~ 3 ~
In Where Arty Sees Himself
The sun had reached its apex in the mountainous horizon by the time Artemis found himself standing in front of the mirror, wearing a faulty smile upon his muzzle. On one hoof, he looked rather stunning in his new royal items, the black coat looking more and more like an improvement over his former harness. Somewhere along the design he picked up a spare set of glasses and put them on. It gave him a scholarly disposition.
On the other hoof… it felt as if the coat was there all along. That it was the royal garb before, even though Artemis knew the harness was there first. The memory whiplash taxed his mind, and he stood silently in front of the mirror, his eyes glazed and unmoving.
This scared both the royal designer, and Twilight.
“Um, your majesty…” the designer began, “Is the coat not suitable to your liking?”
“What? Oh, um, no, I very much like it,” Artemis automatically replied. The lunar prince still stood unmoving, and unblinking.
Artemis swore that for just a brief second, he saw Princess Luna in the mirror, wearing the original harness, and staring right back at him.
“Is everything alright in there?” a muffled voice asked. All three ponies turned to see the door open and Princess Celestia walked in, with an unreadable smile on her muzzle.
“Yes. I must admit it feels as if I am still in my harness, as if this coat always belonged to me. Tis like I am reunited with an object instead of having it gifted to me.”
“Well that’s great,” Celestia said. “Then we can get started on the press conference.”
All the other ponies in the room visibly blanched.
“Pr… press conference!?” Twilight yelled.
“The media is going to see my work so soon? But I think we may need some finishing touches!” the designer complained.
“Bu…bu… bu…” Artemis tried to articulate his shock, but failed. Instead he spouted gibberish, clearly surprised that ponies were going to see him so soon.
“We can’t have a press conference now! Why did you call for a press conference?!” Twilight asked.
“It wasn’t my decision, they called for one. In the short walk between your chambers and this one, Artemis, some guards saw how you were decidedly a male and started rumors. Soon, those rumors reached the maids, then the head maid's, then some of the lingering nobility in the castle, and then their peers, and now the newspapers and magazines. Canterlot Express was the first to ask me questions, and wanted to publicly ask Artemis some questions.”
Twilight was at a loss for how information could spread so fast in the castle. “But… but how? It’s only been a day since Luna was turned into Artemis!”
“Rumors spread faster than fire, under the right circumstances. School fillies like you were would know that better than anypony,” Celestia answered. “Also, I am pretty sure some maids act as listeners for some tabloids, more or less.”
“But… but you heard the royal designer, he still has to finish the design of the coat, and we cannot be seen without our regalia!”
“Actually, it would only be some stitches in some areas, and not really noticeable stitches either…” the designer was silenced by a very angry glare from the lunar prince.
“Come on then, Arty, you’ve had plenty of experience answering questions from the presses. Why are you so hesitant?” Celestia asked.
“Ar, Arty?” Artemis pointed out the nickname Celestia just used for him.
“Of course! I called you Lulu, now I call you ‘Arty’!” Celestia answered with an innocent smile.
Arty glared at Celestia as she walked up to him, not so approving of the new nickname. Artemis never liked nicknames as they sounded demeaning, even if it was only with his sister. Celestia, once she stood up to him, faded the smile from her muzzle and now stared at him with another one of her unreadable expressions.
“Lu-Artemis, you look g-good,” Celestia sputtered, “I mean, you look well. The coat suits you, and I’m sure no pony is going to criticize you simply because you don’t look like a mare anymore.” Celestia smiled, “You have nothing to worry about, sister.”
Artemis looked down, conflicted about going out to the masses. All those ponies, staring at her/him, wondering if Artemis would act differently than their previous moon princess. Would they be angry? Would they laugh? Would they demand the prince be taken away until the real Luna came back, convinced that he was a copy of the Princess? All Artemis wanted to do right now was to just stay in the room and hide from the scary ponies like a filly from her monsters.
Except… she wasn’t a filly anymore. She was a mare. Or, a stallion, at least. Stallions aren’t supposed to be scared, they’re supposed to face the problem head-on.
Sometimes even literally head-on, bashing in being their solution.
She is now the Prince, and He will be the new master of the night.
Artemis drew out a long breath and looked at Celestia with a somewhat hesitant smile. “Very well then. If our subjects wish to know their new ruler of the night, even if it is only a temporary change, then we shall not keep them waiting.”
