to burden you with that.”
“It wasn’t a burden,” said Vinyl sadly as she felt him suddenly grow further away. “I actually kinda liked it, you can sense how I feel right?”
“Yes I can, but I can only feel them when they hit the extremes, without focusing anyway. However,” he thought after sensing the sudden dip in her mood. “I will leave it open if that is what you want.”
“Thanks, it’s weird to describe, but I feel better being able to sense you, you know?”
“Yeah, I know exactly what you mean. It’s strangely comforting, it’s reassurance that you are never alone, and that somepony out there trusts you completely. You can know that your lover trusts you unconditionally, but it is a completely different to be magically linked with somepony, you can feel it."
“Yeah,” chuckled Vinyl lightly as she thought of maybe trying something similar with Octavia. “So why’d you ring? I doubt it was just to chat.”
“You would be correct, I was just checking in on the Princess and her friends.”
“Princess Twilight is asleep in Tavi’s bed, and her friends took off trying to get that list of ingredients. Tavi agreed to keep her here because she is hellbent on the Princess keeping that promise about not leaving until her skylight is fixed,” laughed Vinyl.
“Couldn’t you fix it with a simple spell?”
“Yep,”
“Alright then,” chuckled Artemis. “That’s all I was checking in on, I need to get back to the situation at hand.”
“Cool, but know I’m like Tavi when it comes to promises. You will tell me what’s going on after this is over.”
“I am too, and I will,” said Artemis has he pulled back from their link.
He had been so focused on their conversation that hadn’t heard the water stop, and he was surprised when Celestia re-entered her main room.
She seemed to be only half-way finished drying herself, when she cast two spells towards the door that enveloped the whole room..
“You can come out now Artemis, Philomena told me that you had snuck in here,” Celestia said casually as she didn’t stop drying herself.
Artemis cursed himself mentally for forgetting about her damn phoenix, but he neither saw nor heard the mythical bird when he looked around.
“Well I guess now is the time."
As soon as the badge was removed his body returned to its normal colorations, revealing him in the corner, but Celestia didn’t even look up.
“You knew I was waiting, and came in without assistance anyway? Time has either made you foolish or arrogant Celestia, and the fact that you cast a silence and vibration dampening spell is only proving my point.”
“The spells are to make sure that we don’t get any unwanted attention, my guards can’t hear us and they won’t feel a thing should we get rough. I did not know you were in here when I came in, Philomena told me before I entered the shower. I was expecting you, just not until the middle of the night when I was likely to be sleep.”
“What do you think me a coward now? Has your opinion of me really dropped so low?”
“I would never think of you as a coward,” laughed Celestia suddenly. “I have watched you fight the most ancient dragons in an attempt to truly understand them, I have seen you clash with death literally for the thrill of life, and I have looked on as you fought entire armies alone so that your subjects did not have to. I truly would be a fool to think of you as a coward, but has your opinion of me really dropped so low?” asked Celestia as she finally looked upon her old friend.
Artemis expected to see arrogance, fear, or anger in her eyes, but all he saw was the same sorrow that was mirrored in his eyes. It was a sorrow that confused, intrigued, and irritated him, what had she lost that she deserved to mourn? Sure she lost her sister and her friend, but she made that decision. She chose to throw them away.
“Well having a knife planted in my back by the one of the two I trusted to protect it forever might have something to do with that,” commented Artemis dryly as he tried to contain his anger. “After what you did, you have the nerve to act like you have done nothing to change how I feel about you?
“I would never deny what I did to you, it was one of the worst things I’ve ever done to anyone. I guess a small, naïve; part of me hoped that it wouldn’t have changed how you felt about me.”
Artemis had been trying to hold back his anger, but it was futile like trying to hold back the ocean. All at once the waves of anger washed over him, and for the briefest moment he lost himself in his anger. At that moment Artemis decided that he didn’t need to stop his anger, only prevent it from overwhelming him.
When he came back to his senses he realized he had Celestia pinned against the wall by her neck. An immediate twinge of panic went off as he quickly assessed her and the situation, the wall looked a bit cracked but that was unlikely to even cause her a bruise. He noted that his claws weren’t really positioned to strangle her properly and she seemed to be breathing normally, and despite everything her eyes looked indifferent to the situation.
Artemis and Celestia stood there for some time, searching the other’s soul through their eyes. Celestia was humbled and ashamed by the amount of pain she had caused one being, and Artemis was shocked and mildly proud of the lack of regret in her soul.
The pride he felt at her lack of regret didn’t surprise him, for he had always told her never to regret your decisions, it was disrespectful to those who felt the consequences. If she had regretted her betrayal it would’ve angered him even more, it would’ve meant that all his suffering had been caused by someone who hadn’t grasped the full consequences of their actions and it wasn’t worth the outcome to her. What surprised both of them was how much he still cared that she hadn’t been hurt and how fast his anger started to bubble back up.
“Is this why you came here Artemis?” asked Celestia who had turned back to look outside. “Did you come here to kill me?”
“I’m not sure what I’m going to do, I came here because I wanted to know why? Why did you do it?”
