Chapter Twelve - Luna
Luna smiled at seeing Artemis again, grinning like a mare at her first time being alone with a colt on a secluded hill in the middle of the night, on a slightly chilly spring day… She could tell she was blushing from just being around Artemis, and yet he was seemed to have this aloofness about himself that she envied. He was in his torc, she noticed, unlike every other pony in the dream realm. She made a mental note of it for later, plans in the back of her mind to how she would ask him.
Artemis paused in front of her, causing Luna’s mind to grind to a halt. She tried to think of something to say instead of trying to hide behind her mane, with her face blushing horribly!
She did not know how he did it. He simply stood there, confidence radiating from his body. He was still, yet straightforward. Not a single part of him was slouching, not even his well kept wings. His entire form was well groomed, his horn almost sparkling and he did his part to keep himself in grand physical condition.
She was amazed at how little he did, but yet how much he showed off his prowess with a simple stance. She felt a bit guilty drinking it all in, with her eyes paying more and more attention to his sides, trailing down to his moons and…
Blinking in surprise, she felt her wings begin to vibrate and her horn warming up, and she held back a meep, blushing even more now as her body had started to act like that so openly!
Turning her head away from the stallion, she caught Celestia flashing a smile at her before turning to look at the centre of the room.
She watched the two young alicorns walk up to each other and stare at what they were seeing, their lips opening and closing as they likely were trying to form a thought of what to say to their pony double.
Luna was troubled of what was going to be said now more than ever, sharing a terrified glance with Artemis.
With a loud gulp, she saw Prince Dusk Shine try to be a perfect gentlecolt; bowing his head and lowering his right wing to the mare across of him while stepping forwards. It was something so few pegasi ever did now, and it was touching to see.
Proving that her sister was no slouch in teaching how to properly meet royalty, Princess Twilight also dipped her right wing, taking a proper half step forwards as she lowered her head to show trust to the other party that no harm would befall them.
With an almost comical thud, both of the Alicorns of Magic fell on their tails and held their heads in pain from their bows. She heard a chuckle, and saw Celestia covering her mouth and trying to hold back a stream of giggles. She groaned, with her eyes briefly meeting Artemis’s as she saw Solaris biting his lip for obvious reasons.
“Oowww,” both of the lavender alicorn ponies groaned, shaking their heads in the same direction. “Sorry about that.”
Luna frowned at this. Artemis shared her concerned look. It was an unspoken observation between the two that unlike their sibling, these ponies had fallen into mimicking each other when they met.
She could almost hear Artemis say that this was odd.
Luna agreed, it was very odd indeed.
“Hello.” Both Twilight and Dusk blinked at each other, showing the surprise that they were both in tune with each other’s speech. “Um...” They both blushed, rubbing the back of their heads at this already confirmed awkward way of conversing. “I’m PrincePrincess DuskTwilight ShineSparkle… hmmm…” Both of them stopped speaking, rubbing their chins in concentration. “Are you thinking what I am thinking?” Both of the alicorns of Magic’s eyes widened, showing that they were pondering the same thing, but Luna had a feeling that if Pinkie was asked, she would come up with something so farfetched it would cause headaches to even try to think through the mare’s thought processes.
“What is it, Princess Twilight, Prince Dusk?” Luna asked, taking a step closer to the two of them and leaning against Artemis’s side, who was walking beside her. She had to resist every urge to let out a sigh of delight.
“Care to explain to us, young prince, princess?” Artemis similarly inquired of them, brushing against her with equal support, feeling his ethereal tail mix with her own. She was embarrassed to admit it, but both of them meeped loudly and pulled back from the other.
“That our world’s shared histories, and the great similarities that seem to be based solely on the gender lines is what is causing us to speak like this as we share so much in common!” Both of the young ponies grinned at each other, seeing their theory gain weight by both being said at the same time and thankfully ignoring her and Artemis’s meep.
“A good observation, my-” Solaris took a step forwards, frowning. He shot a look towards Celestia and then at Artemis. “Our?”
“I would think so, Prince Solaris. For the time being.” Celestia walked over to the pair of alicorns of magic, frowning as she addressed him. “But I do believe that is a fact we were all aware of.”
Luna saw them seem to sink inwards at this and she gave a huff at the lack of tact from her sister.
Artemis took a step forwards, clearing his throat before speaking. “To be fair, we, that is Luna and I,” he nodded to her, and with delight, she saw his ears starting to turn red. It was truly adorable! “Were in the same state as you two are in.”
“Yes, and the only ponies that were not were my sister and Prince Solaris…” Luna trailed off, getting very suspicious at this revelation. She hoped her face was not broadcasting this as it would be in very poor taste.