Celestia put her hoof around Artemis’s neck. “And that’s the sister I know. I’ll be there if some of the mares do get a little rough, don’t worry.”
“Mares? Getting rough?” Artemis asked.
“Oh! Um…” Celestia slightly recoiled. “You… do… well look.”
Celestia directed Artemis’s attention to the mirror. “Take it from me, Arty. You do look stunning as a stallion. Nice touch with the glasses too.”
“Yeah! I mean, who wouldn't like you?” Twilight added, getting as excited as Celestia about Artemis’s first time out with the public, albeit being a bit forced into the situation.
“Speaking as a stallion, I certainly would bow to you, Prince Artemis,” the royal designer nodded.
Again, Artemis found himself staring at the mirror. While he did notice before how handsome he looked, he didn’t fully realize it until now.
He was dreamy.
Luna was the warrior princess in earlier times, and now that translated to a body worthy of commanding respect among troops, but yet still toned so as not to be intimidating in any social gathering. His mane was kept short, but yet the starry blue made him seem a bit ethereal, a stallion that all the younger mares dreamed about for their romantic nights.The glasses, while not really useful because Artemis never had a problem with his eyesight, still provided a sort of wisdom and learned experience to his character, a trait that might lead students to “ask to visit their personal library”.
All in all, Luna would totally fall in love with Artemis. A brief thought entered his mind that he may be entering some levels of narcissism that shouldn't be known if he keeps thinking about himself this way.
He turned back to Celestia. “Very well, then. When shall the conference take place?”
“It should be about…” Celestia looked around in the room for a clock. She raised her brow, however, when she couldn't spot one immediately on the wall. She quickly paced around the room, looking for any sort of timekeeping mechanism.
There wasn't one.
“You… you don't have a clock here?” Celestia asked the designer.
“No, I do not. When I am in need, I shall work immediately, and not stop or rest even when the sun is up or down!” the designer said proudly, holding his head up high.
All three princesses looked at the designer like he was some crazed stallion, with Twilight looking the most shocked. “How do you… how do you even know when to go out to eat or to even sleep?” she asked, scared of any answer the stallion might give.
“Oh, I um… I don't really go out to eat, I have a little stove over in the other room,” the designer pointed over at another door on a side wall next to the entrance, “and I stay in my quarters for most of the day. I don't sleep until my work is completely finished.”
Twilight deadpanned. “You… seriously have to get out more. Especially in this castle.”
“Now, now,” Celestia interrupted with a chuckle, “Is the pot calling the kettle black here, my former student?”
“Dah, uh,” Twilight sputtered, “Well he should take it from me then! Don't waste your life just doing one thing in one place.”
“Enough,” Artemis firmly spoke. “It is around a quarter to the hour of two, sister. We would guess the conference will be at the hour then?”
“A quarter to two? How do you even…?” Celestia asked, surprised that Arty even knew the exact time like that.
“We looked at the sun outside. Really sister, you have been on this world for how many years and still don't understand the passage of time from your sun?” Artemis lightly scolded.
“I uh… we’re stalling!” Celestia spoke out, trying to avoid the question with a lot of eagerness. “We need to go, we need to go, yes it was at six, we need to go now!”
Celestia trotted to Artemis's posterior to lay a hoof upon the firm rump, causing the mare to tilt her head slightly as a small innocent grin adored her muzzle. In what Artemis would later consider a pat on her behind that Celestia would defend as a push, the stallion legs lagged behind him as he they were forced to pick up along with the rest of his frame out the door.
Twilight quickly followed them, although her eyes were staring through the window at the groups of ponies gathering just outside the castle. Flashes of cameras going off prematurely as notepads flipped open to record this single event for all of history. A stutter; a pause that lasted a second to long; a wrong answer to a question that everypony in Equestria was worrying about…
Twilight glanced back at the two sisters, now one brother, who trotted next to one-another. While the sister looked over the brother with a soft smile, the stallion himself kept his eyes straight on what awaited him. Even if he held an expression that was unsure of itself, his legs did not falter as he pressed into the next pair of doors. She followed after the two royals, a dire expression on her face as she worried about the outcome, even though Celestia promised to Artemis that she wouldn't let anything happen to him.
The designer stayed in the room, slumped in a sitting position and looking down with a sad frown. “But… but I don't like getting out of the castle,” he mumbled to nopony in particular.