“Artemis I di-,” Celestia’s words were cut off by the claws that tightened around her throat.
“QUIET,” roared Artemis. “I came here because I wanted to know why you betrayed us, but I realized something very important when I lost myself in my anger. It doesn’t matter why. Nothing you say could possibly justify what you did. Your words won’t dry up the ocean of guilt, nor will they calm the storm of rage that tears at my heart. I could hear your explanation, and I would still want to paint the earth red with blood.”
Artemis paused and closed his eyes to take a few deep breaths, and when he opened his eyes the toll of eternal life was obvious. He looked impossibly weary and unbelievably sullen as he turned his gaze to the ground.
“I did nothing but try please the only friends I hoped I would never lose. I changed and hid away parts of me that bothered or unnerved either of you; I did everything I could to make sure you were safe. If you ever needed something I would find it, and if you ever needed help I was there for you. Despite doing everything I could to be a good friend, I was still betrayed."
Artemis could feel her gaze on him suddenly, but he was so lost in his own mind he didn’t really care at the moment. He swore he felt wetness on his claws, but he couldn’t tell if it was caused by tears or her still slightly damp coat.
“You even lacked the mercy, compassion, or stomach to at least kill me that night, but no you imprisoned me instead. You left me alive to feel everyone I cared about die, I FELT LITTLE ORION DIE. “He died facing Cagnazzo, that egotistical pathetic excuse for a piece of shit made Orion's worst fears reality. The fear he felt was overwhelming, and strength of it was one of the few things to bypass your prison security. It was enough to for me to hear his last words; he died calling for me Celestia. The only communication I had with someone I loved for a thousand years was hearing him cry out for me as he died. My student, my brother, my child died because I was unable to fulfill my promise to protect him from within your damn cage,” Artemis wept as he recalled the event. “I even had the opportunity to do the same to you, I met your prized Princess Twilight Sparkle.”
At the mentioning of Twilight the Princess’s eyes grew wide and she moved to speak only to be cut off by another squeeze from Artemis.
“However, I’m not as cruel as you. I may have slaughtered millions with my own claws, but I would never subject someone to sit by helplessly as they lost everything they love,” cried Artemis angrily. “Twilight is fine, going to be taught a lesson shortly, but fine. She reminded me of Nightshade, Orion’s sister, and fortunately for you that contributed to me leaving her unharmed.”
Celestia noticeably relaxed when he said that Twilight was fine. It was strange to him that she hadn’t shown the slightest resistance until he brought up Twilight. He knew Celestia should've be able to break his hold at any time, but for now she seemed content to sit there and listen to him.
“Luckily for you Nightshade didn’t die foolishly trying to avenge her brother or Canterlot would’ve already been reduced to a crater. Orion, Nightshade, Zoë, Snowdrop and the list goes on. So many that I cared for died, and I couldn’t be there for them because of you. I don’t even know what happened to my kingdom and subjects, I’m sure Nightshade did what she could to rule in my stead, but I doubt things are better than when I left.”
Artemis noticed Celestia shrink back a bit when he mentioned his kingdom. He wanted to know what happened, but he was too scared of the possibilities to ask.
“Lastly you betrayed your sister, and when you killed her you killed my reason to live,” spat Artemis bitterly. “Your best friend and sister came to you desperately needing your help, and when you refused to help her, she was taken over by a monster. Then instead of helping me find a cure, you put down your sister like a monster. You killed your own flesh and blood sister instead of helping me talk her down or find a cure. How could you?”
Celestia’s eyes bulged as she struggled a bit to loosen his claws enough to speak, but suddenly stopped shortly after she started. Artemis noticed there was something different in her eyes that wasn’t there before, but he couldn’t tell exactly what it was. Was it pity? Confusion? Understanding?
“I told you, I don’t want to hear your excuses,” said Artemis solemnly as he looked at Celestia and their eyes met. “You have caused me more pain than any creature should have to tolerate and more sorrow than you can fathom. No more Celestia, never again will you hurt me,” he said as he raised his claw into the air.
“Luna promised never to tell another living creature this, but when we first clashed, before we were friends, when you declared war on me thinking I was gathering information to destroy you. Do you know the real reason I was searching for a way to end an immortal? I was planning to use the spells to end my own existence,” explained Artemis as his raised claw started to glow.
“It was supposed to be done under the perfect full moon, in a beautiful valley. The enchanted blade was already barreling towards my heart when Luna appeared out of nowhere and deflected the blade to the side. She chastised and yelled at me for what seemed like hours. I don’t even think she even recognized who I was at the time, but I don’t think it would’ve made the slightest difference,” Artemis explained as he started to hear hoofsteps outside of the door.
“I never planned to use this against anyone but myself, but I guess you were right to worry,” Artemis said as he locked gazes with Celestia yet again. He saw no fear or regret in her eyes, but there was still that look something he wasn’t sure of the feeling of judgment and evaluation he couldn’t shake.
“Good-bye, Celestia,”
With those finals words to door flew open, and his claw descended.