“Oh…” Both her sister's and Solaris' eyes became wide and they started to sweat, a blush starting to grow on both their faces. “I see why we didn’t get stuck…” Celestia shot a shared look towards Solaris as they were beginning to speak at the same time now.
Luna rolled her eyes, wondering what exactly her sister had done to make her actually blush like that.
Artemis groaned; she could almost feel his befuddlement at the same question
“We will explain that later-” Both of the solar alicorns frowned, and shook their heads. “Nay, we will explain now- Faust above this is annoying!” both of them whined, causing every other pony to laugh. Payback should be found and enjoyed whenever possible.
“It helps if you set up an order of who goes first.” Artemis gave her a nudge. She gave a wink back at him, clearly enjoying this as well. “Right Luna?”
“Indeed,” she smirked, turning her head to Artemis’s brother. “Solaris, if you would allow my sister to go first, and then you, we can explain this in a far faster manner.”
“Very well Princess Luna,” Solaris gave her a bow and a smirk, which made Artemis tense up for some reason. “You remember the Mirror to the human world?”
“Yes…” was the collective response from four ponies.
“Well,” Celestia spoke up, sending a smile towards Artemis, which caused Luna the sudden desire to tear her face off for some reason. “I had spent some time over there, investigating it and speaking to several people in the case of a softer place to send ponies that needed a different place to serve their time fo-”
“In other words, seeing if it would be a better place to banish somepony than the moon.” Luna accused her sister which cut off her rambling. She was sure that Artemis was more than likely glaring at his brother now for his own dalliance.
“Yes,” Solaris replied guiltily. “Without the natural presence of magic, it seemed to be a better place to send somepony that was infused by a magical emotional parasite as-”
“It would lose a severe hold on the pony in question and put the pony in a better place to fight it,” Artemis continued, tapping his chin in a very provocative manner. Nightmare Moon was much more than simply a being stealing her body and magic, but it would have put her in a better position to fight off the monster without it using her own magic against herself.
“I see some of the benefits of it,” Luna noted as she stepped forwards with a frown. “But you do realize that Nightmare Moon had more than my magic at her hooves, correct?”
“Yes, Luna,” Celestia smiled, walking closer toward the group. “That’s why I assume Solaris said better, not the best?”
“Indeed Celestia,” Solaris nodded, smiled softly at the group. “That still leaves the question to how Princess Luna and Prince Artemis met.”
“Wait.” both Twilight Sparkle and Dusk Shine’s ears shot upwards in a manner most adorable. “How did you make the Mirror in the first place, SolarisCelestia?”
Solaris and Celestia shot each other a surprised look before turning their attention to the two ponies that asked the question. “We did not make it,” they both answered at the same time again. “It was done by magic far more specified and trained than ours.” They both shook their heads, moving inwards at first. “We barely understand the principles behind such magic, let alone how it was placed behind a screen or how the time limit was set up.”
“Well, going over what I learned,” Twilight and Dusk smiled, pulling out a list of notes. “Dreams and that kind of magic both are exposed to the magical essence of reality- what’s wrong?” They looked up from their notes and stared at the slack jawed alicorns.
“Do you realize that you two have just casually constructed something in our dream realms that is highly precise?” Artemis licked his lips, sharing the amazed look that Luna had on her face.
“That’s a highly complicated feat,” Luna blinked at Artemis, shaking her head in disbelief. “Especially for it to be here, of all places.”
Amazing.
Simply amazing, she thought.
“Continue, pl- please.” Artemis waved his hoof, urging them on.
“Well, since your dream realms are the most powerful in both worlds, and magic does become stronger with emotional outbursts, maybe that was the cause!” They frowned, and tapped their chins in thought. “But something else must be present, some guiding force to make the connection…”
“Impossible,” Artemis shook his head.
“No pony could be that talented without us noticing.” Luna shook her head as well.
“It seems we are back to where we began, my friends,” Solaris sighed, looking at the ground as he gave another frown.
“I do wish we could talk to our counterparts in the human world,” Celestia said with a distant look on her face. “While they do not have magic itself, they do have a great deal of knowledge on the matter of the Mirror,” she bit her lip, ears flicking to the side. “I do wish I would have been able to get her to talk more instead of…” her faced started to redden, along with Solaris’s. Luna heard Artemis sigh with her, facehooving with her left hoof to Artemis’s right.
“To be fair, brother,” Solaris raised a hoof. “He came onto me.”
“And,” Celestia grinned, despite the horrified faces of the four alicorns at hearing about their mentors’ and siblings’ sex lives. “She did teach me a great deal of things.”
“Thank you sister for those mental images that will never leave my mind.” Luna shuddered, thankful that she was able to control her mind before the mental images entered her mind-
Turning her head, she saw Artemis suddenly shuddered violently, more than likely unable to quell his mind from those mental images of her sister having intercourse with herself along with Solaris-GACK!.
Seeing as her mind did not truly hate her, it ceased to function before it went further, and she was glad she was unable to retch within her mind as it would require explaining why to everypony.
“Why?” Twilight and Dusk asked their former mentors, causing Artemis and herself to again shudder as their minds were trying to come up with improper proper mental images for the question at hoof.
“Well, there is a charm in being with somepony that knows you very well,” Solaris smiled with a hint of a smirk, and instantly Luna wondered what he was planning.
“Indeed, Twilight, Dusk.” Celestia gave the same smile to the pair and a quick glance to her side told her Artemis saw the same thing.
What were they doing?
“I mean, Dusk Shine, do you not find Twilight here a bit attractive?”
Luna had to bite her lip to keep from gasping; everything up to this point had been more or less a plot to get to the answer! To raise their comfort levels to get ready for this sort of talk without any sense of underhoofedness!
She reached out for Atermis’s hoof, and with a sharp spike of delight, she felt his hoof grab hers.
Dusk turned his head to Twilight, both of them were blushing now at being put on the spot.
“Well, Solaris,” Dusk looked off to the side, trailing his hoof in a circle. “I can kinda see the appeal, but…”
“But what, Dusk Shine?” Solaris gave him a gently prod with his voice.
“She’s kinda…short?”
“Short?” Twilight Sparkle stopped blushing, pulling her head back and blinking in confusion.
“Yeah, and if I were being completely honest, the Royal Guards have much more compact bod-HMMMPH!”
Thankfully, Solaris had stopped him saying anymore by placing his hooves over the stallion’s mouth while Celestia was trying to pull back a fuming mare that was dragging her forwards very so slightly. The young mare’s horn was glowing, and eyes were twitching from Dusk Shine’s comment and Luna was very glad that they were off to the side as not to get hit by any stray magic.
“Dusk Shine, remind me to get you proper lessons of how to talk to a girl once this done,” he gave an embarrassed look to Celestia, and then a sheepish look to the still eye-twitching Twilight Sparkle. “Something long overdue, by the looks of things.”
“Yes!” Twilight snapped, glaring at the quivering stallion. “I would think so!”
“I- if I may?” Dusk Shine meekly spoke up after moving the hooves away from his mouth, although leaning deeply against Solaris’s chest for protection.
If I had said something like that to Luna, I would be hiding in the deepest pit in all of Equestria.
Still wouldn’t be deep enough to hide you.
Solaris gave Dusk Shine a nod and then let go of the lavender alicorn to face the other lavender alicorn.
He took a couple of deep breaths of air before he spoke. “Princess Twilight Sparkle, I mean no disrespect to you at all. I was simply speaking without thinking, and I am really sorry about almost calling you fa-” Solaris thankfully coughed at the right moment, stopping Dusk Shine from putting another hoof in his mouth. “I-”
“It’s okay,” Twilight clearly lied to everypony here with her heavy sigh as a clear indication. She then chuckled, giving a knowing look at the pony across from her. “I kinda know what you mean, I think.”
“Say, um,” Dusk’s cheeks were red now, looking off to the side. “When you were in the human world, did you happen to meet somepony with a guita-”
“Yup!” Twilight exclaimed loudly, a big grin on her face before breaking off into giggles and gaining her own blush. “Have you worked up the courage to talk to hi- I mean her?”
“N- no, not yet…” They both blushed a deeper red and giggled together.
“A- and who might this pony be?” Celestia asked through clenched teeth, with Solaris sporting a similar sour look.
Luna rolled her eyes again, meeting Artemis’s eyes as he turned his head. Clearly she would need to talk about Flash Sentry and his female counterpart now.
“A pony that has endured far too much crap, Solaris,” Artemis said walking over to the alicorns, with Luna walking very closely beside him as she missed being next to him.
She nearly tumbled over her hooves, as the realization of what that little conversation meant for Artemis and herself started to sink in her head!
“Yes, sister,” Luna beamed a smile at the group, but hoped Artemis knew it was meant for him. “The poor-”
“OH COME ON!”
“BOO!”
All six of their heads snapped to the side and stared at a distant spot on the wall as they heard two very distinctive voices.
There was a long period of silence before the area spoke again.
“You think they know we’re here Discy?”
“Maybe Airy, I don’t know.”
That was when Luna lost it.
Artemis was screaming with her in pure rage, destroying the false wall in their dream realm and revealing two very scared draconequui.
“WHAT ARE THOU DOING HERE ERISDISCORD!‽” both of them shouted, their coats turning ebony black.
“Um…” Discord tapped his claws together, shooting a panicked look at Eris.
“Uh…” Eris gulped, swishing nervously in the air, returning the panicked look to Discord.
“Oh screw this! CHEESE IT!” Both of them turned around and flew off to the distant part of the dream realm.
“THOU WILL RETURN HERE POST HASTE YOU MISERABLE LOT!” The double Royal Canterlot Shout was truly something to behold; deafening to anypony that was not an alicorn or in a dream realm. For those that were alicorns or in a dream realm, they would have ringing ears for a while. Both of the lunar alicorns flew after the two draconequui who turned around with a panicked smile.
“We’regoingtopopoutforawhileleteveryponycalmdownokay?” Discord sputtered out, ducking a shot of moon magic from one of the two enraged alicorns.
“CaptialideaDiscord!” Eris gave a weak smirk as she ducked a thrown greatsword that almost certainly came from Luna’s magical hold. “TellButtersnottoworryandIlovehim!” Eris floated closer to Discord as a very large battle axe and mace came straight at her head.
“SametoFluttersplease!” Discord was now back to back with Eris. Both of the draconequui smiled and snapped their fingers, waking everypony up and opening a Door to the Realms In Between while making sure to leave a small wedge for them to get back in later.
Luna screamed herself awake, pushing off of the bed in pure anger, still reeling from the outrage at the discovery of the dream realm being invaded by those two.
Her horn, still lit up from their fight, threw what remained of the furniture around the room. She faintly heard Solaris and Dusk Shine yelp as the bed went flying outside the room, her eyes still glowing as she looked for more things to smash.
Discord and Eris were both in her mind, watching her like it was some sort of game! Watching her and Artemis!
The nerve of those bucking bastards! Did they not learn anything about friendship from the Element of Kindness. Did they not care about her, or Artemis’s, feelings‽
Why must everything be a joke on her behalf?
Why must it always just be a game played on her. Why would no one really care about her feelings, about her life, about her struggles! Nopony would take her seriously, everything HAD to be a joke! SHE was a joke, the biggest one in all of Equestria! Return from the Moon and regain her spot beside her sister? No! She was just treated as a completely and utter empty-minded filly that needed her hoof held if she so much as wanted to cross the bucking hallway! She was a joke as a Princess. No, she wasn’t a Princess! She was the other princess, one that ponies barely even cared to think about unless they figured they could use her to get to Tia! As if she wasn’t able to see what they were trying to do!
She hated her sister, for always being so bucking big and important that no pony beside her could ever stand out! She hated Cadance for being a stupid bucking young princess that everypony just bucking loved, who had a bucking pony that bucking loved her. She hated Twilight bucking buck bucking buck Sparkle for just becoming a bucking alicorn and having every bucking pony in all of bucking Equestria fall in bucking love with her and show all of their bucking respect for her!
The one time she bucking found somepony that only showed her love and respect, and it was turned into another bucking joke! Two of the bucking three times she met him was another horrible joke on her part; seeing her sister openly betraying her trust and then finding out those draconequui had not only broken into her most private of areas, but were watching them for their own sick bucking amusement?
…
Maybe that was her purpose in life, to always be the joke.
Th- that made sense, as that’s what fate continuously pushed in her face. Maybe she didn’t deserve love, why would a joke like her deserve anything?
It made sense…
She found herself buried in a warm coat, a hoof rubbing her back as she sobbed everything out.
She didn’t know how long she stayed like that, but when she was finally able to stop her crying, she blinked with puffy eyelids, seeing a mournful Solaris return her gaze and then burying her face into him again with more tears flowing down her face.
Sometime later she was able to pull herself off of him, sitting numbly on the floor like the fool she was, ears pointed downwards and her tail wrapped around herself. She blinked and spotted a folded up piece of paper with her name on it.
Picking it up, she saw it was from somepony that had wonderful penmanship, but it was somewhat hastily written and with many strike outs.
Dear Luna,
And Sunbutt and Dusky too I guess
Let me say I am really sorry for what just happened, this was not our plan to make you think this was some sort of game, and I promise, Berry promise that with all that cross my heart crap Discord and I will explain everything once we get back. We’re just going to pop into another realm until shit calms down for a short while until we are all able to talk like reasonable adults.
Joooooooooy. Oh crap! Why did I write that! I really do want to do this like Butters would want and make him proud!
Your mistress of Chaos and marefriend to the cutest pony ever!
Eris
P.S.: Tell Butters I am really sorry for all this, and I Berry promise him; cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye, that I will make this right for everypony.
Please forgive me Butterscotch
Eris
Luna folded inwards, sighing in sadness. It seemed that even the draconequui, despite their great and terrible misdeeds to the ponies in the past, were allowed to have some happiness.
Unlike her…
Oh buck my life.
Luna froze where she sat. She was barely aware that Solaris had taken the note now and was reading it. But there was a more pressing matter right now than him invading her privacy and reading her letter.
Although she had thought that, it was not her own voice echoing that thought.